Do people use the New Testament in their mother tongue? (by Douglas)

This is one of the hardest questions we face as we support Bible translation projects. Will people actually read the completed Scriptures? What affects whether or not these New Testaments are used?

In eastern Congo, the only published New Testament our group has seen so far is in the Fuliiru language. But several other New Testaments either are in press right now, or will be published in the next few years. Naturally, we want to know what kinds of factors affect whether or not people read them, so we can prepare as well as possible.

Ten thousand copies have been distributed; is their message being heard?
Do people find the words 'sweet', or are the books only a curiosity?

This was the work of the Strategic Research Team (Dr Bagamba Araali and me) -- to design and oversee the collection of interview data among the Fuliiru people themselves.

To get to the Fuliiru translation office in Kiliba, Bagamba and I traveled by air, sea, and land. On 20 August we flew to the town of Goma, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu. The next morning, we crossed the lake in a "rapid boat" (« canot rapide »).

Bukavu is on the southern shore. The photo below was taken from the window of a restaurant where we ate on our return trip.

In Bukavu we met the research team, pictured with us in Kiliba: Rév. Mbirize Masumbuko (Fuliiru Language Program Director); Feston and Malega, two other translators who have worked with him on the Fuliiru Bible now in draft; and six other Fuliiru pastors and Christian leaders. Mbirize is in the top left of the photo, Malega is next to me, and Feston is the only one in the "middle row".

The field researchers with Mbirize, Bagamba, Douglas and a guy in a football jersey.

The best road from Bukavu to Kiliba passes through Rwanda. I hadn't ever thought that my first visit to Rwanda would last less than one hour -- much less my second visit, six days later! Bagamba and I rode in the front seat of the van in this photo. The white sign wishes us a good trip in English, French and Kinyarwanda.

After re-entering Congo, we dropped off pairs of researchers at various places on the way to Kiliba, arranging for them to meet us after five days of interviews in a total of about twenty villages. Madame Tulizo, whom you see here, is the widow of a pastor.

Saying 'see you later' to Mama Tulizo

Tulizo testified that people in the chapel she serves used to be hesitant to pray in public. They didn't have all the vocabulary they needed in their own language, and they weren't sure how to use the Swahili words that they had heard. Since people started receiving teaching from the Fuliiru New Testament, though, there are always enough volunteers to pray in Fuliiru, and the contents of their prayers are theologically rich.

When walking with a camera, I often trailed behind Bagamba and Mbirize. On the left, we're going to the translation office shortly after our arrival in Kiliba. There were two cozy guest rooms, complete with solar power. On the right, Bagamba goes with Mbirize to see Lake Tanganyika up close.

The office is a few hundred yards above a Pentecostal church. On the other side of the road is the turnoff for a famous sugar factory; however, some of the factory equipment was damaged in the war and it is no longer in operation. I took this photo while waiting for the bus back to Bukavu.

But what did we find? More after the break...

Beautiful photos, beautiful faces... one talented photographer

Our young friend Anna is in Nyankunde with her father and sister for a few weeks - her first trip to Congo.  She posted these beautiful photos of people in the village and hospital there. Enjoy.

Ibambi (by Jennings)

(All photos in this post were taken by our friend D. Wright and are used with his permission)

Ibambi is what you think of when you think of Congo: lush forest, green everywhere, palm trees, cassava plants, chickens running around, houses made of sticks and mud with grass thatched roofs; kids laughing and running and playing. Gorgeous, fertile, humid, peaceful.

I am here to work with a local translation team, to finish checking the book of Matthew so they can publish trial editions. I am staying on what used to be a mission station, in a “Centre d’accueil” (conference center) built by a German organization. The housing for guests is starkly different from the housing of the translators who live on the same compound. The center housing is a row of single rooms, made of brick and concrete, with a tin roof. There is a lot of wood (mahogany, I’m told) – wooden ceilings in the rooms, wooden shutters in the windows (no glass), wooden doors. Even the outhouse has wooden seats with wooden lids to keep the flies out! The translators have stick and mud houses with thatched roofs. People hang light cloths in the windows and doorways during the day, to keep flies out and to let the breeze through.

There is a big, open grassy area where kids gather to play football. I have not seen so many smiling, happy kids in a long time.

They also put in a bore hole and pump, so water is readily available. I have my own bucket, so I can get water for bathing or washing clothes whenever I want. The center staff will heat water for me if I ask. And the head translator is providing me with filtered water for drinking.

Pounding greens with a mortar and pestle

The local staple food is manioc. The leaves are pounded and cooked (with copious amounts of palm oil) in a dish called “sombe” (sohm-bay). The root is cut up and fried in oil, or pounded into a powder and cooked with water to make foufou. Groundnuts are also plentiful – we’ve had them for breakfast and for snacks.
There are (or were) large palm oil plantations nearby, and coffee plantations. We have local coffee in the morning, along with groundnuts and beignets fried in palm oil.

There are dozens of varieties of banana in Ibambi

After a rain, the termites come out, and people collect them - a delicacy!