Burkina Faso (MNN) – In Africa, although
you might not have internet access, you are almost sure to find a cell phone
tower.
400 million cell phones are in use throughout
the continent, making mobile technology a logical step for spreading the message
of Jesus.
In Burkina Faso, there are 11,000
Kaansa speakers in the Kaan tribe. According to the Joshua Project, just 4% of
this group claim to be evangelical Christians.
While there are only Scripture portions
available, they do have access to God's Word through the MegaVoice Audio Bible,
and there are digital players through Faith Comes By Hearing that have Bible stories
available, too.
Beyond that, it seems that other
resources weren't readily available because the Kaansa language is musical and
hard to learn. It has four tones, nine
vowels that work in sets based on the position of the back of the tongue, seven
noun classes, and four grammatical genders and verb forms.
To Wycliffe Bible Translators, blending
the language with music seemed to be a good way to reach more people with the
hope of the Gospel.
They've succeeded in putting Christian
music in the Kaansa language on cell phone memory cards. In the past, this
music was only available on cassette tapes, but many people did not own the
players. Now, people can purchase these memory cards and listen to encouraging
music in their own language wherever they go.
Pray that many Kaansa speakers will hear it and
want to know more about Jesus and the Truth about Him found in the translated Scriptures.
