DREAMS AND VISIONS

Table of Contents

Letter from the Director 

A Dream Come True "God's Way"

Joseph's Dreams Inspire Action in Mozambique

God Leads Jadreque through Dreams and Visions

"I Saw Jesus for the first time in a Dream"

Dreams and Visions in the Bible Translation Movement
Wycliffe South Africa - Mission and Vision Redefined
Visions and Missions of Other Bible Translation Agencies
A Roadmap for Wycliffe Links

Announcements & News
New Team Members
Voices of Jubilation Concert
Calling all Artists! Jubilee Art Exhibition

Kids Who Care

I love the story of Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and lead baker. The baker saw himself balancing three baskets on his head full of baked goods for the king, but the birds came and ate all the delicacies. The cupbearer saw a vine with three branches that grew to produce grapes. He squeezed the grapes into the king’s cup and handed it to the king.

Joseph interpreted that in three days the cupbearer would be returned to service, while the baker would lose his head. Both dreams came true. 

There are some similarities: 

• They worked in the service of the king.
• They were skilled at their work and became leaders in their function.
• Both suffered imprisonment and had dreams about their futures.

There were also differences. The baker put the baskets on his head. He elevated what he made above himself. His identity was in his work. He also paraded his work for others to see – he went outside where the birds came and ate what he had baked. 

The cupbearer simply did what he was commissioned to do:

“Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand and I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in Pharaoh’s palm.”
(Genesis 40:11)

We are called into the service of King Jesus. We can use our skills and talents to serve in His mission to bring salvation to the nations. Our highest priority is to serve Him and to simply do what He instructs us to do. Our identity is in Him and more important than our work is our relationship with God.

It is good to have a vision of how we can serve God. The danger is when we put our identity in what we do. Think about how you introduce yourself to others. Often in a gathering we hear, “Introduce yourself by telling us your name, your organisation, and what your role is.”

We are called to go and make disciples of all nations, and all that we do in life should be to serve that goal. This is the Great Commission, but there is also the Great Commandment:

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:37-40)

Our Translation Matters this month deals with dreams and visions. These are critical for us to progress in our work, but more crucial is our love for Jesus and to serve the King by simply doing what He calls us to do – His command and His commission.

Alan Webster

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By Elfi Bohl

Here I was, a white lady with the Kora, a sacred instrument reserved for men, sitting in the studio of the National radio in The Gambia and waiting nervously for the interviewer. Suddenly, we were live on air. I answered his questions, played the instrument and sang a few songs. Then the man said, “Dear listeners, until the end of the programme, you may now phone in and ask questions or make comments to our guest, Jali-musoo Mariyama Suso”.

“I am the Imam of the village K. and want to thank you for your wonderful songs and that you respect our tradition and culture. The words are very profound. If you come to sing and play the Kora in my village I will honour you by killing a goat and prepare a nice meal for you”. Totally surprised I stammered, “Thank you, I will try to come.” Another Imam called, expressing his joy and encouraging me to continue playing the Kora and singing “those deep words from the Koran”. He, too, invited me, saying that if I came to his village first, he would offer a cow for a great party! I thanked the man, but mentioned that I wasn’t singing Koran verses, but verses from the book of the Christians. He replied, “Never mind, the words are so good, please come”! “Well done, Mariyama and thank you for daring to play the Kora!” a woman shouted on the phone, accompanied by the clapping of hands in the background. She continued, “today is the happiest day for all Gambian women. At last, we have the proof that the brain of a woman has the same size as the brain of a man”.

Growing up in a musical family it was my dream to become a music star. Singing, playing the guitar and the piano was my passion besides my love for the Lord. As a teenager I sensed a growing burden for people who were lost without Christ and dedicated my life to serve him wherever he wanted to send me. Still, my main desire was to make music which I did not only for myself but also as a musician in Church. Deep down in my heart I knew that this was also the way I got recognition from people which I enjoyed and needed. But instead of pursuing a musical career, I trained as a nursery teacher. In 1988, now married and as a family of four we joined WEC International and moved to The Gambia in 1989 to live and work among the Mandinka people. I took my guitar and a keyboard with me, but playing during worship times at our team meetings and singing Sunday school songs was about all I did in the following years. I struggled with this and many times wondered why the Lord had brought me to Africa, wasting my musical talent. In 1994, during a personal crisis, I realised that I needed to give my dream and the music back to God, trusting that he loved and highly valued me with or without the music and that he knew what was best for me. In surrendering myself afresh into the loving arms of my heavenly Father I found new peace and joy to serve him. This deep work of the Lord in my heart was necessary for what the Lord had in store for me.

