We don't need your game... an OBT Story
We don’t need your game… an OBT Story
I just got back from a two week partnership development trip to Michigan. One of the stories that I shared with a church was so inspirational that I thought all of you should also have it to share with others. Store this story away somewhere because it’s just too good to forget.
The Suruwaha
After living for many years among the Suruwaha, one of the most isolated tribes of the Amazon, it was finally time to teach them how to read and write. As dedicated missionaries, trained linguists and Bible translators, Marcia and her husband Suzuki had already learned and analyzed the language and developed a writing system. They had compiled a huge dictionary and made the first primer in the Suruwaha language for helping people learn to read.
With that little primer in their hands, the Suzukis selected some interested young people and set out on their literacy adventure. They were fascinated with the students’ ability to crack the alphabetic code so easily, even though the primer was one of the first books they had ever touched. It was like a game to them. Some would spend hours sitting near the missionaries’ hummock, reading the words out loud, laughing delighted at the ingenuity of the system. They loved it, and the missionaries were absolutely thrilled, of course! They imagined it wouldn’t take long before the entire tribe would be literate and would be able to read the Bible in their own language. What a milestone it would be!
During those years, they had been witnessing a spiritual awakening among the Suruwaha. The shaman had a powerful encounter with Jaxuwa (Jesus), and many were asking questions, hungry to learn more about Him and His power to change their hearts. Because the Suruwaha were so ready, Marcia and Suzuki told them that it was time to start translating the Bible into their language so they could read and understand the words of God for themselves.
The missionaries were not at all prepared for their reaction. “We are disgusted that you would even consider using your mundane little game to convey God’s sacred words! God certainly doesn’t need that! That game of yours is fun and all, but it is not appropriate to carry such a powerful message. That’s not how spiritual truth is communicated!”
The Suruwaha, in their unapologetic wisdom and common sense, forced the translators to think outside the box. The Suruwaha did not see any value in learning how to read and write, so they rejected literacy altogether. Their reaction to literacy compelled Marcia and Suzuki to embark on a long quest to understand the interaction between spirituality, orality, and literacy in different cultures. It took another couple of years to understand the implications of that and to come up with an alternative that would honor both the Bible and their culture.
So, in the year 2000, the Suzukis started translating Genesis using a completely oral process. It included internalization of the passages and cycles of rendering, recording, testing, and refining. It was beautiful to see how the Suruwaha would totally internalize a passage and then recount it with so much beauty and accuracy.
The first man to listen to a passage from Genesis was someone who had not yet met Jesus. He listened carefully to the recording, then walked away silently into the thick jungle. Several hours later, he came back glowing. In a spontaneous and inspired response to the power of God’s word, he sang for the translation team a collection of eleven beautiful chants he had just composed in worship of his newly found Savior.
The translation process the Suzukis used with the Suruwaha has now come to be called Oral Bible Translation, and it is being used all over the world.
TL;DR
If the email was too long to read, here are the main points:
- The Suzukis thought that the Suruwaha would want the whole Bible written in their language.
- The Suruwaha thought literacy was a game, so they were offended that the missionaries would put God’s holy words in a book.
- The Suzukis pioneered Oral Bible Translation before it was a thing.
Challenge for You
- Save this story somewhere so you can share it with others - you may need it sometime!
- If you have similar stories, share them with me! I love collecting stories about orality and oral Bible translation.
References
Suzuki, M. (2022). OBT Handbook. YWAM’s University of the Nations.