Post 84 / The Next Language
April 5, 2022
Voices in the Wilderness
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight’” (Mark 1:3).
What John the Baptist was to Jesus the Christ so is Global Recordings to global missions.
We create these voices that are often unique ones in a world of spiritual darkness and cultural ignorance of Absolute Truth. These voices are in the idiom of persons at the most fundamental level of societal existence. The voices of mothers whispering to their innocent but non-understanding infants. The voices of those grieving over the lifeless bodies of nearest of kin. The voices of admonition from the elderly.
These voices combine — perhaps for the first time in history — local speech forms with the utterance of a Word from God. This combination can and often does come with explosive power – the sort of effects that came with the voice of John the Baptist. These prophetic voices of hope and good tidings are for all who will listen. These voices are a bridge from centuries of tradition to a new paradigm for each culture, an introduction to a Person who can and will make all things new.
Yesterday I enjoyed breakfast with an elder who is currently a very qualified translation consultant. He is gone now so I don’t have permission to share his name but I think he would not mind me sharing his story.
He was born into a Christianized tribe in northeast Nigeria which was under pressure from Islamic influencers and warriors. My friend had tried repeatedly to witness to a certain imam (Muslim cleric) but was always repulsed strongly.
When the book of Luke was completed and recorded my friend took an audiocassette to the imam. To his surprise the man accepted the cassette and listened to it incessantly and played it openly in the Mosque. Because that cassette arrived in the local idiom in oral form it was like water in a thirsty land. You see, the Muslims prohibit even ordinary speech in the local languages. The Koran is presented in Arabic and the devout must memorize it. The day-to-day language is the Hausa trade language, but the Koran must not be written in the languages of “infidels.” My friend insisted that it is absolutely necessary for the Koran to be hidden in an “unknown language” because if what it was actually saying were understood, it would be rejected outright.
This audiocassette, a true “voice in the wilderness,” challenged the sterile alien format of the former “revelation” and became welcome and Good News to this imam. Our focus on “The story of Jesus in every language” will always be good news to those who still love and use their mother tongue. Of course, it will be bad news to those who oppose the truth. As in the days of John there will be those that believe and those who dare not. Nonetheless, using the vernacular will always open the way for the direct insertion into that culture of Jesus and His life and the Kingdom of God … and maybe even a New Testament and a local church.
God Bless,
Larry DeVilbiss | Executive Director
Global Recordings Network USA
If you are interested in learning how to share links on social media that will promote use of our recordings and the Gospel in general, please contact RolandHeck@GlobalRecordings.Net