The small Quichua town of Cañar snuggles into the folds of the Andes mountains in southern Ecuador, 10,000 feet (3,330 metres) above sea level and three degrees south of the equator. The valley is one of the main access routes from the coast to the highlands, and most travellers speed by the town on their way to larger cities.
The worship service for the dedication was attended by more than 600 Cañaris; one woman said she could not wait to hold the "beautiful words" in her hands, and some were seen reading through the New Testament intently throughout the entire service. For everyone who participated it was a day of joyous celebration, and this was made even more joyful for those who knew the story of how the Cañar New Testament had almost missed its launch.
Dale Nesse, LBT translator and exegete begins the story: "A series of obstacles came in the way of this dedication, and obstacles surfaced again and again right up to the hour of the dedication service. It seemed that Satan was doing his best to see that the Cañari Indians did not have the joy of dedicating their New Testament. But God's Word is not chained (2 Timothy 2:9) - in the end, the victory truly belonged to our God!
As things turned out, there were plenty of unforeseen circumstances. The first one occurred when the EBS was forced to close down for business due to a financial review which took six weeks. This happened on the very day the Cañar:Quichua New Testament was delivered for text processing. Immediately, the timetable for finishing production had to be pushed back by six weeks. Now there would be very little room for error.
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The dedication event had been well publicized, and invited guests were
scheduled to arrive from far and wide. If the New Testaments did not arrive
on time, the scene would be something like a bride or bridegroom not arriving
for their wedding.
January 2 came and went, without any sign of the New Testaments. The freight handler told us that the truck carrying them had run out of fuel near Cañar. They were to arrive the next morning. But the New Testaments did not arrive the next morning, and we made desperate plans to take a vehicle to Quito looking for the truck on the way." |
"We arrived in Cañar at 9.00am, which is when the workshop I was conducting was due to begin, but there were only a few pastors there at that time. We used the time to get set up and also to make further enquiries about the truckload of New Testaments. Finally word came from Jose Onate, the new Executive Secretary of the EBS, that the truck with the New Testaments had never left Quito, and that he was investigating the matter further. It seemed right to begin the workshop with a prayer meeting: there were about 25 pastors together.
The story was that the transport company hired to carry the New Testaments had loaded them on Monday December 30 and taken them as far as south Quito, where they unloaded the lot into the warehouse of another transport company to whom they had sub-contracted the job - without, of course, notifying the Bible Society.
During the week they had spun the EBS a line, until finally Jose indicated that he would be taking legal action over the disappearance of 4,000 Scriptures. So they confessed, and Jose and David went to the warehouse and found the New Testaments. The second company suggested that they would be sending them "in the next few days", but when the reality of legal action against them was raised, there was a sudden change in attitude. The truck was somewhere in north Quito loading up. It was located and the driver was told not to load anything else, but to come immediately to the warehouse to load the Scriptures."
The two Bible Society men had planned to arrive in Cañar by 10.00pm: however, one more obstacle lay ahead of them. A truck had jack-knifed on a treacherous part of the road, and there was no way around it. Miraculously, the mayor of the next town was in one of the vehicles stuck behind them in the queue, and he used a mobile telephone to order some earth-moving equipment and a tractor to clear the way for the vehicles to pass. Without his assistance nothing would have been done until the next day. The truck carrying the New Testaments was one of the first vehicles to get past, and it was able to continue its journey, arriving in Cañar at 1.00am on January 4, the day of the dedication. Dale Nesse said: "We felt like Bible smugglers as we unloaded the New Testaments that night! But God's Word could not be chained!"
Kathy Lilleby, a friend of the Nesses who attended the dedication, provided this colourful description: "Almost 600 Quichua Indians, mestizos, missionaries and visitors from the USA started the festivities with a parade through town. They carried banners proclaiming that the word of God was now available in Cañar:Quichua and that God was walking with them. People lined the streets to see this strange sight.
One woman in the crowd sat down next to one of the missionaries and asked what the fiesta was all about. When told it was the dedication of the New Testament in Quichua, she asked, "Where can I get these beautiful words?"
The men wore black wool pants and Western-style shirts and jackets. Children wore colourful outfits similar to their parents'. The sea of black braided hair was interrupted only rarely with a blond head from the missionaries or those who had travelled from the USA.
Then the program began. Singing and speeches preceded the formal presentation of the New Testament to the president of the church. Words of thanks and songs flowed from more than 20 people and groups in a service that lasted almost three hours.
The New Testaments were stacked on tables at each corner of the auditorium. As people bought them for 10,000 sucres (US $2.75) a copy, they sat down to read "the beautiful words" in their own language for the first time. Some of the visitors bought extra copies of the New Testament to share with their newly-found brothers and sisters, and were rewarded with smiles and warm handshakes. The group from the United States sang "Jesus Loves Me This I Know for the Bible Tells Me So"; they also presented the church with a banner made by Patti Christopherson, which in Quichua read: "I have hidden your word in my heart." (Psalm 119:11 NIV) The next day, the banner had been hung in front of the church in Cañar.
The next morning at Iglesia Luterana Paz de Dios (Peace of God Lutheran Church) in Cuenca, Transito, one of the Quichua kitchen helpers in the Mission Home brought her New Testament to church for the first time in her life. As she read along in her own language, she hugged "the beautiful words" to her heart and tears of joy fell from the eyes of those around her. Truly, God has given His beautiful words to the Quichua people of Cañar, Ecuador!"
For Dale and Lillian Nesse, the dedication was the culmination of 14 years' work in Cañar; they were planning to leave permanently for the States in June this year, though there is the possibility that Dale will make a couple of visits a year in the next 2-3 years. The perseverance of men and women like Reinaldo Chimborazo, Eloy Clavijo, Geronimo Guasco and Narcisa Picisaca, as well as Manuel Nivelo and Rafael Allaico in helping to complete the translation is a commendable achievement, and leaves their people with a gift beyond measure.
Along with LBT, which provided the coordinator and much support for this project, the UBS contributed consultancy, and financial and production help through the EBS in this project. Also represented at the dedication were the Baptist Church, the World Mission Prayer League and the Norwegian Lutheran Mission. Now the Word of God is available for 100,000 speakers of Cañar:Quichua.
Since the launch Mr Nesse has provided the following information: "I am pleased to report that the churches are using their New Testaments, and that sales have continued to go well. They are trying to find the right distributors to go out with the Scriptures into the streets and markets.
"Some radio programs are being made that will have a Bible lesson read clearly. Radio Ingapirca is a station established by the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and located right next to the Lutheran church in Cañar, and it broadcasts both Christian and secular programs.
"People still lack confidence in reading their own language out loud; so some practice sessions are being planned for them. The Baptist association offered the use of a large room at their Bible school, and it looks as if the translation team will have its office there. Manuel Nivelo, a Baptist pastor in Tambo, who is a key member of the translation team, will probably administer the team. All four remaining translators have expressed a desire to continue with their work, even though they now do not work directly for the mission.
"We thank God for this vision that he has given them! They worked tirelessly before and after the dedication, and continue to have a vision for God's Word in their language. We will start some literacy classes in Tambo on January 29, too, so that is exciting."
