Language preservation provides gospel access for African tribal groups

When an older Muslim man grabbed her hand, IMB missionary Jackie Lewis was shocked. Muslim men do not customarily touch women who are not close relatives, especially young, single women like Lewis.  

The man pointed to a set of rocks arranged across the floor of the classroom. Each rock represented a different story from the Bible. They had just finished hearing the story concerning Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Savior and stopped for a break.  

“Are you going to tell us the story of the Savior next?” he asked eagerly and pointed to the rock representing the Exodus story. 

“This promise in Isaiah is the same thing Moses said,” the man continued. “Watch and wait for the Lord to save you.”  

Lewis, who serves in Uganda among refugee populations, was stunned. As he pointed out that everyone in the Old Testament stories was waiting for the same Savior, she recognized the power of God’s Word compelling him toward truth — this very man who had been sent to keep people from converting to Christianity. 

The man — a Muslim with close connections to the mosque in his community and a history of running Christians out of his village — is part of an IMB language preservation project called Story One.  

He participates with a group Lewis’s team nicknamed “the Poppas.” The Poppas, all older men in their 60s and 70s, are from a secluded range of mountains in a neighboring war-torn country. The mountains are home to a small handful of Indigenous tribes, with all but forgotten customs and languages, where many people practice folk Islam. 

The tribal heart languages are dying as war, genocide and economic instability force people in and out of the region. For the past year, Lewis and her ministry partners have used their efforts to preserve the tribal languages to gain entry and share the Gospel among these unreached, isolated ethnic groups. 

The process can be a formidable one. It takes three days of travel to reach the area where these groups live, including a commercial flight, a small puddle jumper flight, and up to 10 hours of driving on rough roads and dry riverbeds.

The missionaries teach in areas where soaring temperatures sometimes reach 110°F or more. Some experience sickness from eating unfamiliar foods. They work among people who have been hostile to the gospel. 

Tribal leadership is informed at the outset that taking part in the language preservation project means hearing and interacting with stories from the Bible to produce recordings of Scripture in their languages.  

If the community chooses to participate, they send representatives to meet Lewis and her ministry partners at a local Bible college where they are hosted for two weeks at a time. The workshops can span months, especially in remote and isolated areas. Currently, five tribal groups are involved.  

Participants are first introduced to the idea of good storytelling and discuss how stories are told in their own cultures. Do they sing songs? Enact dramas? They are shown how stories told in the Bible come alive the same way.  

They hear a panorama of up to 100 Bible stories and select 30-40 they want to record for their people. The recordings are then refined for scriptural accuracy and finally produced on SD cards.  

Lewis said they have witnessed significant transformation, particularly in the hearts of some participants. For every precious glimpse of hope, however, setback and spiritual opposition have followed. 

“They get to this point where they’re engaging with Scripture for the first time. It’s completely challenging their worldview,” Lewis said. “And so, there’s resistance. We’ve had people stage a walkout from classes or not come back, or they’ll repeat a story intentionally wrong.” 

Just before their latest workshop, the military dropped three bombs in the mountains where the Poppas and their tribe live. One bomb disrupted the village water supply while another hit a school in session. Around 20 people died, including one member of the Poppas.  

“You’re seeing that very thin line between life and death, and it motivates you to keep sharing, so people can have the Word in their language before more lose the opportunity to hear,” Lewis said.  

Another participant died recently in a house fire, and others were unable to make it to language workshops because of military blockades. Some chose not to continue the work after spending Ramadan with their families or facing ridicule from their communities.  

“This is the first time that God’s Word has been spoken in several of these languages,” Lewis said. “It’s been an incredible opportunity for wholly Muslim tribes like the Poppas to hear God’s Word, but it has cost them dearly.” 

While considerable physical and emotional toll remains the reality for missionaries taking the gospel to unreached people groups, witnessing the Holy Spirit transform Muslim hearts spurs Lewis to persevere amid the heartbreaks and frustrations. 

She recalled something the Poppa who grabbed her hand and asked her to tell the story of the Savior said to her one day.  

“I have a group I always sit with, and they always want to hear what I bring them after I have been away for this program,” he said. “I will tell them this is to develop our language and then I will tell them these stories to change their lives.”  

Some names have been changed for security. This article was originally written by Kristen Sosebee and published to IMB.org.