Back Home in Indiana

Back Home Again in Indiana

“Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast….”
— 1 Chronicles 4:10

What a blessing it is to be home for the holidays! I came home in May this year for a summer visit. I came back to spend time with family and find the strength that I need, and now the time has been extended and become the “Brothers, pray for us” tour. The tour has been good: thousands of miles of travel, with dozens of meetings and presentations in homes and churches. The focus has been to bring the needs of the Kwasio people up for prayer, and the response has been good. Now I’m ready to go back to Africa, and I’m asking for prayer for God to open the door of my return.

These last two years in Cameroon have been some of the most productive and trying times that I’ve ever had. I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire over there, and I’m thankful for all of them. But I’ve been so busy that I lost track of many of you, family, friends, and partners in this ministry. I hope that during the time I have left, I can get back that connection with as many people as possible who have this ministry in their hearts

Kwasio Congress: A good start and continuing

Kwasio speakers include 4 different tribes spread out in 3 different countries: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Separated for over 100 years, the Kwasio of different countries have lost almost all contact with each other, although they still do speak the same language! Last December, we made history by calling these diverse groups together for the first time. The Kwasio congress united 300 delegates from three out of the four scattered Kwasio dialects. They met together for 4 days and formed translation and language committees. These committees have blossomed into over 20 sub-committees who are currently at work gathering words for a future dictionary. They have also been gathering up hand-written attempts at Bible translation.
Due to their work, we now have a photocopy of the best rough draft of the entire Bible in Kwasio. This manuscript was in danger of being eaten by mice, but now it is ready for us to use.

These are exciting times for the Kwasio community, and I love the privilege of being there to be part of what God is doing. God has brought young and old together for Bible translation! Even while I am still learning the language, men are discussing complex theological issues with each other. They realize their need for the Bible and the urgency is growing. Today, there is a renewed interest in old hymns translated and sung in Kwasio. The people are rediscovering the theology of hymns such as “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” Also, they are getting excited about their own language again. One young man is researching the meanings of old Kwasio place names. A mature leader is working on genealogies.

We now have over 20 local groups who meet regularly to gather words for a future dictionary in Kwasio. Even the mayor of Lolodorf meets with one of these groups. That’s why we are hoping to create a village computer center. The people need some place they can come and enter the language data which they have collected. We need to strike while the iron is hot!

Exciting New Ministry Possibilities

•--Peter and Sharon Langeveld have begun work on the Batanga language, which is in the same cluster as Kwasio (Coastal Bantu Cluster).
Prayer:
•--Need for additional financial partners so that Dan may return to the field by March 4, 2008.
•--Need for prayer partners and advocates to help in the process of partnership development.
•--Dr. Mbambo and the Kwasio congress as they try to mobilize the people for Bible translation work.
•--That the Christmas message may reach the Kwasio people.
•--Refugees throughout the world, especially the 25,000 Fulani refugees who recently crossed over into Cameroon from Central African Republic.
Praises:
•--Greatly increased ministry field among the Kwasio and beyond!
•--Open doors to minister in top levels of the academic world.
•--Encouragement I’ve received this summer and fall, especially from my home church and denomination.
•--Wonderful time at home reconnecting with family and partners.
•--Complete Bible rough draft in Kwasio ready for data-entry!
•--20 local Kwasio volunteer committees collecting words for a dictionary!
•--Kwasio volunteer Severin Nouangama has enrolled in a 4-year degree program to learn to be a Bible translator.

Proposed Village Computer Center for Data Entry

Can you have too much of a good thing? We have thousands of pages of hand written scripture and note books of words collected for the new Kwasio dictionary, but all of it is waiting to be entered into computers for analysis and editing. With today’s powerful computer software, we can take a text which is full of errors and very quickly correct most of them. We currently have the entire Bible in Kwasio. It is a hand-written document, the life time’s work of one elderly priest, Father Nicodemus Bouh. He says,

“I just did it because I loved the Kwasio people and always wished they had a Bible. I know it needs a lot more work. I didn’t have the training or resources that I needed to do it right. I thank God that the Kwasio Congress has picked it up.”

The special project will provide monthly rent for a computer center with a small operating budget and resources for transporting Kwasio volunteers. Along with that, we are looking for donation of used computers. Special gifts to that should be labeled “For the Daniel Duke Kwasio project.”

American Contact: Dan Duke 3616 Minger Rd. Indianapolis, IN 46222 (317) 293-2553

African Contact: Dan Duke, SIL B.P. 1299 Yaounde, Cameroon Africa 011-237-7793-6200

Financial Contact: Wycliffe Bible Translators P.O. Box 628200 Orlando, FL 32862-8200 1-800-WYCLIFFE http://www.wycliffe.org/

E-mail Contact: Daniel_Duke@sil.org (sign up to receive the e-mail newsletter)