Aug-Sept '08
“The time wus gerrin' near fer the Sairvyer ter cum on airth."
I was recently lent a copy of 'The Gospels in Black Country Dialect', written by Kate Fletcher (thanks, Maureen!). The opening sentence, based on Matthew chapter 2 is written above. One of my favourite sections in the book is when Jesus gives the Beatitudes
in Matthew chapter 5: "Blessid am them wot mourn fer thay'll be cumfortid. Blessid am the meek fer thay'll in'erit th' airth. Blessid am them wot 'unger an' thairst after rychussniss fer thay'll be satisfied..." The passage ends "Jesus tode 'is dissiples wen ennybody wus crewel tew 'em or pairsekewtid 'em on accahnt of 'im, not ter be sorry, but glad, cus thayer riwards in 'Evv'n 'ud be grairt. 'E sed thay 'udn't be the' onny ones ter be traytid ruff 'cus the proffits of ode
wor alliz traytid rite".
Localised accents are fascinating because of the different pronunciations that people use to describe the same realities. Even within our own church we have a variety of accents and it's always interesting to listen out for where different emphases
are placed. Our recent Evening Service readings from Daniel are a case in point: is he pronounced "A-bed-ne-go" or "A-bed-naaaay-go"? Is it "Dar-eye-us" or "Da-ri-os"? Just a few weeks ago I attended a Commissioning service at the very impressive Westminster Methodist Central Hall and near to the reception area was a collection of various bookmarks with short sayings on them, representing over 25 different languages. My heart missed a beat contemplating what
it must be like to preach effectively to a diverse range of nationalities, week-in week-out, many of whom may not share English as their dominant language.
When I was doing some reading during my College training, I came across a very interesting comment: "The
eternal Word of God only ever speaks in a local accent". It was trying to convey the point that Jesus, God's Word, is of such global importance that our preaching about him must be relevant to the many different contexts and places that preachers find themselves in. Abstract sayings
or teachings about Jesus will only become meaningful when they are contextualised into different cultures - otherwise they are not a lot of use to anyone. The message of salvation remains the same but sometimes the method needs careful thought.
The Black Country Baptist churches are being invited to participate in the 'First Gospel' project in partnership with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Based in Nigeria, the 'First Gospel' projects represent nine different languages. During the
trial of Luke's Gospel in one particular location a village elder said "If we had known these things before, we would have become Christians long ago". The 'First Gospel' project that we are encouraged to focus on is an exciting opportunity to enable the Bible to be translated into the native tongue of the Koma people of Nigeria. The Koma are a very isolated group and live on the border with Cameroon. The outside world only became aware of their existence in the 1980s. Only two per cent of the Koma people are Christians. Over the next four years, starting this September, a team of volunteer translators will embark upon translating
Luke's Gospel into their own language. Wouldn't it be great to facilitate this project, both prayerfully and financially, and then to celebrate the commissioning of a Koma version of Luke's gospel, discipleship resources and a Koma version of the Jesus film in the autumn of 2012? Do come along on Sunday 7th September to our joint Evening service with Halesowen Baptist Church to hear more details.
With English being such a globally-recognised language, it is easy to forget that there are approximately 7,000 living languages in the world today. Wycliffe Bible Translators estimate that 196 million people still do not have access to a Bible in their native language. Such numbers are too vast for us to comprehend. May we give thanks to God for those who have enabled the Bible to be read in so many languages and may we pray persistently that others will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the life-changing gospel of Christ that we have been entrusted to share. What was it Jesus said in Matthew chapter 28?
(in Black Country):
"God's gid me power in 'Evv'n an' airth. Goo an' praych the gospel ter the peeple of all nairshuns, baptisin' 'em in the nairme o' the Fairther, the Son, an' th' 'Oly Ghost, taychin 'em ter dew the things ar'n cummarndid yer".
May God bless you with a bostin summer,
Andy.
