infocentre

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February 2008

The story of a Kumyk woman

The first time we met Svetlana* was seven years ago. IBT Russia had a staff retreat in a guest house outside Moscow, and Svetlana was the housekeeper. We soon discovered that she was a Kumyk from Dagestan, and that she had rather recently become a believer. When she heard that we were working on a Bible translation into her own Kumyk language, she was overjoyed. “Slava Bogu! Praise God! I have been praying for this, and now I have received an answer to my prayers,” she exclaimed as she raised her hands and her eyes shone.. (*Not her real name) 

She told us her story. ”I grew up in a very religious family. My mother prayed five times a day. So I believed in God, but I didn’t know Jesus. One day I met the headmistress of the school that I attended as a child. She told me about her faith and gave me some books to read. One of the books was the Children’s Bible in Russian, which I liked very much. I read all these books, and God spoke to me through what I read. For three years now I have been living here in Moscow. I am so glad to hear that the New Testament is being translated into my mother tongue. It will be a great day when the Kumyks will get the Word of God in their language. And I praise the Lord that parts of the Old Testament are also being translated – I have prayed for this for a long time! 

Two years later we got a telephone call from Svetlana: “I have just received your newsletter but was very surprised to see that nothing more has been printed in Kumyk! I have the Gospels of Mark and Luke – but I need more! I want the whole New Testament in Kumyk! Aren’t you working on this translation? Maybe you don’t have translators? When will you publish something more in Kumyk?” We explained to Svetlana our translation procedure and assured her that work was truly in progress, but that it took many years before a New Testament could be printed. 

When the first copies of the Kumyk New Testament were delivered from the printing house in March 2007, we immediately thought of Svetlana. We called the guest house and were told that she had moved back to her Kumyk village in Dagestan – but there was a mobile telephone number. Over a bad telephone line we heard Svetlana shout for joy when she got the news. The first package of Kumyk New Testaments never reached her, so we sent a second, then a third…

In February 2008, after almost a year, Svetlana finally received the books we had sent. “Please send me Scriptures in Avar, Chechen and Lak also for my neighbours,” she pleaded. “And I'm longing for the whole Bible in Kumyk – when will it be ready?”  In her quiet way this old woman is spreading the Word of God in Dagestan.

Dagestan is a republic within the Russian Federation on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. It is the home of more than 30 different ethnic groups. IBT Russia/CIS is engaged in Bible translation into eleven languages spoken here. Please support this work with your gifts and prayers!

 Here you can sign for the IBT Russia/CIS monthly English Newsletter

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