All the Way to Timbuktu

Timbuktu was once only a well, a tim, owned by a woman named Buktu, as the traditional folklore explains it. Now it is a city of some importance in the northern part of Mali, West Africa. Because of political unrest in Mali, Missionary Ken Beckley lives in Niger, but flew to Timbuktu to meet with Chief Translation Consultant Glenn Kerr for a workshop on April 11-22, 2011.

Although the translation and review team hasn’t usually joined Glenn and Ken for the consultation workshops, the whole team of five nationals was able to meet together each day for this workshop. Comments from so many participants sometimes slowed the process a bit, but Glenn was grateful for their input. The three women on this team often had to keep watch of their children while participating in the workshop, which further slowed the process. But they offered a different perspective on the language, helping the words to flow more smoothly. Sometimes, one would say in French that the words were boiteux, meaning the words were lame, stiff, or a bad translation. Glenn was able to check their translation work on Galatians, Ephesians, and 1-3 John.

Glenn and Ken had rooms in the guest house of the Timbuktu Baptist Church and used the living room area for their workshop. Ken projected their translation work on the wall, so all could see and participate. Since the temperatures were between 115˚-120˚, they placed frozen water bottles near the projector to keep it cool. At night, Ken slept on the roof, but Glenn chose to stay indoors beneath his mosquito netting.

All the meals were provided by the Malians, which was a change from the typical pattern of staying in a missionary’s home. Lunch usually consisted of rice with a sauce flavored with meat, tomato, or peanuts served in one common bowl and eaten with the fingers. Water was drawn from wells, filtered, and frozen.  The daily routines seem very tedious and inconvenient to westerners, but they are normal living for many of the locals.

Little did anyone know that the city of Timbuktu was temporarily running on only one diesel power generator and was systematically shutting down parts of the city to conserve electricity. Ken contracted with an electrician to install a portable generator for 20,000 West African francs (less than 50 USD) which took most of one day. The second day, after intermittent and flickering power, they found a child watching the generator and pouring water into it. When they finally received electricity from the city again, they discovered that their wiring had been fried, so they had to hire the electrician again to fix the problem, making their final cost around 60,000 francs (about 150 USD).

Despite the complications, the team was able to cover some difficult passages of Scripture. They struggled with finding the right translation of “covenant.” The Songhai language has the word alkabiili, but it is a general word that is used to refer to an agreement, a covenant, a contract, or a promise. They do not have specific terms for each of these concepts. They also have the word tammahadi, and the translators first used that word for “covenant.” But since that word is more like our word “hope,” they decided that it would not work. If they use alkabiili for “promise,” they have no other word to use for “covenant.” The word choice becomes particularly significant in passages like Ephesians 2:12, where all three words are used: “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” Since alkabiili can be used in Songhai culture to refer to a covenant, they decided to use that word. But in order to distinguish it from “promise,” they added the intensifier “big.” A covenant involves multiple promises and obligations, so the Songhai terms meaning “big agreement” seemed to be the best solution to this complicated problem.

The Songhai translators have the advantage of various similar translations to consult in aiding them in difficult passages. Of course, the Greek is the constant reference source, but the Louis Segond French translation, considered the standard French translation, was often referred to. Other French translations, including  Parole de Vie (a French translation made for Côte d’Ivoire), and an Old Songhai translation (done around 1938) were also a tremendous help. The team also referred to the Dendi (Benin) and Zarma (Niger) New Testaments, already published by Bibles International.

Most Africans are not as time conscious as most people in western cultures. A meeting scheduled at 10 o’clock might begin at 10:30, 11:00, or later. This mindset even had an effect on translating the verse “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). They had to translate it as saying, “take every opportunity.”

Sometimes, literal translations have a humorous tone. “The prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2) was first rendered in the draft as “the prince who has strong wind.” Not wanting to imply that Satan talked too much or had intestinal problems, they changed it to “the prince of the evil spirits of this world.”

Glenn started the second week with a surprise “Celebration in a Suitcase” to honor Bibles International’s 30th anniversary. He even baked some cakes in metal bowls for the occasion. He hopes to return next February or March to check the Songhai’s work in I Corinthians and I Peter. No distance is too far to spread the message of God’s Word—even all the way to Timbuktu.