Important Race
Racing against the tide of secular civilizations sweeping into Africa, the Sudan Interior Mission is launching a new literature project aimed at reaching African tribes with periodicals in their languages.
The West African Field Council has announced plans for producing a series of illustrated, colorful gospel leaflets under the initials “VIP”—Vernacular Illustrated Publications for Africa.
“While our Christian magazine, African Challenge, has been reaching English-speaking literates all over the continent, we have felt the need of reaching Africans who are literate only in their own tribal languages,” said the Rev. R. J. Davis, West Africa Field Director. “Western materialism flooding into the English-speaking coastal areas has not yet overcome inherent interest in religion in non-English-speaking areas. We plan to reach entire tribes with the gospel in print before materialism and cults reach them.
W. H. F.
Spreading The Word
There are about 80 languages in which short passages or collections of passages have been published, but they are not customarily counted in the total.
Three complete Bibles were published for the first time last year in Bemba (spoken in North Rhodesia); Nimbi Ijo (Nigeria) and Marovo (Solomon Islands).
An estimated 1,000 languages and dialects have no written form.
All-Africa Meeting
Nigeria will be host to an all-Africa Church Conference in January, 1958.
The Conference, to be held in Ibadan, Western Nigeria, will have as its theme, “The Church in Changing Africa.” Three sessions daily, in addition to a morning worship service, will be held from January 10–18.
Preliminary plans were made at a meeting in Lagos of the Christian Council. The chairman was Sir Francis Ibiam, president of the Council.