Four years later, we were field leaders and most time of the year our three children lived at BCS (WEC MK-school in Sénégal). That’s when something strange happened. One day, an old Gambian man came to our house, wanting to sell a Kora, the famous and mystical harp belonging to the Mande people of West Africa which was also the national instrument of The Gambia. My husband said ”Let’s buy it and you could learn to play it!”

I hesitated because some things I heard about the Kora went through my mind. Only men of certain musical families with surnames like Kuyate, Suso and Jobarteh were allowed to play the Kora. They are called “Jali” or “Griot” which means praise singer. It is believed that the brain of the woman is too small to learn it and that if a woman touched the Kora she would get sick and die.

To be a Jali means to be a musician, singer, writer, storyteller, historian, adviser, prophet, entertainer, peace maker and carrier of the oral tradition. They appear and perform at all the important festivities and political events.

Oh no, how could I think of even having a Kora in our house, let alone playing it and risking that people may hear it? Surely, I and maybe WEC would get in trouble.

On the other hand, I knew, people also believed that the Kora itself had a spirit who speaks the truth. The Jalis had freedom of thought and speech, even outside the manners and rules of the society. They are admired and feared at the same time, because one never knows if they praise or curse. Finally, Hans bought the Kora and for the first time I held this instrument, made of a calabash (dried pumpkin half), covered with a cow skin, in my hands. The 21 strings were tied in two lines to a wooden staff.

But now, how could I learn it? For sure, no man would teach a white lady and give away the art and domain of Kora playing! We found a young Jali who was eager to get some quick money, agreeing to teach me. After three lessons I already knew how to play three simple songs and I got excited. To my disappointment, my teacher did not come to the next lesson, and I never saw him again. Did he realise I was serious about learning? I decided to continue practising on my own.

Some time later, I was asked to sing a song at a Christian wedding. Without a doubt I knew that this song had to be a Kora song. I took 1 Cor 13: 4 – 7 in the Mandinka language and fitted the words to one of the songs I could sing and play. I sang the song at the wedding, however, accompanied on the keyboard. I did not have the courage to appear in public with the Kora. Surprisingly the people responded positively saying, “This sounded exactly like a well-known Kora song!” Encouraged I composed another song and sang it in a Church service, this time with the Kora. The positive response was amazing. One of the Church leaders said to me, “I clearly feel the Lord has brought you to The Gambia to sing God’s Word with the Kora.” But would the Muslim people listen to me? At first still somewhat hesitantly but gradually more and more boldly I took on the role of a Jali. In my prayer times I heard new melodies which I put to scripture verses. Slowly it dawned on me that the Lord was giving the music back to me.

Being the wife of the WEC NGO director meant that I got in contact with people of all levels in society. This gave natural opportunities to play and sing. Whenever people saw the Kora they asked: “Who is playing?” thinking it was Hans, my husband. Unless I played, they would not believe that it was his wife! I will never forget some of the comments of the listeners:

“We know these songs and melodies but have never heard these words.”
“The fact that you’ve learned to play the Kora and sing in our language means you really love us”.
“We know the old prophets you sing about. What Allah told them happened. Therefore, you must also be a prophet and we need to listen to you.”
“Your songs are educative and soothing for our troubled hearts.”
“These songs give me real hope although I know I’m soon going to die”.

So many people wanted to hear the songs that I could not meet all the invitations which lead to the first recording of a cassette and CD.

Meanwhile I was known as “Jali-musoo (lady) Mariyama Suso” and that was the time when I was invited to the national radio. They also started playing the songs in their programmes.

More invitations came and it was easier to share God’s Word with the Kora at places where, as missionaries, we were not allowed before. In this way, God opened doors to strong Muslim villages, the prison, hospitals, Islamic schools and public meetings. I sang in front of government officials, the vice president, Islamic leaders and marabouts (healers with special powers). At one occasion, during the singing, people came forward dancing, putting money into the little hole on the side of the kora’s sound body, laying food or jewellery or nice handbags in front of me! And it made me wonder, “Was that the kind of music career the Lord had planned for me?”

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Joseph is believed to have lived somewhere between 1600 and 2000 BC. His first dreams and visions landed him in slavery when his jealous brothers sold him to Arab traders, but eventually his gift led him to become the second most powerful man in Egypt with influence that stretched across the whole region. Thousands of years later, he has inspired a group of Makhuwa people in Mozambique.

