Aka Tape Impact
From SPARK
Brief Summary
People interested in Aka worship songs on tape.
Hearing and studying God’s Word in their own language inspired a small group of Bayaka to write and record songs based on their study of Luke. The response was very enthusiastic. While they shared these cassettes with neighboring camps the batteries died but God provided amazing power so that all the neighboring groups were able to hear the Gospel.
Introduction
Aka is the language spoken by about 30,000 Bayaka pygmies. They live in small bands throughout the rain forest of Central African Republic and Congo. They are hunter-gatherers. They have remained isolated from the outside world and were unreached by the Gospel.
What was done?
The Translation Project
In 1992, Dominique Kosseke and Jerome Sitamon, two Central African Republic high-school teachers, left their careers so they could live in the forest and teach the Bayaka. These men are missionaries in their own country who were sent by their home churches in the city. They won the trust of the people, learned the language, put it into writing and started teaching reading classes in Aka. Now, with the help of two Bayaka believers, they have started to translate the New Testament into Aka, beginning with Luke.
The “Good News” Tapes
In 1998, the first chapters of Luke were checked, revised, and ready for preliminary publication. Until then, only about 40 Bayaka people could read. The Scripture texts were used to write songs in the traditional “ye-ii” style, used for celebrating after an elephant hunt. This would get the message of the texts to the people, and also provide hymns in the Bayaka churches.
About 40 Bayaka met in September 1998 to study Luke 3-5, write and record songs based on the texts. The results were phenomenal: 80 songs were written, about 20 of which were instant hits in the church, camp, and throughout the area. Cassettes were made with the text of Luke 3-5 interspersed with the new songs. These cassettes are labeled “Mondo Monye”, “Good News.” They contain the first Scriptures to appear in the Aka language, and also the first hymns and Aka worship songs.
From Camp to Camp
When the cassettes arrived in October, the local pastor, Pastor Kolibo, and the Aka language helper, Francois Ndinga, went on a hundred-mile foot tour to visit 11 Bayaka camps and had them listen to the “Good News.” They only had a mini-cassette recorder and no extra batteries. When they arrived in the first camp, they played the cassette, and the Bayaka were so excited that they insisted on hearing it again and again until they learned all the songs, and then danced to them all that night! The batteries were dead after that, and there were 10 more camps to visit.
When they arrived in the next camp, Pastor Kolibo gathered the people and explained what they were going to hear. He hit the “Play” button. It worked, and played both sides (all of Luke 3-5, set to music), and then quit. The next day, it wouldn’t work, so they went on, gathered the next camp, and played the tape for them. It worked! For the entire tour the player worked only when people were gathered to hear the gospel, and only long enough to play the entire cassette. At the last village, the cassette player was stolen overnight. The people searched until the guilty person gave it back: “They must have the player, or else they will not be able to come back with more of this message.”
God Provided Audio Cassette Players
But then God worked a greater miracle, one that will allow each of those camps to hear the good news year-round. God spoke to people in the States, who had never heard of the Bayaka pygmies, and various people donated and sent twenty special wind-up cassette players which never need batteries. These will be placed so that each of the Bayaka churches who participate in the program will have their own player. Now plans are underway for choosing and training those who will be responsible for the precious player in their community. All precautions must be taken that these will not be misused or broken because now five more chapters of Luke are ready for recording. Until more Bayaka have learned to read, these players will be the main way Bayaka people have access to the Scriptures in their heart language.
The Dedication
Dominique Kosseke, who is in charge of the translation work, spoke in the dedication: “Before you were always saying, ‘All this time, all this work, and still there are no Scriptures.’ Well, now these (cassettes of Luke 3-5) are like the first fruits to appear . . . more will come. Now you know that God has not forgotten you, and you will have God’s Word like other people do.”
Results
In recent years a church has been established among the Bayaka people, and there seems to be an openness to the Gospel. They are building churches and coming out of the forest to ask for baptism.
- By Daniel Duke
