The following was written by Kim CoXne, a Free Church colleague in Fulani ministry in the Central African Republic.\u00a0 It captures well the need for the scriptures to be in a language that people can read.\u00a0 If you are interested in supporting this task, let me know and I’ll direct you how to do it.<\/p>\n
WHAT\u2019S IN A SCRIPT?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We wouldn\u2019t normally think changing fonts would make that much difference!\u00a0 To us, such is purely cosmetic!\u00a0 That was essentially my attitude when I learned that Scott ClaXrk, a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators, was \u201ctransliterating\u201d \u2013 i.e. changing the script but NOT the words \u2013 the Fulfulde Bible into the \u201cAjamiya\u201d script!\u00a0 My attitude of indifference changed overnight when I first took books of the Bible written in Ajamiya to Fulani encampments in the remote bush and discovered that at least 1 \u201cmalloum\u201d, or \u2018korXanic teacher\u2019, in each camp could actually read these books without any instruction!\u00a0 Historically, in Africa, missionaries have had to teach reading first before they could hand out the Bible.\u00a0 To my astonishment, I suddenly realized that using the Ajamiya script meant IsXlam had already done this onerous task for us!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Just recently, I set up opposite a mosXque in a remote village at the end of an almost impassable road.\u00a0 To my amazement, when the mosXque let out, the faithful crowded around me to check out the colorful books I\u2019d placed on a bench:\u00a0 2 gospels, the Psalms, a tract on the names of God and more!\u00a0 When they saw the script, their enthusiasm climbed to the next level!\u00a0 \u201cAjamiya\u201d is the proper term for Arabic script when it is employed for languages other than Arabic.\u00a0 Because it is also phonetic, Arabic script, like Roman script, can be used with minor adaptations to write any language on earth!\u00a0 However, unlike Roman script users, those who use Arabic script have a certain reverence for the script itself.\u00a0 And so, a colleague accurately, but perhaps a bit indelicately, stated that while the Roman-scripted Scriptures might end up serving as toilet paper, the Ajamiya-scripted Scriptures never would!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n