Four translation teams, formerly part of the Makhuwa Cluster, were working on translating a range of Scripture passages and stories from the Old and New Testament. Among these was Joseph’s story. The turning point in the story is when Pharaoh calls upon Joseph to interpret his dreams; an interpretation that predicts seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. What’s critical is that Joseph is then called upon to take action on this interpretation. He makes recommendations and is given responsibility for managing the country’s resources. As a result, all of Egypt, and the whole region was saved from starvation. His family relationships were also restored when his brothers came looking for food in Egypt.

When the teams finished translating and checking these passages, they were left deep in conversation. Our Head of Translation Services, Bonifacio Paulo, related their responses. He said they wondered, “Why then in our context, with all these rivers, with all this land, why do people starve? It took only one person, Joseph, to bring a turning point to save the whole region. Why in our situation, with all these resources, are people going hungry?” There are often reports and complaints about food shortages in the country. So they said, “we should do something, as Joseph did”.

Bonifacio shared how moved he was to see that through this account one man’s dreams and the action he took on them, the translation teams were challenged and inspired to apply this to their own context. Since then, they’ve started thinking about how they could materialise what they’ve learned, to make an impact in their communities.

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Jadreque Jorge, who is our new Field Coordinator for Mozambique, recently shared this story in an interview with us about how he came into ministry, a journey that started in an unusual way. 

He told us, “It first happened when I was nine years old. I was shepherding the flocks of my father when all of a sudden I heard a voice calling my name – “Jadreque! “Jadreque!” Of course, I responded but I could not see the person. In my mind, I thought that maybe someone had come and was hiding in some bushes somewhere, but I didn’t see anyone all the way home. About one year later my father also had a dream, which was connected to the vision that I saw when I was shepherding the flock. In his dream, my father saw me when I had gathered a very great multitude of people and my hands were shining as I waved farewell. In his dream, I was going to a far away country, but he could not understand that far country, what it would be, and where I was really going. When he shared the dream with me, I said, “Dad you just need to leave it into the hands of the Lord and pray, and if that’s God’s will, so it will come to pass”.”

Not long after that they were hit by tragedy. “We are 10 of us from the same father and mother, but God called home eight of my brothers and sisters. So now we remain two, myself and my younger sister”. It was a challenging time for the family, and Jadreque wondered if God had abandoned them. People would tell him that he and his few surviving family members would be wiped out next. But he said “Well if it’s the will of God, that’s it. I cannot defend myself unless God defends me”. Three years later he was still alive, and the next part of his story began to unfold. 

In 2012 he was called to do his Bible training in Zambia. He realised that this was a fulfilment of God’s earlier calling; it was the “far country” his dad had seen in his dream. He faced some opposition from others, who pointed out that no one in his family had ever gone that far away, and feared that if he left something would happen to him and he wouldn’t come back. But he was certain God had called him and so he entrusted the outcome to him. He said, “That’s how I got the courage and I went”.

After four years of training, he went back to his home village in Malema district in Nampula Province and then moved with his family to Nampula City. He said, “We went to establish the mission of God in Nampula city. It has been challenging where we are working with Muslim communities. But still, God is gracious. There is always a voice that comes and encourages me, saying “My son, I am with you".” He joined Harvesters Ministries where he was involved in training over 100 pastors who are now also planting churches. He told us around 300 churches have been planted, many lives have been transformed, and healings have taken place. 

Jadreque is now part of Wycliffe South Africa, where he believes that many more lives will be transformed. He told us, “Right now as I’m speaking, I’m also speaking to the radio, where I shared the Word of the Lord in my mother tongue. Every Saturday people say, “We want to hear the Word of the Lord". So being part of this and also the translation process, I strongly believe it’s the Lord's fulfilment of the vision I saw, of the dream my father had, and the calling that God has in my life. I know that God still has many things to do even as he touches me, and I pray that the Lord may guide and give me the strength”.

We are pleased to have him on the team and look forward to seeing how God continues to work with and through him.

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Faith is from Lebanon, although she now lives in London. She describes how a series of dreams and a vision led to her salvation.

I only knew Jesus from what I’d been taught in Islam, that he is a prophet. I wasn’t searching to find out anything more about him but regularly asked God whether I could see Jesus the prophet before I died.

