The Chief of Ngai

From SPARK

Impact Story

It was one of those routine long trips down the bumpy dirt road in the Karang homeland of Cameroon Africa. After 15 years I knew each village on that road and I also knew that I did not want to take on any extra passengers. Our daughters, Hannah and Bina, sitting in the back seat, were returning to school after a short holiday. Yet I stopped our truck at the village of Ngai (I forget why) when an old man requested that we take him with us part of the way. I hesitated, knowing that it would be crowded. I started to say we just could not have him come with us that day when Yezmin, in the passenger seat said, “Bob, this is the chief of the village. He is an old man.”

She then kindly squeezed in between the two front seats and gave him the honored seat. I sighed, knowing that the next leg of the journey would be uncomfortable and very bumpy. I had grown used to this scenario; it was normal life here. I would forget the whole inconvenience by the next day. After years, I often run into these kinds of hitchhikers, “Hey, its me!” they say, “Don’t you remember me? You gave me a lift from such-and-such village to such-and-such village.”

Rarely do I remember them. I am usually too busy navigating bumps, ditches, and washed out bridges to build a long-term relationship. However, today’s trip with the chief of Ngai still sticks in my mind.

In 2002, we had published the gospel of John in the Karang language. Then in early 2003, Roy Buyse, with media services, came up to Sorombeo to audio record the Gospel of John in Karang. It was fascinating to see how easily it could be done with digital technology. In the end we had sound effects and different voices for each speaker. Gamada Jonas played Zezu’s voice, Ngang David was the narrator (John), Yodam Esther was Mary, and so on. I played the role of Pilate, complete with a foreign accent! The whole production was put on two 60-minute cassettes and sold for about 1 dollar.

Now, between switching gears, I snatched up one of these cassettes and plugged it quickly into the car stereo. “Kased mbete Zah munu!” (This is a cassette of the book of John) I proclaimed.

The chief of Ngai who had been going through the traditional greetings with us,^[1] perked right up to listen. There has never been a more animated listener in my car. After the initial amazement of hearing his mother tongue coming from our car radio, he stared, grunting “Mmmm” at the amazing teaching of Zezu. For years he had heard these spiritual words in the unclear trade language, Fulfulde. Now he clapped his hands and exclaimed in amazement, “Kay, kay, kay.” Zezu had just fed five thousand people with only five pengs and two nzuys, incredible.

At each of the chief’s grunts, I glanced at him. I saw a man absorbed into a different world. Oops a chicken! Yes, crossing the road. The chief did not pay any heed to my abrupt swerve. He simply braced one hand on the dashboard, eyes not focusing on anything particular, but he was all ears. So intense was the look on his face. Then came chapter five, the sound of waves and wind “bivbid bivbid”, the kumbon almost tipping over “banglang banglang”.^[1] Zezu’s gunboks were terrified at the sight of a man walking on the water towards them. “I lab hekme ya. A bi Zezu munu.” (Do not fear! It’s me Zezu).

Bang! I hit another ditch in the road. The chief, however, was not with me. He was in the kumbon with Zezu’s gunboks. The sound effects helped. He was watching Zezu come to him on the waves and in the wind.

When we dropped the Chief off at his destination, to his great pleasure we gave him the pair of cassettes. A few weeks later, we passed the village of Ngai. A crowd of enthusiastic people crowded around our truck. “Do you have any more cassettes? We want to buy the book too?”

The chief of Ngai had been making every visitor and villager listen to the recording over and over. He was so excited that his enthusiasm became contagious. To this day when we pass the village of Ngai, there is an interest in the translation and usually someone who wants to buy the latest publication in Karang.

A year after that crowded ride in our truck, the chief of Ngai passed away. I think a lot about that day now, the way Zezu came alive to him. I know he heard the story over and over again. It entered his heart in his own language. This is one hitchhiker to whom I am looking forward to saying, “Hey, it's me. Do you remember the lift I gave you?”

by Bob Ulfers

PS- I expect our cassette ministry to grow. Thus far we have produced three Karang Scripture cassettes (John, the epistles of John, and Galatians). We've also begun filling in empty space with original Karang Scripture songs.