Feeding of the One Thousand

Twenty years ago, a team of passionate believers, missionaries, and translators began a work. And today, the world changed because of it. 

For the first time, the dagara people who speak the wulé dialect have the gospel of Jesus Christ, the New Testament, in their heart language. And on this day, a crowd of over one thousand men, women, and children young and old - including the authorities and even Muslims - gathered to celebrate the publication and distribution. 

Although every part of the ceremony was significant - the worship, the exhortation, and testimonies - one thing moved me more than anything else. 

Ninety readers had been chosen to read three chapters each, and they dispersed themselves among the crowd of people to read the entire New Testament in one sitting. All of it, that is, except Revelation 22, the last chapter which Stanislas read aloud from the pulpit as a climax to the reading. Thus the New Testament was read in its entirety for the first time in the dagara language in just thirty minutes, and for the first time, people heard God’s voice in their own tongue. 

I didn’t understand a word, but I was moved to the point of tears, feeling the weight of the moment and the significance of it all. I thought of the impact of the word of God in my own life personally, and how these people can now have the same experience. How future generations now have access to knowing God through his word. How God created the dagara language and has spoken it since it’s existence, but this was the first day he heard his children speak back to him his words that he had recorded for them. I was reminded of Isaiah 55:11, which says that when God sends out his Word, it does not come back empty, but accomplishes exactly God’s intended purposes. Just as rain makes the grass grow, so God’s Word will bring forth the fruit of faith. And we know that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romains 10:17)

I walked around and watched the people as they listened. Some leaned forward intently. Eyes fixed on the mouths of the readers. Many had pulled out their phones to record. I imagined that God positioned readers and listeners so that each individual would hear the exact verse or passage that God wanted him or her to hear. I pray that it lit a hunger and thirst that will make them come back for more. 

Speaking of hunger, by the time the ceremony was over it was 2:00 and the people were hungry. But not to worry, a cow had been killed and a small group of courageous women of the church had been cooking rice since 4:00 am with seven massive caldron, each holding fifty pounds of rice, over open fires. When it was time to distribute the food and I walked into the room where the rice was being served onto plates, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were plates of rice everywhere. Posed on every available surface. And still I scooped rice at least a thousand more times. Everyone ate “to their hunger” as we say in French. Or to use the terminology of the feeding of the 5,000, “Everyone ate and was satisfied.” People came back for seconds and even put rice in their bags to take home. 

When I asked Juliette what she thought about the whole celebration, she said it was better than the “more official” ceremony that took place a week earlier in a larger city and with more attendees. When I asked why she said that, her answer surprised me. 

“Because everyone ate so well.”

At first I thought that was a silly reason, but I’m learning. Just as expressed in the Bible, people here show joy and celebration by eating until their bellies are full. Perhaps this is something we Americans who have never truly been hungry may never understand. It may also have to do with our different perceptions of money. Most westerners have grown up with an assurance of having enough money all the time, and so we have the freedom to budget and save and move money around for pleasure or because of need. For a celebration of this size, we would calculate the number of people expected to attend, the cost of each plate, and then create a reasonable budget. We wouldn’t overspend because whatever extra money we had would go towards other ministry expenses. We are always trying to economize and manage money well. It’s not so much like that with Africans. They say if you have the means, go big or go home. Throw an extravagant party, use all the extra money you have to make sure there is more than enough for everyone. “Budget smudget!” All that is nonsense if we have something to celebrate. Because a real celebration is one where everyone eats more than enough. And joy is expressed in eating. 

It was a feeding of the 5,000 if I’ve ever seen one. Or at least the closest I’ve ever been to seeing this story come alive. For people left with bellies and hearts full, having eaten of the fattened calf and the word of God. 

For just $3, many people purchased their new copies of the New Testament. Most of the remaining people don’t even know how to read dagara, but they will come to listen. We expect that many of these people will enroll in literacy centers, come to church, and even form small community groups so that they can listen and hear. 

The dagara world changed this day, and heaven rejoiced as the kingdom of God came just a little bit nearer to earth. For when God sends out his word, it will not return empty.