Can You Imagine?

Do you have a Bible handy? Pick it up. Hold it in your hands … and imagine this is the first you have ever been able to do that.

Now you are beginning to understand what today will be like for the Budik people of Senegal, when they hold a dedication for their very own New Testament — and what an honour we have to be able to pray alongside them.

More Than a Unique Celebration

“This isn’t like all our other fêtes that we have every year,” one believer said as they planned for the celebration. “This is one big important one that will only happen once!”

Yet this is so much more than a party. It’s a milestone in an important journey for a church that has seen many ups and downs over the years. “They are seeing how privileged they are to be chosen by God to have this book, His Word, for their very own, and even before any of the other people groups around them,” wrote Ken Satorius, who worked with the Budik believers to translate the New Testament into their language.

Initially, those believers did not seem to grasp the importance of the task. “But in recent years … it seemed to register with them what a privilege it was to be … hearing every single verse of God’s Word that was being translated,” Ken wrote. “They were understanding that it needed to be just the way they would talk because God speaks Budik too and He was speaking to them through it.”

Pray that all that is said and done in the service will make God known.

A Grand Opportunity

Ken and his wife, Kathy, expect the New Testament to be a “uniting factor” for the church. The dedication is an opportunity for them to stand together and be a witness and an encouragement.

“Pray that all that is said and done in the service will make God known,” Ken asked. Officials and leaders from other religious groups are expected to attend, as are believers from other parts of Senegal. Pray that the believers are encouraged “to hear what God’s Word has done in the lives of the Budik believers.”

It may be difficult to picture what it would be like to hold God’s Word in your hands for the first time. But we can all marvel that we have the opportunity to pray along with our Budik brothers and sisters on the other side of the world as they prepare for this important event.