October, 1935
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
367
expressions they use. Thus bit by bit from a mountain o f strange speech can a vocabulary be quar ried by the listening ear. Peculiar sounds, clicks, or stops often go unnoticed, and disaster results. Approximately three hundred ar ticulations are used throughout the world in the production of words, and although English uti lizes more of these than does any other language (nearly fifty), even the English-speaking mis sionary invariably en cou n te r s many sbunds which are new to him and which if hard to recog nize are likewise hard to repro duce vocally or represent on the
and testing. Lives were at stake; the success of the work was at stake; financial losses were in volved. The problem required an answer. The suggestion was ad vanced that a great aid toward a solution would be a summer train ing camp in the United States, where, at little expense, candi dates might go and, in an environ ment approximating to a certain degree, at least, that o f the mis sion field, receive special instruc tion for pioneer work. C amp W ycliffe Such a camp was founded in 1934 at Sulphur Springs, Arkan
Courtesy, American Bible Society
Far-reaching results may be expected when God's own Word can be sold and carried home, as is possible at this market town in Brazil. When believed, the Word brings ¡oy.
printed page. Yet this use of the language must be ac curate, or else serious mistakes result. For instance, there are two words in Cakchiquel which, except for an illusive click, are identical; yet one means Saviour and the other deceiver. The pioneer missionary must also discover in a slow and tedious way the structure of the language into which he would translate the Bible. Here again are found a great variety o f types. Chinese and kindred tongues, some of which have never received the Scriptures, are almost devoid o f what we commonly call grammar. They depend on “ tones” and the position o f the word in the sentence for variation o f meaning. Other languages, like that o f the Cakchiquel Indians o f Guatemala, are highly complex, per mitting a single verb to he conjugated in a thousand differ ent forms. Such a problem as this demands specialization both in trainirig and subsequent service. Specilization has been very common in evangelistic, medical, and educational mis sions, but has been greatly lacking in the translation phase o f the problem. This lack undoubtedly accounts to a large degree for the fact that so much remains to be done along this line. A S olution Explorations and surveys in unevangelized fields have been carried on for a number o f years by the Pioneer Mis sion Agency. Data amassed by this and other institutions concerning the great unfinished task o f the church have been carefully studied and a solution sought. At first it was decided that more men, more prayer, and more conse crated money were needed, along with closer adherence to Pauline methods. Fervent volunteers were recruited. Their
sas, on a small farm in the rustic Ozarks. It was called Camp Wycliffe in honor o f the man who, in 1382, gave English-speaking peoples their first Bible and who was bitterly persecuted in consequence. The camp is open for two and a half months each summer when the seminaries and Bible Institutes are generally closed. The men live in an old farmhouse, sleep on hard bunks, do their own cook ing, and take daily hikes of several miles. L. L. Legters, Field Secretary o f the Pioneer Mission Agency, whose survey, exploration, and missionary work in behalf o f un evangelized tribes have versed him thoroughly in the spiritual needs and possibilities o f the Indians o f the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America, gives a course on the distribution, customs, beliefs, and methods o f reaching primitive peoples. E. L. McCreery, Dean o f the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles, who has done language reduction work and Bible translation in Africa, and who is one o f America’s outstanding authorities on the .subject o f phonetics from the translator’s viewpoint, gives a thirty-six-hour course on how to detect, reproduce, and write the articulations o f speech in a scientific way. It is my privilege to lead the men in a study o f the morphology o f language. We compare the inflectional, isolating, and agglutinative linguistic types and then delve into the beau ties of grammatical structure o f the Cakchiquel language into which it was Mrs. Townsend’s and my joy to trans late the New Testament. Visiting missionaries and others give vital lectures on kindred themes. Tw o AND A H alf M onths S ave Tw o and a H alf Y ears It is my conviction, based upon my own experience of stumbling along among the Cakchiquels, that two and a half months spent at Camp Wycliffe prior to going to the
academic and medical or theolog ical training was as good as that ordinarily expected o f a mission ary— in fact, above the average. T fe y were sent forth backed by much prayer and sacrificial giv ing, but when the problem of reaching the tribes of the hinter lands was attacked, one by one the majority were turned aside or met with defeat. City-bred men, though highly capable o f master ing languages in the classrooms o f a university or sem inary, found it hard to adapt themselves to the peoples and conditions o f the jungle. In fact, investigation revealed that it was nothing short o f criminal to send them forth without some specialized training
field will save the pioneer mis sionary at least two and a half years o f trial and error struggling with an unwritten language. In many cases this preparation will prevent his giving up in the face o f a problem which seems to have no solution. In this way it will save the cause o f missions many thousands o f dollars. Further, men who cannot stand up to pio neer life will be culled out be fore large sums o f money have been spent in getting them to the field. All this is done in the home land at the ridiculously small monthly cost o f six or seven dol lars per man, for board, room, and laundry. [Continued on page 372]
A gifted translator, Nai Trung (center), at work at ren dering the Scriptures into Miao, Siam. Courtesy, American Bible Society
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