Perseverance of the saints: A tribute to missionary translators

We read sometimes of “unreached people groups” and efforts to translate the Bible into their own language. But what does it take to succeed in that enterprise?

A Sept. 14, 1991, Washington Times article began, “Stuart and Cathie Showalter have chosen a lifestyle few of their fellow Americans could accept or even imagine. Their home for the next 15 years will be … Burkina Faso, 450 miles south of Timbuktu. Isolated from the conveniences of Western civilization, it’s a place where poisonous snakes, scorpions, accidents and 110-degree temperatures are commonplace.”

The Showalters moved to Burkina Faso as missionaries with the goal of turning the sounds of the Kaansa language into written form and eventually producing a Bible translation that Kaan tribesmen could read in their own tongue. The Times reported that the Showalters’ “isolation will be heightened by the Burkina Faso government’s ban on radio transmitters. Next to her Bible, Mrs. Showalter said her most treasured book will be Where There Is No Doctor. The nearest physician is hours away, she said. A solar plant and truck battery that provide power for lights and a computer are about as close as the Showalters get to Western high-tech trappings.”

Seventeen years later, the Times again profiled the Showalters, who still toiled away in Burkina Faso under Wycliffe Bible Translators auspices: “The Kaansa language proved tough to learn; it has four tones, nine vowels that work in sets based on the position of the back of the tongue, seven noun classes, four grammatical genders and verb forms that the Showalters had not seen in any other language in that region. The Showalters developed a written alphabet that uses 29 modified Roman-script letters.”

The Times reported that the Showalters had diminished some local hostility by suggesting a way to decrease malaria: A new type of netting impregnated with insecticide killed mosquitos for two or three years. Showalter said, “We saw the Lord calm things down and make it possible for Christians to work with non-Christians, and we saw a huge improvement in health in the region. This was a pivot point: We’ve made considerable progress teaching people to read and in translating key parts of the New Testament. Perhaps, best of all, we’ve started training a cadre of native translators and teachers.”

And now, after 23 years, the New Testament translation is going to press (see the Showalter’s December newsletter we posted today as part of our Saturday Series). The Showalters have persevered, and another people group will be able to read in their own language the good news that we celebrate on Christmas and Easter. Their report concludes (SPOILER ALERT) “We are full of gratitude as we head to the end of our stay here in Burkina Faso.”

How were they able to succeed? Showalter: “Obstacles have loomed large, but, with the Lord’s help, we’ve overcome them. … Again and again, Cathie and I prayed our favorite Scripture verse, Proverbs 3:5–6: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.’”