They climbed steep mountains and crossed log bridges. Some had walking sticks, others carried babies on their backs. Some celebrated by wearing a colorful feather headdress, others painted their faces and arms. All came to celebrate the arrival of God’s book in their heart language of Kandawo.
As the morning sun climbed into the sky, translators Mack and Doris Graham and their adult children joined a host of Kandawo singers and dancers descending to the field to begin the ceremony dedicating the Kandawo New Testament to the Lord. Hundreds of men, women, and children gathered in front of the grandstand and listened as God was given the praise for this completed work.
Among the crowd were several whose lives have been transformed by God’s word in their heart language. The first woman to place her faith in Christ loves hearing God speak in her language. She is tearfully thankful for her New Testament and continually encourages the Grahams during times of trial and discouragement. Another man recently told Mack, “Because of you and the SALT course, I’ve crossed over to the other side. I want to follow the Lord now.” Others carried their Kandawo Audibible in a string bag explaining, “We charge this in the sun every day and in the evening we listen to it for three hours before the battery runs out.”
Near the close of the ceremony, actors decorated in white and red mud presented a stunning drama. They depicted the New Testament coming in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, English, Chimbu and Pidgin. With each round, Satan came accusing and taunting, but two angels held him back. In the end, the Word of God came in the Kandawo language, along with the blood of Christ, and, finally, that fit the mind and heart of the Kandawo man. Satan fell to the ground and the angels put their feet on him in victory.
As the Kandawo people read the printed Scriptures and hear God’s Word spoken on their Audibibles, pray that God’s light will increasingly have the victory over darkness in their lives and flood their hearts with faith and hope.
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