In the Line of Fire - A story of faith

Our colleagues Will and Judith Sawers shared this article about some friends of theirs with whom they worked in Central African Republic. Please read their story; it is a testimony to God's faithfulness and to how powerful faith in Him can be.

When I think of the little inconveniences in my life about which I complain so easily, I'm so humbled to be confronted by people like Francis and Viviane who have faced such real challenges and yet, can honestly say they were at peace in the midst of them, trusting God completely for all things.

May God grant us all the faith to trust so completely in Him that we also can say, no matter what the circumstances, that we are resting content in Him!

In the Line of Fire

by Beth Wicks

Central African Republic

Seated astride his 125cc Honda motorcycle, Francis Feidangai expertly negotiates the potholes and rivulets of the dusty-red roads of the Bossangoa region in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR). Only ten years ago free movement like this was nearly impossible because of rebel activity.

Bible translation projects in the region became difficult to continue, but translators, like Francis, pressed on despite growing violence. God used the sufferings and challenges Francis faced to refine him and deepen his calling to Bible translation.

 

Forced to flee

When the rebel activity in Bossangoa intensified in 2002, Francis and his wife, Viviane, were forced to flee for their lives.

“One day we heard cannon fire in the distance and then we heard shooting from within the city,” he remembered. “By 4 pm, gunfire was all around us. It was so close that we feared for our lives. We had no choice but to lock ourselves inside our house.”

When Francis and his wife cautiously emerged early the next morning, they found the corpse of a man who lived next door to them lying in the open outside his compound. It was a stark and terrible warning to them of just how close the rebels had come.

Francis Feidangai, his wife Vivian and their daughter. (Photo by Zeke Du Plessis)

Hoping to stop all communication with the outside world, the rebel forces had come looking for the two-way radio used by Francis and his colleagues in their work. They did not know that the radio had been taken to another region for repairs.

“When the rebels saw that the radio was missing, they assumed that I had taken it and were determined to find me,” Francis said. “I knew that my life was in danger and that my wife and I would have to flee into the bush.”

He worried about Viviane, who was pregnant at that time.

“Before leaving, God spoke to my heart,” he shared. “He reaffirmed to me that my security was in His Word.”

 

More than a job

To Francis, the calling to translate God's Word was not just a job. God's Word was his home, his hope, his food, his life—in the midst of dire and unstable circumstances.

“My heart was so much in the translation work,” explained Francis. “I decided to take very little from my home, apart from a sleeping mat, my Bible and my workbook. I knew that God had given me this work to do. Whatever the conditions in my life, this was my work.”

They fled to an encampment 12km off the main road, where they slept for the next five months. During the day Vivian would stay hidden under a large mango tree, while Francis sat in a concealed shelter by the river, continuing to translate the Scriptures into the Gbeya language. Despite imminent danger, Francis was at peace.

“I was very calm…and I had a really close relationship with God,” he said. “After spending time in prayer, I would continue my translation work.”

When war ended on 15 March of 2003, Francis had translated the whole book of Genesis as well as many other Bible verses.

“I was thankful that the difficult months were over and that God had kept us safe,” he recalled. “It was exciting to be able to take my newborn baby and her mother back to the safety of our home.”

 

Moving ahead

Francis provides leadership to the many literacy classes in the Bossangoa region. (Photo by Zeke Du Plessis)

Today, Francis is the coordinator of the ACATBA* Bible translation and literacy programs in the Bossangoa region. His own translation experience, together with his training in teaching has equipped Francis for various roles. He leads the team of volunteer Bible translators working on the Gbeya Bible translation, supervises the use of Scriptures that have already been translated into Gbeya. In addition, he trains new translation facilitators, and coordinates literacy programs in the villages across this region of CAR, where most of the population cannot read or write.

Francis lives to bring God glory by giving others the opportunity to know God through His Word. Through trials he has persevered. His love for the God has deepened and grown. Like the many other men and women of CAR working to translate the Scriptures into local languages, Francis watched the Word prove true on his journey.


* Association Centrafricaine pour la Traduction de la Bible et l'Alphabétisation or Central African Association for Bible Translation and Literacy.


Beth Wicks is a writer for YWAM AfriCom, a network of communicators that serve YWAM in Africa. Learn more about them on their web site: www.ywamafricom.org.

This story was written for the Wycliffe News Network.