Scripture Engagement with the Baputhi
In July 2022, Wycliffe SA took a team to Lesotho to hold our first Scripture Engagement workshop with Baphuthi pastors and church members. It was a brilliant opportunity to visit the communities, as the Baphuthi translators had recently finished their first phase of translation, exceeding their goals by completing 49 oral translations of passages in Genesis, Exodus, 1 Samuel, Mark, and Luke. We were honoured to take solar-panelled audio devices, loaded with the Siphuthi scriptures, and hand them out to those who attended. In total, we gave a device to 16 different churches!
The workshop went very well and we had great attendance. One highlight for me was being able to share with the group that God speaks Siphuthi and that Baphuthi people can worship, walk with, and share God with others in the way that He has made them to be. This is because God made and loves the Baphuthi people, He has a plan for them and has blessed them, and they will be present in the final days when all nations come together to worship Him. In response to this, a pastor called Babe Jase declared, “Our souls have been revived.”
"Our souls have been revived" .
As part of the workshop, to put things into practice, the participants took God’s Word into different areas of the community in creative ways, using Baphuthi culture and the Siphuthi language, in order to meet different needs. One group shared verses and stories with a family and spent time in prayer ministry. The other gathered families and children to tell a variety of stories about God providing: some did a role play of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and others told stories using pictures and call-and-response with the children. It was a great time which God used powerfully. One participant shared, “God is always with us. We saw it from the Bible, and also when we were there.” Ditsuanelo, who was in the role play, said, “People were fed in their souls and also with bread.”
"People were fed in their souls and also with bread."
Through Wycliffe Links we will be able to do more Scripture Engagement related activities and events.
By Helen van der Walt
For more about Wycliffe Links, see www.wycliffe.org.za/wycliffe-links.