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THE POWER OF SIMPLICITY There is super power behind God's Word. In written form it is as if the very ink contains a soul-beaconing perfume. And it's true for Bible stories written for a child's prospective. In fact, you can tell the stories with all kinds of local jargon and even crude paraphrases and they can still speak with the power of heaven. It's like the love of God has a liquid quality that spills out through our narratives. The amazing part of this is that we may not be aware of it while the people we talk to are often abundantly aware . . . even if they are unsaved! Does God speak Dagestani or Kumyak? If you were to ask Ruhaniyat Musaeya, she'd think you were a bit soft headed. Ruhaniyat is a Kumyak native of Dagestan who lives in Karabudakhkent City. She and her husband were both devout Muslims but that is changing, partly due to a child's book. This is her story While completing her last year of studies in Dagestan State University in Makhachkala, Ruhaniyat was asked to teach the Kumyk language to an American couple. She accepted the offer. Ruhaniyat says, "When I first stepped into their house, I was struck by the feeling of love which reigned in this household. These people radiated inner light," and Ruhaniyat wanted to be in that glow. But she couldn't understand why the wanted to learn Kumyk. Then as the lessons proceeded, she understood. They wanted to translate the Bible into the language of her people. And it wasn't long before she discovered the reason for the pervasive love that invited and comforted her in their home. Eventually they offered her the opportunity to participate in comprehension testing of the Gospel of Mark. And, since she was a linguist, she readily accepted. As a result of the comprehension work she became interested in the Bible for its own merits and began reading it herself. "God's Word touched my heart," she says. She confided that to her friend Elena Kalandjieva, who introduced her to other Christians. She soon had her wish to be a part of that glow, as a born again child of God. Ruhaniyat started attending Hosanna Church in Makhachkala. Soon afterwards, she began comprehension testing of the Gospel of Luke in her hometown, Karabudakhkent City. It was there that God's hand in her work became obvious. Many people there are unemployed, and even those who do have a job receive only pennies. To survive, they are forced to grow food at home. "They find it hard to believe that Christ came to call the 'weary and heavy-laden' to Himself, and that He can give them rest." She says, "As a Christian, I see very clearly why our people need the Gospel." Because most people there are Muslims, it is difficult and often dangerous to talk about Christ, but her work affords the opportunity to carry the message of salvation to her neighbors. Moreover, they can see how Jesus has changed her heart, and are beginning to respect her work and the Bible as a Holy Book. The situation with her husband was similar. After serving in the army, her husband joined the ranks of the unemployed. And since he didn't want to continue his education, he became a house-husband, supported by Ruhaniyat who was working two jobs: teaching school and translating. Their relationship became increasingly more strained. Added to that, her husband a Muslim, noticed that Christian literature began to appear in their house. He asked, "have you become a Christian?" When she boldly answered yes, he became very angry, and blamed her for betraying their people, who have always been Muslims. Ruhaniyat calmly said, "by accepting Christ, I have not betrayed the faith of our fathers, but rather have begun to follow the most important Prophet, to Whom Mohammed himself refers." She pointed out that God helps His children in all things, that He was now helping their family by providing a steady salary from the translation work. And besides it brings her great inner joy. Ruhaniyat, prays often for her husband and says, "a miracle is taking place. His reaction to my Christian work has changed. Now he respects my work." And she is changing. She says, "my heart is gradually being filled with love toward him." Recently, something else happened, which some might call a miracle. When the director of the Institute for Bible Translation, Marianne Beerle-Moor, visited us last time, she gave Ruhaniyat's daughter a Children's Bible. Soon they had a tradition of reading from it at bedtime, and their little girl fell in love with it. Ruhaniyat says, "She already knows some of the stories by heart." Whenever Ruhaniyat is not home for bedtime, her father puts her to bed, and of course she begs him to read from her favorite book. She continues, "One time, I came home and found my husband reading the Children's Bible for himself. Amazing! He doesn't enjoy reading any books in general, so when I saw him reading this book, I understood that God is surely answering my prayers for him". God is speaking to her husband's heart through a child's book "My heart overflows with joy," Ruhaniyat says. "I believe that once the Bible is translated into my native tongue, it will change the life of the Kumyk people by returning hope and faith in the all-forgiving love of God." BACKGROUND Dagestan is located on the Northwest bank of the Caspian Sea. There are 32 different people groups that call multi ethnic Dagestan their home. Each speaks their own language and possesses an age-old culture, traditions and customs. Among these is a people group called the Kumyks. They number more than 300,000, and are the only Turkic-language group native to Dagestan. Most live on the plains and foothills of Dagestan. Traditionally, Kumyks are Sunni Muslims, and their culture and customs are tied closely to their faith. In the 19th and early 2Oth century, Kumyk was the trade language for the peoples of the Northern Caucasus (it is worth pointing out that Leo Tolstoy referred to the Kumyk language, mistakenly calling it Tatar, in his novel Hadii-Murat. which recounted events in Dagestan in the 1840s.) At the present time, the vast majority of Kumyks who live in large cities do not know their language very well. Kumyks living in villages are comfortable with conversational Kumyk, but not with the literary language. To remedy this, mandatory Kumyk language classes were introduced in Kumyk schools in 1992. Translation work on the Kumyk New Testament began in 1991. Currently, a trial translation of the Gospel of Mark has already been published, and the Gospel of Luke and Acts are being prepared for printing. Ruhaniyat was born and lives in the town of Karabudakhkent, one-and-a-half hours away from Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. After secondary school, she studied Dagestani languages at Dagestan State University. Ruhaniyat Musaeva is the stylistic editor of the Kumyk project. Her story is quite unusual for a Kumyk native of Dagestan, though not that strange for a person involved in Bible translation. There is a mosque on every comer in Karabudakhkent right now, and people are beginning to turn to God. But as is often the case, former Communist party members appeared among the Muslim religious community as well. These people cannot understand why Muslim people would need the Gospel, no matter how much you try to explain to them that it is the Good News from God. |
