Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Serving with
Pioneer Bible Translators
Jme, 1990
Dear Friends,
Bonjour! Ca va?
(French)
Ini sogana!
(Bambara)
Tana mo xi!
(Susu)
These are just of few of the greetings that I used for the past three months in some
of the languages I encountered in West Africa. It was cfuite a challer^e switching
back and forth, first in Ffeli with the French, Bambara and Boarru languages, and then
in Guinea with French and Susu.
Arriving in Africa Yolanda and I left on schedule on the 1st of March and
arrived in Bamako, hfeli on the 2nd. To our surprise there was no one to pick us up
at the airport, i^parently our message to pick us up had not been received. But
thankfully there were about 15 missionaries with Gospel Missionary Union in the
airport seeing one of their members off viho helped us get to vAiere we needed to go
that night.
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lessons for a primer v^ich can be used in the future to help teach Boomu speakers how
to read. We helped them in planning for the rest of the primers, planning strategies
for training teachers, holding writer's workshops, and building the reading reasources
available to Boomu speakers.
In ^dition to the wcrk, we were able to see much of the culture in Mali and meet
many Africans and other missionaries and see a thriving church in Africa.
We had
the opportunity to fellowship with Rose and her partner Barb and gain a lot of insight
into working in this part of Africa in Bible translation. The Lord really blessed our
time there, and we could see His hand guidir^ us in so many ways.
In Guinea We left Mall March 16 and arrived in Guinea, where we spent the next
two and a half months working with Brad and Estel Willits in the Susu village of
,ttonkifong. I had mentioned in my last letter that John Mark had been seriously
injured in a car accident. We were glad to hear that/after some tests in Italy, he
was able to return to Africa and his health was nearly back to normal.
Literacy planning We worked
almost every day during the week,
learning the Susu language and
writing primer lessons, just as we
had begun to do in Mali, but this
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people.
Susu culture As a result of our time spent with the people, we vere also able
to see more of how the Susu live and how they via^ their world. The Susu culture is
predaninantly Muslum; many of the men went to the Mosque to pray to Allah and we saw
many men and women praying at the five designated times a day in front of their homes,
especially during the holy month of Ramadan during the 1 I. part of March and the
first part of April. Most of the people f^ted during dayli^t hours during Ramadan.
This brou^t up sane interesting conversations with some of the Susu about how
Christians pray and fast.
A Christian witness For the most part 1 felt that people were very curio\as
about our Christian faith, and respjected us for our devotion to God. I saw many doors
open for developing relationships with the people and leaders of the village. I saw
how projects such as the medical work that Jackie, Brad's mother does, and Brad's
helping to dig a well for the community, have helped to build trust among the people.
I saw that the Susu, just like any other people, have many felt needs that remain
unmet without the saving knowledge of God's grace through His son, Jesus. So many
z'
times I wanted to gives ansvers to their needs, but felt unable to because I did not
know the language or how to connnunicate the message uniquely to them.
Back in the US During the summer months, now that I am back in Missouri, I
will be doing some travelling to campjs and churches and hopefully working p)art-time.
^iMy next step is to begin looking at options for getting further study in the French //
language so as to improve my effectiveness in working in Literacy and Translation iry
Africa in the future.
Prayer and Praise I am thankful to God for a very successful, safe and
fruitful trip. I know many people were praying and God answered those prayers. My
faith grew as I saw Him work so many things out and open doors that I never expected.
I left Africa with a sincere belief that God truly moves men and nations to the
vrorking out of His will.
_
Hone address:
Forwarding agents:
Karen Wilhoit
12051 Cato
Florissant, Mo
Florissant, Mo
63033
ZZ NtfP
63033
on'r'
' ^2 ^Qr)f
Karen Wiihoit
Dear Friends,
November, 1990
organizing a literacy program so that the Susu can read their own language and
the scriptures.
My _f irgt fgrm will last two tQ__three years, during which time
as follows:
January 1990
July 1990
January 1992
Summer 1992
J.994
translation
FINDING A HOUSE - When I arrivein Guinea, one of the first things that I will
need to do is arrange for housing somewhere in the village of Wonkifong where
This may invoivs building a new houee for mysel-f and any
Please
THE NEED FOR A COMPUTER - Because the work I will be doing will involve
handling large amounts of language data and organizing it in a way that will
be useful for analysis and publishing, it will be necessary for me to purchase
a computer. Please pray that I will be able to raise the funds necessary to
obtain this useful tool.
THE NEED TO STUDY FRENCH - During the colonial period by much of the western
world, France established colonies in West Africa and set up a system of
French government. Although today the former French West Africa is now broken
up into many independent countries each governed by African nationals, the
French language and way of doing things is a permanent feature of this part of
the world. French is the national language of most West African countries,
work will be conducted in- languages of the Africans, like Susu, there will be
a need to-use French as a trade language in airports, banks, markets and with
people who do not speak Susu, such as other Africans, missionaries, and
Europeans. There are some 28 African languages spoken in Guinea alone, and
missionaries and other foreigners from countries like France, Holland,
Switzerland, Russia and Lebanon, to name a few, all using French as the common
language for business and trade. I have studied French for the past year on
my own, and have been taking a class with the Alliance Francaise for the past
three months, which has given me a good beginning. But it may be required to
study French further to gain more fluency and be more effective in my
//uncertain. Let us not forget that God promises that, even though the earthL shall pass away, His word will never pass away.
we can be sure of, and the one thing that we can know will outlast all else.
It has stood up to the test of time, immense political upheaval and cultural
In these times when everyone is divided in our nation and in our world over
many issues and we are asked to give loyalty to conflicting interests all
around us, let us remember to whom our primary loyalty belongsto the Lord
Jehovah God, whose Kingdom will outlast all others. Let us not forget our
mission, as the church, to share this hope with other people around us, with
other cultures and other nations.
Personal Correspondence:
Forwarding Agents:
Karen Wilhoit
12051 Cato
Florissant, Mo
Florissant, Mo
63033
ZZ w ^ 1
63033