Bible translation helps language communities feel noticed by God
Bible translation programs often bring multiple benefits to language communities around the world. The primary benefit to any language group—and any individual—is access to God’s life-changing Word, in the language that matters to them most. Once people can read and understand the Word, they can begin to grasp their inherent value as children of God.
For the Kera people of Chad and neighbouring Cameroon, the development of the Kera language also resulted in a growing sense of their significance as a people. For countless generations, the Kera were looked down upon by neighbouring groups whose languages were spoken by hundreds of thousands, even millions of people. In contrast, the Kera numbered about 54,000 when Wycliffe’s Jackie Hainaut first arrived in 1989 to help them revise and improve their orthography (writing system) and begin translating the New Testament. In addition, literacy rates in Chad’s two official languages, French and Arabic, were extremely low among the Kera.
In Kera churches, lay preachers had to rely heavily on the languages of neighbouring people groups when composing sermons or Bible lessons—languages they did not know well. Church leaders who wanted to receive pastoral training were forced to attend schools far from their language area, and usually the language of instruction was French or Fulfuldé, another major language in the region.
Subtle shift
The Kera’s feelings of cultural inferiority began to subside as Scripture portions became available in their language, and hundreds began attending literacy classes so they could begin reading God’s Word for themselves.
Their joy found full expression in February 2006, when church leaders and dignitaries joined about 2,500 Kera to dedicate their translation of the New Testament. During the festivities, a number of people thanked Jackie for her contributions to the translation project, saying, “Today we are counted among the people.”
Having their own New Testament translation gave the Kera something long denied them by neighbouring language groups: an identity.
Growing pride
Jackie says the Kera’s pride in their language and culture has continued to grow and literacy continues to thrive among them.
“They no longer pass themselves off as Toupouri people (a neighbouring tribe with whom they share a common culture) when they travel outside of their area.”
Furthermore, the Kera—whose numbers now exceed 100,000—promote their language and culture through festivals held regularly in Kera communities in Chad and Cameroon.
At one such event in 2016, Kera speaker Djonkamla Gagué said: “Even if a tree trunk spends a long time in the water, it will never become a crocodile. Our Kera culture is the fundamental element of our existence. When we see a tree prosper, it’s because its roots are firmly grounded in the land that has fed it.
“God planted us where we are, in the Kera culture, and we need to appreciate it and see its worth.”
This November, the Kera hope to celebrate another significant milestone in their cultural and spiritual journey: the dedication of the full Bible in the language that matters to them most.