In my first dream Jesus was very big, covering the entire sky. I couldn’t look directly at him because there was so much light coming from him. I enjoyed being in his presence but still didn’t fully understand who he was.

When I woke up, the feelings of happiness continued although nothing had changed. I knew some people who were Christians; I met with them and they started telling me who Jesus is and that he loved me and died on the cross for me. I responded by saying: “No, I believe what I believe.”

I told them about my dream and they were very excited by it, exclaiming: “You saw him before anyone told you about him!” I replied that I still didn’t understand what they were telling me. However, I asked God: “If you are the God of Christianity, show me yourself. If you are God of Islam, show me – I want to know the truth.” I stopped praying prayers in Islam as they felt wrong.

I had another dream of myself walking a long way down a road, and heard a voice telling me to “read the Old Testament, Psalms and the New Testament, as they will tell you about my way”. When I woke up I wanted to know what they were so I asked a friend – she explained and gave me a Bible. I started reading it; to begin with I didn’t feel anything – it just felt like stories.

In my next dream I saw someone wearing a long black robe – he was a pastor. He asked me to go into a room and I said “no, no” but eventually I did. Inside there were twelve robes and the person invited me to try one on. I said “no, no” again as I was afraid. When I did try one on, it fitted perfectly – he said it was for me, so I accepted.

Later, Jesus appeared in my room in a vision. I was awake and had been praying again that God would let me know who he is. Jesus spoke to me, saying: “I am in heaven, and the earth and everywhere. I am the way, the truth and the life.” Immediately there was a great power like fire inside my stomach and I exclaimed, “The Lord Jesus is the Lord” – I could not stop myself – and that is how I became a Christian.

Faith travels around the world telling people about Jesus and has seen many miracles and healings as a result.

This story was originally published in Premier Christianity magazine. To read the full article, please go to: https://www.premierchristianity.com/home/when-god-uses-dreams-5-amazing-stories/888.article

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WYCLIFFE SOUTH AFRICA - VISION AND MISSION REDEFINED

After a process of discussion with the Board and the team, Wycliffe South Africa has redefined our vision and mission statements in an attempt to more accurately convey our current and future role in the Bible Translation movement. Our new statements are as follows:

Vision

Transformed communities meaningfully engaging with God’s Word.

Mission

We serve local language communities through strategic partnerships to facilitate the translation of and engagement with God’s Word towards transformed lives.

MISSIONS AND VISIONS OF OTHER BIBLE TRANSLATION AGENCIES

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A ROADMAP FOR WYCLIFFE LINKS
By Helen van der Walt

Wycliffe Links Dreams

Over the past few years, Wycliffe Links has been growing and supporting the development of Bible Translation in new ways. We have seen more and more churches partnering with Wycliffe South Africa and our partner language groups, as well as a growing network of organisations and individuals who can serve the Bible Translation Movement and the South African Church.

As we grow, we look to the future and dream big, expecting great things from our Lord:

Find out more about opportunities at https://wycliffe.org.za/wycliffe-links/resources 

1. The name of Wycliffe and the work of Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement known and supported across South Africa. 
2. A Wycliffe Ambassador advocating for Bibleless People in every church.
3. Each language group adopted by a church congregation and walking the Bible translation journey together.
4. The South African Church engaging creatively with God’s Word and mobilised for God’s mission. 
5. People and organisations that are skilled and gifted by God, empowered to invest in the Bible Translation Movement. 
6. The stories of beautiful people across southern Africa and the testimonies of God’s transformation being shared among God’s People.

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MISSIONS AND VISIONS OF OTHER BIBLE TRANSLATION AGENCIES

Carol van Heerden

Carol has come on board as the Senior Field Coordinator. Together with the Hub Field Coordinators, she will be assisting the projects in the field, liaising between the field and prayer teams, Wycliffe South Africa and the funders, and ensuring all projects run smoothly and are covered in prayer. She is married to Mark and they are based in Fish Hoek with their two teenage children.

Noziqhamo Skele

Noziqhamo Skele joined Wycliffe South Africa in 2024 as an intern. She studied Business Management at Tshwane North TVET college in Pretoria. Originally from Eastern Cape, she now resides in Tembisa. Her role at Wycliffe South Africa involves providing administration support, especially in the Finance department and with admin.

Rina Blomerus

Rina joined the team in April 2024 to provide Member Care for the members of Wycliffe South Africa involved in Bible Translation locally and abroad. This means making sure the members thrive and don’t just survive! She does this through regular contact sessions either online or in person.

