A mother-tongue speaker of the KOM Language in the Northwest province of Cameroon, West Africa, Paul KIMBI was a member of the KOM New Testament translation team. After completing the New Testament project, Paul moved on to become a senior leader in the Wycliffe Global Alliance where he works as a senior translation consultant and also helping qualify future translation consultants.
Recently Paul and I were reminiscing about Cameroon. We talked about our mutual friend, Léonard BOLIOKI, and the loss of his son, Tonton. Over thirty years ago, following his tragic death, Dallas, and I attended Tonton’s funeral where we observed firsthand the power of the Scripture in the mother tongue. As Leonard read the story of Lazarus, in YAMBETTA, to the gathered friends and family, we could see and feel the deep penetration of Jesus’ words of comfort and hope. While the funeral service had been conducted in French, hearts were touched at a much deeper level when Jesus started speaking YAMBETTA.
Paul then told me of losing his own son, Samuel, at two months of age. Shortly after the devastating loss of little Samuel, Nawain Miriam (Nawain is a term of respect for older women in his community) and three other women from church paid a visit to Paul and his wife, Juliana. Continue reading →