A Focus on Translation: Nzime and Badwe'e

We would like to introduce you to Keith and Mary Beavon. The Beavons came to Cameroon in January of 1976, and began working with the Nzime people. They moved into the home of Joseph Azabor (who later joined them in their translation work) and began learning the Nzime language. As they put it in a recent newsletter:

Joseph Azabor

"In 1976, Mary, Virginia [their daughter] and I began living with the Nzime people, sharing the roof and food of one family. We also exposed ourselves to their language and worldview, learning it in part. It also meant that some of them have had the opportunity to learn ours and maybe God’s, too. (We aren’t sure the two are identical.) Their way of access to the worldview of God is the translation that was our shared passion over many years."

At the Nzime Dedication

After almost 25 years of work among the Nzime people, the translation of the New Testament was completed and dedicated to the Nzime people in 2000.

During their time working on the Nzime language, the Beavons realized that there were many languages that were closely related to Nzime, and they discovered that some of these could use the Nzime translation as a starting point for their own translations.  One of these languages is Badwe'e, a language they came into close contact with when they moved, in 1981, to accommodate their growing family (at this point, they had been blessed with two sons, David and Garth), into the home of the Yangyang family, who were Badwe'e speakers. When the Nzime translation was dedicated, they began working on a translation for the Badwe'e. This New Testament was dedicated to the people in 2003.

Several others assisted them in their work among these two language groups. Mo Perin, from England, worked with them for a time, and they were also assisted by several Cameroonian colleagues: Joseph Azabor and Joseph Mbong with the Nzime; and Samuel Mpiale and 'Janvier' Ekoalea with the Badwe'e, to name a few.

Janvier Ekoalea teaching a Badwe'e literacy class

The Beavons are continuing their work among these people groups. They have worked on producing an audio copy of the Nzime New Testament as well as a catechism that is currently being used by parts of the Presbyterian church. They are also progressing on the translation of some parts of the Old  Testament into Nzime. They have also been working on Old Testament portions for the Badwe'e, and have been asked by Badwe'e believers for a catechism as well.

But there are other language groups that the Beavons long to serve as well, particularly the Njyem, another language related to Nzime. They began the process of learning Njyem in January of 2001, but were largely unable to live among the Njyem people, which has hindered their ability to effectively minister to this people group. Their hope is to soon be able to move into the Njyem area, living in the truck camper that was their home once their children had graduated from high school and returned to the United States.

We first met the Beavons when we arrived in Cameroon in 1993. When Kevin began teaching at RFIS, Mary was a member of the school board and their two sons were both students, David in 12th grade and Garth in 9th. Both of their boys were in Kevin's English classroom, and Garth participated in several of the plays that Kevin directed while he was a student.

Please pray for the Beavon family as they seek to find ways to effectively continue their ministry to the Njyem speakers. Also pray that the Nzime and Badwe'e Scriptures would be powerful and effective in transforming the lives of believers in those language groups.

The Nzime and Badwe'e New Testaments

A Focus on Translation: Introduction

A selection of several of "our" New Testaments from Cameroon

Some time ago, we decided it would be fun to figure out how many New Testament translations had been dedicated in Cameroon by translators whose children Kevin had taught at RFIS. We hoped to gather a copy of each of these translations, so that we could have a concrete record of the impact that our ministry has had over the years.

It turns out that, since our arrival in Cameroon in August of 1993, we have directly supported the completion of New Testaments in eleven different languages. If that sounds like a rather small number to you, stay tuned to this space; over the next several weeks, we'll be sharing some of the stories behind those eleven translations, which will help put into perspective for you the years of effort that has been put into finishing each of those translation projects.

To put all this in another way, our ministry has helped to bring God's Word to 985,000 people in the languages of their hearts. And there are more to come; some other New Testaments which we have directly supported are nearing completion or are awaiting publication, so that number will soon climb to more than 1 million people who now have free access to and understanding of God's Word who didn't when we began our work in Cameroon almost 20 years ago.

We were very encouraged by all this, and we wanted to give you an opportunity to "get to know" these languages groups that have been impacted by our ministry over the years. So, over the course of the next several weeks, we will be posting blog entries that focus on each of these language groups, sharing the stories of the people and the family that worked on the translation project. Hopefully, this will give you a better sense of what each of these books means to the people group that received it. And we hope, as well, that you will be encouraged, just as we were, to hear of all that God has accomplished through your faithful support of our ministry in Cameroon.

To whet your appetite a bit, here is the complete list (roughly in alphabetical order) of the New Testaments that have been (or soon will be) dedicated in Cameroon by families whose children Kevin has taught:

Akoose - Robert and Sylvia Hedinger (and several others)
Badwe'e - Keith and Mary Beavon
Bafut - Joseph and Becky Mfonyam
Kako - Ers and Gerd Ernst
Kom - George and Val Shultz, Randy and Sherry Jones
Kwanja - Martin and Joan Weber
Mbuko - Richard and Sue Gravina
Mofu-Gudur - Ken and Judy Hollingsworth, Jim and Annie Pohlig
Ngiemboon - Steve and Julie Anderson
Nooni - Dave and Cindy Lux
Nzime (or Koonzime) - Keith and Mary Beavon

And soon to be completed:
Wuzlam - Willie and Annukka Kinnaird
Hdi - Lee and Tammi Bramlett

We will be starting this focus on translation series by highlighting the work of Keith and Mary Beavon in the Nzime and Badwe'e projects. We hope you will join us!