The Impact of God’s Word in Africa

Bibles International hosted its annual Harvest Dinner October 21, 2010, at Calvary Baptist Church in Grand Rapids. Approximately 620 guests enjoyed the evening filled with good food, good fellowship, and good challenges from God’s Word. BI’s eight Chadian projects were highlighted that evening. The offering brought in about $42,000 in gifts and pledges. Rev. Mark Seymour, Baptist Mid-Missions missionary who served 20 years in Chad, was the featured speaker. Following is his message:

Greetings in the name of the Lord!  It is a real honor to be with you tonight.  I want to thank the leadership of Bibles International for inviting me.  The Lord allowed my wife, Debbie, and me to coordinate the eight translation projects of Bibles International in Chad for 20 years.  When we arrived in Chad, there was one New Testament in print.  Now we have six New Testaments in print.  What a difference this has made in the ministry in Chad!

A key word in today’s vocabulary is impact.  We have impact drills and impact wrenches. In sports, we have impact players. In Matthew 28:19-20, we are called and commissioned to impact our world for Christ with the Gospel.  I want to share with you how the translation of the Word of God in Chad is impacting lives, the church, the country, and neighboring countries.

Michel was a hard drinking Sara Kaba Dem man who would not even listen to the presentation of the Gospel. One Sunday as he walked by the church on the way to the river to fish, he stopped, listened, then he went in and sat down in the back of the church.  At the end of the service, he went forward and trusted Christ as his personal Savior.  When asked what had made the difference, he said that he never knew God spoke Dem.  That Sunday was the first time the Sara Kaba Dem New Testament had been used in the church.  Romans 10:17 says Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  The impact of the written Word!  Michel always has a list of Biblical questions to ask me when I see him and most of them have to do with the Old Testament.  He can hardly wait to be able to read the Old Testament in Sara Kaba Dem!

The church as a whole has been impacted and continues to be impacted as the Word is translated.  In the early 1970’s, the church went through a time of persecution.  It was estimated that 70 percent of the believers compromised their faith during that time.  There was only one New Testament in print when all this happened.  The next time the church went through a time of persecution we had 6 New Testaments in print and it was estimated that only 30 percent of the believers compromised their faith.  The impact of more people having God’s Word in their own mother tongue is amazing!

A week after the Sara Madjingaye New Testament arrived in Chad, I decided to take an evangelistic trip with a group of Bible School students which would allow us to use and distribute the New Testaments.  Many people were saved over that weekend as people heard the Gospel in their own language.  On the way home, I had to stop the vehicle due to rain.  When I did, the vehicle was surrounded by a whole group of tribal initiates who worship Satan.  You could feel the evil and danger.  The leader, a tall Sara man, came up to the passenger side window of the truck and asked the pastor for something to eat or money to buy food.  The group of initiates all carried whips and they are allowed to beat those who do not help them.  While I was trying to decide what to do, the pastor took one of the New Testaments, put it through the window into the face of the initiate leader.  He then said “This is the Word of God.  This book says what you are doing is sin and we will not give you anything or help you in any way.” I really thought that the pastor could have been a little more diplomatic!  You could sense the spiritual battle going on.  Then the leader gave a huge laugh and the group disappeared into the bush.  It was a no nonsense battle between Satan and the Word of God! The impact of the power of the Word in the culture! The Word also impacts lives, as the pastor confronting with the Word of God in hand that day was one of the pastors who had compromised years earlier!

All schooling in Chad is done in French.  The government feels that if the children can learn to read in their mother tongue first it will then be easier for them to learn to read in French. The only books printed in their mother tongues are the different New Testaments. Therefore the country is being impacted as the government is buying the New Testaments in order to teach children to read in the public schools.  Isaiah 55 says that the Word of God will never return void.  God is not limited when He wants to impact a country with the Gospel!

There is another way that the translated Word of God is impacting the country and church.  The literacy rate in Chad is about 48% for those 15 years of age and over.  Yet in the church the rate is at least 75% as people want to know what God has to say to them.  Bibles International has printed reading primers and Old Testament story books so that people can learn to read.  Many churches have classes where they are taught to read. How thrilling it is to hear the rustle of the pages of God’s Word in the church when once this sound was not heard!

The majority of the Rito and Dagba people live in the Central African Republic, the bordering country to the south of Chad.  When I was growing up in Chad and going to school in Central African Republic, I made several trips to witness among the Ritos.  I felt for a long time that God might have me to be a missionary to the Rito people.  Little did I know that God would call me to Chad where I would be involved in helping the Ritos get the Word of God as the translation work is being done in Chad.  The translation of the Word of God is not only impacting Chad but also the Central African Republic.  What an opportunity to impact whole countries with the Gospel!

God is in the business of impacting lives. He is using the translated Word to do this in a mighty way in Chad.  The missionaries ministering in Chad along with the Chadians covet your prayers for the continuing ministry of Bible translation.  We fully expect the Word to continue to impact lives and expect a great harvest!

Thank you so much for allowing me to come and share what God is doing in Chad through the Bible translation ministry!