Good News (sometimes) Travels Slowly
By Tom Castor | February 27, 2021 | News
In early February, Clear and Simple Media was able to send funds to Burkina Faso to assist in several translation and publication projects. We had reported in an earlier post that, as the books become more widely distributed, new language projects are added as a need becomes known. The translations now in use in West Africa include French, Mooré, Cerma, Pougouli, Jula, Gourmanchéma, Bwaba, and Dagaari, with the new Lobiri project now underway.
We are assured by our team on the ground in West Africa that the books are being used and have been very helpful to the pastors and church workers there. From time to time, we receive additional assurances from small notes from the end-users.
In a recent email from Burkina Faso, Pastor Malo Samson wrote: ‘I am the one who translated the simple truth in my language, the Pougouli. The book is very useful. It will be a blessing for my tribe people and will help us to know more about God. We don’t have any book like this in our language. Only the new testament. This book is a blessing.’
Ouattara Vincent sent a message in that same correspondence: ‘I am an elder in a local church. I read the simple truth in French and Jula. I saw it is very rich. I would like, if possible, may this book be translated in my own language the Dogossè (we are among the unreached people) and in Lobiri and Birifo which are the largest tribes in our denomination.’
Like these books, most of our material is being used and distributed by nationals in more than 40 countries. We receive regular updates from several countries where the books are being used. Most of the places the books go are in places that are hard to track. Our books “speak’ in more than 45 languages, and we are dependent on people in those places to assess their effectiveness. Many of those people in remote areas, have limited opportunity to share those stories. So, we are quite thankful when we hear how God is using the work that we do.