Language Legacy

I hated it!

I was only twelve’s years old, but I my parents’ idea that I should start taking French lessons was not something I wanted to do AT ALL.  And it didn’t help that my sister, who was three years younger, and my grandmother, who was a whole lot older, consistently outperformed me on every single “dictée” and “examen.” Furthermore, I thought, I was being raised in Portugal and already knew how to speak Portuguese, why did I need to know French as well?

Little did I know that one day, I would be spending two days in Dakar, Senegal, where everyone only speaks French, mentoring a young ministry leader from Guinea-Bissau, who only speaks Portuguese, and try to write a blog about it to folks who only speak English!

Miguel Indibe, is the director of the Projeto Tradução de Guinea-Bissau (PTGB) an initiative to reorganize efforts to finish translations of the Bible in the remaining unwritten languages of his country. After completing several years of seminary training in Brazil he returned to his native land just two years ago to take on his new duties not realizing how challenging it would be for him to fully launch this new national effort. Thanks to Wycliffe Associate CEO, Bruce Smith, I was asked to extend my Nigeria trip for a couple of days and meet with Miguel to offer help him do some strategic planning and figure out just how to develop his new organization.

That’s why the last two days have been a delightful time of sitting together with Miguel here at the WEC guesthouse in downtown Dakar getting to know this enthusiastic young leader and discussing everything from board governance to cash-flow spreadsheets. The side benefit for me has been learning a ton about his tiny, mostly forgotten country on the west coast of Africa.

Guinea-Bissau was a former Portuguese colony that along with Angola, Mozambique and the Cabo Verde islands, still use that language. Even though it is a tiny country, however, it still has around fifteen native languages that have never been put into written form.  That also means there are no Bibles in those languages that people can read in their heart language. Miguel wants to do something about that.

Receiving some help from the national Evangelical Church, the primary Protestant presence in the country, PTGB has had some generous support from a group called One Book, a group out of Canada that encourages indigenous translation effort. Nevertheless, to achieve his goal, Miguel will need to connect with other key partners in the future and to do that, he must first make some major organizational changes in order to build some needed stability and credibility.

If the openness and teachability I’ve witnessed during the past 48 hours is any indication of his leadership capability, Miguel is well on his way. It’s been a privilege to pass on my thoughts, ideas and experience in mission leadership to him and even look forward to a possible follow-up trip to Guinea-Bissau sometime later on.

I guess I do have to admit that if all those years as a kid learning French and Portuguese meant that I would get a chance to do something like this, it was definitely worth it after all!