Literacy

November 14, 2018

The old men helped!

Atonement! What is the right word for it in Pokomo? Sacrifice? No. Reconciliation? How? I racked my hairless head, I could not figure out its meaning. I asked my colleague Vincent, he too was blank. Now what? I called a few old men who always bailed me out whenever I was hemmed in by bonds of limited language and asked them to give me an equivalent word for atonement. They too did not know! I asked myself, “Why call themselves old men, if they did not know something as simple as atonement?”

I had to change my approach. I called the same old men and asked them what happened in our culture when someone did something so hideous like killing a kinsman or committing incest? They said a particular ritual was performed to cleanse the evil and make things right between the offender and the offended, animal blood had to be spilled. I asked them what that particular ritual was called. Everybody I phoned told me it was called “Yala”.

Next, I went to my fellow translators. We brought our heads together and decided to use that word as we waited for the reviewers to give us their views since this is a Key Biblical Term. When they came to review I Chronicles, they agreed that “yala” was the right word for atonement, only that the term was expressed in the verb form “kuyala”. What a mine of cultural wisdom!

by Shadrack Falama, Pokomo project leader

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June 25, 2018

I graduated with Jesus not a goat

Nareio is a lovely Rendille Woman. She feels good when she is asked how she came to know about Christ. “I was looking after the goats when I heard of Rendille classes that were to begin soon in my vicinity. I registered for the classes because I was promised a goat upon graduating from the class. That was my motivation; to graduate with a goat,” She says.

Nareio began her literacy classes immediately. “Neither did I know how to hold a pen nor read.” Nareio likens her first experience in a literacy class to that of a toddler in kindergarten. “I was taught every other thing that a toddler would be taught,” She asserts.

Nareio attended literacy classes until she could read and write in the Rendille language. Something she refers to as a miracle. “Besides knowing how to read and write in the Rendille language, we were taught Bible stories and towards the end of the year, we started reading the gospel of Mark. As we read through the gospel of Mark, I heard the voice of the Lord and my eyes opened to the marvellous things He has done. I needed to be a new being.”

“My life changed, I became a new creature in Christ. I received Christ through reading the gospel of Mark. Through literacy classes, I realized that looking after the goats was in vain. Christ changed my life. I experienced patience and peace. I used to follow so many customs of the Rendille but after I received Christ, I made a decision: TO FOLLOW HIM. Since then, I chose to do the right thing, do what He desires of me and that which is good in His sight.” Nareio concludes.

Praise the Lord that Nareio will be reading The Rendille New Testament soon. Pray for her walk with Christ as she grows in Him. Pray that she will experience God’s love in her life and pray that she may never depart from His ways.

by Daisy Kilel

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April 30, 2018

Please let Jesus continue to talk

One day I was traveling by bus to Chuka, a town in my own language area. That morning I had just set Luke Chapter 4 of the audio New Testament as the ring tone for my phone. Somebody rang me, and so people heard Luke 4 being recited in my language. It took me time to realize that it was my phone that was ringing. It had, however, drawn the attention of a number of the passengers who sat close to me. Unknown to me there were people listening to the Bible portion very keenly, and when I answered the phone I interrupted them.

As I was putting the phone back into my pocket, a man patted me on the shoulder and said, “So the Bible is in your phone? Please allow Jesus to continue talking. Let us listen.” It happened that he was not the only one: the passengers requested the driver to turn off the radio and told me to turn up the volume of my phone. Unfortunately, it was not loud enough to be heard in the whole vehicle above the noise of the engine. But those who sat near me listened attentively to several chapters of the Tharaka Bible before we arrived at Chuka. I also sent some chapters of the Bible to three people via the Bluetooth function on my phone.

This has inspired us to plan to distribute the audio bible using memory cards which can be played on phones, DVD players and even on motorbike radios

By Onesmus Kamwara

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March 23, 2018

I thank God He found me!

*Kazuri is a pleasant old woman, who cannot stop smiling. Are you always this happy? I ask her, as we chat outside her house. “Yes, who would not be? since I became a Christian, I have known only Joy. I do not even get sick – I was a sickly woman.

She is eager to tell me how she became a Christian. “ I heard a man preaching in Kigiryama, reading from the New Testament and I said, “that God must be real. He knows our language! The more I listened to him preaching, the more I became interested. My grandchild continued reading to me and telling me about Jesus. Soon, I knew that I needed to commit my life to this God…”

As I look at *Kazuri, I can tell that this joy I see on her face comes from her heart. “What wasted years!” She says, staring into the horizon. “The life without Jesus! How vain! I wish I could live again”. But I thank God that He has saved me before I die”. She is so fascinating to listen to. She gives me her life story – of visits to witch doctors, broken relationships and many unpleasant things that have happened to her in her lifetime – things she truly regrets. But she is grateful that they belong to her past. I am curious to know if she can read and whether she reads the Kigiryama New Testament.

“No, I cannot read! But I thank God for my grandchildren and her friends. We hold a Bible Study meeting here every Wednesday. She and other brethren read the word of God to me and to others who cannot read. It is so good to hear the Bible read in my language! I wish that this word had come when I was young!” she concludes I can imagine her reaction when she finally reads The Giryama Full Bible; tears of joy. I am hopeful to meet her soon during the launch and dedication of the Giryama Complete Bible.

by Florence Wamae

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