THE VISION THAT MADE BIOLA GREAT (continued)
language are entirely different from the surrounding rural Spanish-speak ing Mexicans. Although nominally Catholic, this is merely a veneer over top a typically pagan religion. They not only worship the Catholic panthe on of saints, but also the sun and moon and god of com. They fear the spirits of the wind and forest. Their folklore contains stories of all kinds of spirit o n i l l i o l f U /vivi n
Islands of the Seas. From the reports received, it is e s t im a t e d that about one-half of BIOLA missionaries have the entire Bible in the language of their people. What an effective weapon this is and how handicapped are those without it! While miracles are being per formed with the use of mere portions of the Word of God, what a triumph it is when the Word of God is trans lated into yet another foreign tongue. This Word, given in love, and wa tered with tears and prayers of faith ful servants of Christ, reaches human h e a r t s a nd t r a n s f o r m s the most degraded lives wherever it is pro claimed, the world around. “I can made all things to all men that 1 might by all means save some” (I Cor. 10:22). To the question, “ Is your work evangelistic, educational, medical, or a combination?” seventy-five percent, as anticipated, replied: “A combina tion.” While there are many special ists among the BIOLANS — doctors, nurses, translators, teachers, airplane pilots, builders, etc., yet it appears that none confine themselves to the one specific skill for which they are trained, but are indeed, “ all things to all men” to win their people for Christ. One fact stands out above all others: whatever the nature of the work in which our missionaries are engaged, one purpose motivates all: to evangelize, to teach, and to build an indigenous church. In these days, it is most reassuring to know that none of our graduates are in non- Christian lands to build a new social order. They are there for the sole objective of presenting to all men everywhere a Saviour who can save from the uttermost to the uttermost. Evangelism still prevails! Education of the national church must of necessity keep pace with the growing literacy of the world and there never was a time in the history of missions when so many young peo ple were being trained in mission schools. Government education of the natives is both a blessing, and the reverse. Christian young men are often lured into well-paying commer cial pursuits and government posi tions and forget the claims of Christ upon their lives. Therefore the mis sionaries lay great stress upon full consecration that the bright, well- educated national Christians be not lost to the world when their own peo ple and tribes so desperately need their witness. A well-trained, spirit ual, national church leadership is the only hope of all nations today.
Indian Bible Moore.
Institute, Peru, Rev. J. W.
Trade languages are of some assist ance to the missionary, as the Hausa in Northern Nigeria, spoken by sev enteen million people, Swahili in the Belgian Congo, and of course Spanish in Latin American countries. To go into lengthy statistics in this regard is impossible but a few examples will illustrate the problem: Dr. L. M. Chaffer, British Cameroons, West Africa says: “We treat fifteen or more tribes; the trade language almost en t i r e l y b y intercommunication is pidgin English.” Of his Alaskan field Mr. Gillespie states: “ It is composed of Eskimo, Indian, Aleut and white, and gener ally speaking, English is used, and the native tongues are dying out.” One thinks of Korea as a land where one language is used, but Mrs. 0. V. Armstrong of the Presbyterian Board names eleven tribes, all with different dialects, among their parish ioners. Grace Fuqua of Wycliffe lists 30 tribes with unpronouncable names in Peru alone; Dorothy Uhlig lists eight tribes in Northern Thailand. Fortunate indeed are those who can reach most of their people through the old established languages and have only to learn German, Arabic, Portuguese, Marathi, Urdu, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, J a p a n e s e , Dutch, Spanish, etc. Dr. Ben Elson, of the Instituto Linguistico De Verano, under Wyc liffe furnishes a vivid picture of the task the missionary faces: “We were assigned to work among the Sierra Populaca Indians in our state of Veracruz, a tribe of ten to twelve thousand, to learn the lan guage, to give the language an alpha bet, prepare literacy materials which would be usable by linguists, anthro pologists and others. . . . We have been able to translate and publish the Gospel of Mark and have had steady reading classes where several people have been taught to read and write. A few Popolucas have made profession of faith . . . they are a fairly prosperous Indian group, grow com and coffee. Their culture and
Missionary James R. Walters— TEAM— of Nagano-Ken, Japan— with national Chris tians. not enough with which to contend, cults from America have made in roads: Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rho desia, Mormons in Hawaii, Seventh- day Adventists in Peru, etc; and of course Roman Catholicism dominates all Latin American lands, as well as reaching deep into Africa, and the
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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