Donor Stories

 

You can be anything you want to be.” “You’re special, just the way you are.”

Sound familiar? Many people in the U.S. grew up hearing empowering messages like these, and it has shaped how we view ourselves. But generations of people from minority language communities all over
the world often grow up hearing exactly the opposite.

What happens when an entire community believes it has no worth? Perhaps with each generation, interest in the language and culture fades. Language is so deeply personal—it’s the way we think and dream and pray. If that language is believed to be worthless, it would be impossible for us to shrug off a strong sense of personal worthlessness.

But what if people from a different culture suddenly come to your village to learn from you? What if they’re interested in your stories, your culture, your traditions, your language? What if they write your language down and teach you to read it? What if a very important book is painstakingly translated into your very language—a book that talks about your inherent value as a person created by God?

For Jehu Cayaon, a Kagayanen pastor and translation assistant for the now completed Kagayanen Bible translation, this is not a hypothetical situation—he’s living it. In fact, he remembers a time not too long ago when his own people were mocked and laughed at for being Kagayanen.

“They were afraid, and they were ashamed to identify themselves as Kagayanens,” says Pastor Jehu. “They didn’t want to identify themselves to anyone.”

But then something happened. Translation and literacy workers came to live among the Kagayanens and learn their language. With the help of Kagayanens like Pastor Jehu, they began to translate the Bible and other texts into Kagayanen.

If you ask Pastor Jehu, the Kagayanen translation has brought a new sense of value to the people.
Pastor Jehu sees the Kagayanen Bible as a key, opening doors to new possibilities for the Kagayanens.

“We can read and write our language now,” he explains passionately. “We can record our history now. We can compose our songs—songs from our hearts. We can express our minds—we can express
what is in our inner thoughts and in our hearts.”

The Kagayanens are already beginning to realize some of that potential. Now that the New Testament and Genesis have been translated into their language, an amazing thing is happening—an interest
in their culture has emerged. They held a Kagayanen cultural fair and a Kagayanen Bible celebration. A music CD has already been produced by Kagayanen musicians in their own language.

A member of the music group that produced the CD explains that the purpose is “to uplift our culture, our language. We are the first CD in Kagayanen in the world.” His pride is palpable, and he feels a burden to transfer that sense of self worth to other Kagayanens as well.

Thanks to Bible translation, Kagayanens are being freed from a message of personal worthlessness they’ve held for generations. Today they’re not just Kagayanens—they’re God’s creations.