Over on their blog, Eddie and Sue Arthur remember back to the time when they first started exploring their options for mission thirty years ago. They remember when they first heard about Wycliffe and made a decision, and when they first travelled out to West Africa to start work with the Kouya people:
‘It took two years of hard work before we became at all comfortable speaking Kouya, and even then it remained a huge struggle to say things in a way that people would understand what we were going on about. But there is nothing in the world to compare to the thrill of being accepted into a community that is completely different to your own. We used to love the expression on people’s faces when they would realise that we were speaking Kouya rather than French. Complete strangers would stop in market and say, “Aya, the world has changed, the toubabs (white people) are speaking Kouya.”[…]
‘There is one thing that was clearly communicated to the Kouya through our presence in their village: God cares for them. They may be a small ethnic group, more or less ignored or unknown by the larger groups around them, but God sent his servants to live amongst them and God speaks their language. I loved it when an elderly Kouya said to me that the Kouya were just as important as the Americans, French or Germans, because God spoke their language, just the same as he did for those others.’
‘It took two years of hard work before we became at all comfortable speaking Kouya, and even then it remained a huge struggle to say things in a way that people would understand what we were going on about. But there is nothing in the world to compare to the thrill of being accepted into a community that is completely different to your own. We used to love the expression on people’s faces when they would realise that we were speaking Kouya rather than French. Complete strangers would stop in market and say, “Aya, the world has changed, the toubabs (white people) are speaking Kouya.”[…]You can read the rest of the post on Eddie and Sue’s blog. Eddie Arthur is director of Wycliffe in the UK and Sue Arthur is a translation consultant for projects in Africa.
Are you wondering, like Eddie and Sue, what path your life might take? Our taster event, First Steps, will help you discover how your gifts can serve Bible translation.
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