Jadreque Jorge

Jadreque is from Nampula province in Mozambique, which is also where his role as Hub Field Coordinator for Mozambique will be conducted. Jadreque received Biblical training for four years in Zambia, and has worked in ministry ever since, first with Harvesters Ministries and now Wycliffe South Africa. 

Marcelina Neto

Marcelina comes on board in June as the new Hub Field Coordinator for Angola. Her role will involve liaising and organising between Wycliffe South Africa and the various translation projects that are taking place in Angola, providing reports and looking for opportunities to serve language communities in the region.

VOICES OF JUBILATION CONCERT

Come and worship with our top entries in the Jubilation Song Competition! The winners will be included on the Voices of Jubilation album to celebrate 50 years of Wycliffe South Africa.

Date: Saturday 27th July                  
Time: 14:30
Place: Rosebank Union Church (40 St Andrews Rd, Hurlingham, Sandton, 2070)
Cost: R100

Register for tickets on Quicket: https://qkt.io/voices-of-jubilation

For more information: wycliffe.org.za/event/jubilation-song-competition

CALLING ALL ARTISTS! JUBILEE ART EXHIBITION

As part of our 50th birthday in 2025, Wycliffe South Africa is holding a Jubilee art exhibition. We are inviting you to be part of this! Submit art already created, or art you are dreaming of. We are looking for submissions that convey how beautiful and precious Africa and its people are to God. You can interpret this as creatively as you want: sweeping landscapes, ethnic portraits, conceptual abstracts, traditional cultural art, wildlife sculptures, or wherever else your imagination takes you. 

Apply by 31 August 2024 (Your art does not need to be ready by this date)

For more information and to apply: wycliffe.org.za/event/art-exhibition

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Hi there.

It’s Aunty Gill here again. Here’s a picture of me in case you forgot what I look like.

I speak English at home, so I made a sign that says “Hello!” to greet you all with. I could have written  Hi!/Good day!/ Howzit!/ How ya doing? on my sign as well.

I wonder how you say hello in your house. Maybe you speak English and so your greeting sounds a bit like mine, but perhaps you speak another language and you greet people differently. Maybe you say Goeie More or Sawubona or Dumela or Mhoro.

Did you know that there are 7394 different languages in the world? Seven thousand, three hundred and ninety four different languages!!! That is a lot of different ways to say hello.

Imagine that you went to school one day and you had a new teacher and your new teacher only spoke a language called Bippity Blob. Your new teacher stood up to teach you all and she said “woo-wah-wama-wig-tig-ta-ha-ham-jam-jab-jabba-lob-ho-na-bib-bob” I can just imagine how you and all of your friends would look at each other with wide open mouths! You might scratch your heads and say “Huh?” or “What did she just say?” It would be very difficult to learn anything from your new teacher if she only spoke Bippity Blob, and you spoke another language. 

Or imagine you got a brand-new phone. You opened up the package to read the instructions so you could set the phone up and the instructions were all written in a language called Zaxyzan. Step 1 said “Zaxxan zap zax pix, zip, zanax, piz, pizan, zan, zax.” There were 24 different instructions all written in Zaxyzan, with no pictures to help. You would not be able to use the phone or even turn the phone on. You would probably feel really sad and angry. The instructions were in a language you could not understand. 

It’s the same with Bibles. If you have a Bible in your house, it is probably in the language that you speak at your house. We have quite a few Bibles at my house and they are all written in English, because that is how we speak at our house. I can read the Bible and understand what it says. 

Imagine that I had a Bible written in a language called Frutaq at my house. I might open it and find it says “Lafrut, bofrut, bo, bo, bo, teletaq, botag, frut, frut.” I might try to read it for a minute or two but then I would close the Bible and give up. I would probably not even open it again. I need a Bible in a language I can understand, so I can read that God made me, God loves me, Jesus died and came alive for me and I can be friends with God. 

The people who work at Wycliffe are being obedient to what Jesus said just before He rose into heaven: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” They want people all over the world, in all 7394 languages, to know that there is good news. Their dream is to have God’s Word in all 7394 different languages, so that all people can know the good news, get saved and become a follower of Jesus. They are working very hard to achieve this dream! They have teams in different countries who are working to translate the Bible into their language so people can hear and read God’s Word. 

Let’s dream with the people at Wycliffe and pray that God helps this wonderful dream to come true - the Bible available in all 7394 different languages!

Lots of love to you, KIDS WHO CARE
Aunty Gill

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