When Audrey Taylor and her husband John went to work with the Kaiwá people in Brazil over 40 years ago, there were no Scriptures at all in the local language. Here she tells the story not just of the translation of the Bible into Kaiwá, but of the transformation that God’s Word has brought in individual lives:
“The Kaiwá live in south-west Brazil , on the frontier with Paraguay . The landscape now is very different from what it was in the 1960s. Then, the view from the Kaiwá Mission (a Presbyterian mission) was just gallery forest. Now you can see for miles. The population too has changed dramatically. In the 1960s it was estimated that there were around 5,000 Kaiwá: now there are about 25,000. The people live on reservations with houses dotted about, each with its own fields where they can grow crops for their families. Most families expect to plant enough to feed their families, and some plant soya beans to sell, but the Kaiwá are still very poor materially.
God’s Word, heart to heart
“The request for the Bible to be translated into Kaiwá came from the (Brazilian) leaders of the Kaiwá Mission, who saw that Kaiwá people who became Christians as a result of preaching in Portuguese never seemed to grow in their faith. Then, as now, they needed God’s Word in their own heart language. Still today, most Kaiwá speak their mother tongue almost exclusively in their homes, and even in Kaiwá itself, literacy is low. Recently there has been a drive to provide schools for the Kaiwá; however, most of the teachers have not been Kaiwá speakers. Many of the children leave because they don’t understand what is expected of them, and feel humiliated.
“Translation was quite a slow process: we had to start with language analysis, as Kaiwá was only an oral language. The New Testament was translated over a period of 25 years, with the first copies being dedicated in 1986. Still today, as the Kaiwá discover the Bible in their own language, we hear the same words over and over again: ‘Now we can really understand this! We don’t understand when people tell us only in Portuguese!’”
Just the beginning
But the dedication of the New Testament is not the end of the story. With God’s Word available in Kaiwá, the local church began to grow. As Kaiwá Christians grew in their faith they became leaders of the church, training and learning at the Mission’s Bible Institute.
Germina is one of the second generation of Kaiwá Christians. Growing up in the Kaiwá church, she recalls how her own relationship with God truly began in her late twenties: “When I was a little girl my mother and father always took me to church, but I didn’t understand what it was all about. But one day, when I was 29, I said to God, “Please tell me what all this means. I’ve gone on too long not knowing anything. Please help me understand. And God did! He gave me understanding and helped me see what his Word was saying. At last I knew what it was all about and I was filled with joy.”
Germina and her husband Xisto are just two of the Kaiwá Christians now involved in continuing Bible translation, church planting and evangelism to surrounding Kaiwá villages.
Power to save
It is in this ongoing outreach to the Kaiwá that SGM is involved. Its range of Power to save (PTS) booklets (extracts from Luke and Mark’s gospels), created with Wycliffe Bible Translators, is designed to bring God’s Word to minority language groups. For some language groups, no other Scripture is available. For others, such as Kaiwá, other Scripture is available but the booklets are used in evangelism and to help those with low literacy skills to access God’s Word in their heart language.
Audrey explains how PTS is helping in evangelism amongst the Kaiwá:
“The need for PTS became very apparent when Bible Institute students began visiting villages where there was no Christian witness. They didn’t know how to go about explaining the Gospel. Just taking along a Kaiwá New Testament didn’t work. Since the booklets have been available, people have found evangelism much easier, and more effective.
“For example, Lourdes uses PTS during visits to the hospital at the Kaiwá mission. She tells of an old man, Manuel, who was paralysed. When she read the booklet to him, he asked her to explain more about it. Then he said, ‘Please come back again and read those “paper-words” to me!’ She visited him several times, and each time he asked her to read the booklet again. The story of the paralysed man particularly touched him.
“Inocencio uses the booklets extensively on village visits. He describes one occasion when he was reading to a Kaiwá man of about 30. The following day the man came back to find ‘Inocencio. He said, ‘I’ve been thinking about what you read to me, and I’ve been asking myself, “Do I find happiness from parties, dances and chanting sessions?” I’m always searching but I feel empty. Now I know that it is Jesus who gives real happiness. The other happiness is just for an hour or two. This happiness is for all time.’
Salt for society
“When we first came to live and work with the Kaiwá there were many challenges, not least the need to bring God’s Word in their own language. That work continues and the Old Testament translation is now about 30-40 per cent complete. Change in the world around us has brought new challenges too. Nearby cities have grown, and proximity to these cities has brought new problems. In these situations, Kaiwá people are experiencing the breakdown of family life and the loss of their traditional cultural standards. In many ways it’s a very negative scenario, but in the middle of it all, the Gospel is such a positive force. God’s Word is salt in the Kaiwá society.”
Courtesy of Life Words
