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| bringing the Bible to the people of Africa |
Ruth Raharimanantsoa is our missionary working with Wycliffe in Congo (Brazzaville) where she co-ordinates the work of translating the Bible into various local languages of French-speaking Africa. Ruth married Mamy in October 2004. Mamy, whose original home was Madagascar, lectures in theology in a college in Brazzaville.
The latest Newsletter from Congo-Brazzaville is repoduced below; this and earlier copies can be found as Adobe Acrobat PDF files in our resources centre.
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Ruth & Mamy's CHAT No.40
from Congo-Brazzaville
December 2005 |
Dear friends,
"Raise your Bible in the air if you have brought it to church this morning!"
As I (Ruth) looked around me, I noted that most of the 800 other people taking part in the church service DID have their Bible with them. But… instead of the large black Lingala Bible, virtually everyone had a French version! So perhaps they can easily read French…? Why then have they all chosen to attend the service in Lingala, rather than the French service which will follow?
This observation made me realise afresh that for many Congolese, the default language for reading and writing is French, whether or not it is the language they understand best. It was great to see so many people proudly holding up their Bibles, but how much has the message impacted their lives?? I was also reminded that old habits die hard!
Since Mamy and I returned to Brazzaville in September, I have been adjusting to the Evangelical Church of Congo, under which Mamy works at the Theological Faculty. This is the oldest protestant denomination in Congo with some very large parishes and some great choirs.
On the first Sunday in December each year this church celebrates "Bible Sunday", so both Mamy and I talked briefly in two different parishes about the importance of the Bible and announced the imminent arrival of the New Testament in Munukutuba - one of Congo’s two trade languages (the other is Lingala which already has the whole Bible).
Some people are clearly pleased to hear that 4,000 copies of the Munukutuba New Testament are on their way by boat from S. Korea to Congo (anticipated arrival date: 31st Dec 2005!). It remains to be seen to what extent churches will change their habits and start reading the Bible in Munukutuba. Of course, the pastors were all trained in French, so it is easier for them to use the French Bible…
Something which is often occupying Mamy's thoughts at the moment is the challenge of making theological training received by pastors more relevant to the realities they will face afterwards. He is enjoying relating to the students at the Faculty, whilst desiring to do what he can to help equip them spiritually for the task ahead. He has also become the editor of the Faculty magazine.
I, (Ruth) have resumed the coordination of the Teke Bible translation and literacy project, which is often occupying MY thoughts! Pastor Basile Okana is the supervisor for the literacy programme in the Teke Plateaux region, and he has recently launched new classes for those who already read and write in French.
During a primer workshop which SIL-Congo ran in November, I enjoyed working with the Teke group to develop the first part of their primer for teaching illiterates to read and write in Teke.
However, no Teke translation is happening at the moment, there are no trained translators in sight and the spiritual battle in the Teke-speaking area continues to be real. Sorcery and traditional practices dominate many people's lives and way of thinking. This is a project which needs to be tackled "on my knees".
I am grateful for the arrival in Congo of Lydia Krafft, a German Wycliffe member who has served for many years in Burkina Faso and who has good ideas about running translation programmes. I will be picking her brain as to how to stimulate greater local ownership in the Teke project. We also hope that the Luke Scripture portions in Teke which were completed two years ago but not printed (due to a series of problems beyond our control) can soon be made available for use in Teke churches.
On a personal level, Mamy and I are enjoying our airy apartment and have had several visitors in our guest room. We will have opportunities to celebrate Christmas and New Year in different ways with Swedish, Congolese and international friends, and also to take part in a retreat for Christian students. In mid-January, Mamy will return to Sweden for several weeks for the "viva" for his doctoral thesis.
Thank you so much for your support and friendship towards us! May God’s hand of blessing be on each one of you as we close up this year and enter a new one.
"Joyeux Noël & Bonne Année 2006!"
Ruth & Mamy
Mamy & Ruth Raharimanantsoa
SIL-Congo, B.P. 1067
Brazzaville, CONGO
Tel : (mobile) Ruth: (00 242) 530-66-49 Mamy: (00 242) 536-40-16
Email : ruth_raharimanantsoa@sil.org
mamy_raharimanantsoa@kastanet.org |
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