At the recent Clear and Simple Media Africa meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, there was news of some project delays. But there was also news of progress and opportunities that were quite unexpected.

Dieudonné Somé reported that he had been contacted by pastors in the Cascades Region of Burkina south of the city of Bobo Dioulasso. They had seen the Dyula (Jula) and French versions of Simple Truths and asked how the book could be put in their language – Cerma. “Our churches need this teaching. We have no book like this in our language.”

Cerma (also called Gouin or Gwe) is spoken by an estimated 55,000 people in Burkina Faso with a small number of speakers in Côte d’Ivoire.

Dieudonné expalined the process of identifying a translator, the checking and field-testing of the translation, and reporting procedures. When they had agreed, a qualified translator was identified and the work began. At the June 9 meeting, Dieudonné delivered the file of the first draft of the Cerma translation to the CSM group.

Translation checks and field-testing still need to be completed, but those who have looked at the work thus far assure us that “it is good.”

While we try to pursue strategies that are sensible, and make plans that are purposeful, there are times that we are reminded that we are ultimately dependent upon God’s Providence. That, as it turns out, is always better than our best made plans.