I had never taught anyone to read before. What if I messed something up? But my wide-eyed 5-year-old was looking up at me expectantly so I took a deep breath and plunged in.
And the day we overheard our son reading softly to himself for the very first time, my husband looked at me astounded and whispered, “You did that. You really did that.” My heart swelled as if he had used a megaphone. And we celebrated silently together.
Even more astounding, missionaries are “doing that” too in isolated jungle villages all across the world. But if I thought my task was daunting …
Instead of youngsters, a missionary’s student body may consist of grown men, women with crying babies, village chiefs, grandmothers, and occasionally, even barking dogs and squawking chickens will wander in.
Instead of the natural English they have been reading and writing since kindergarten, missionaries are teaching in complicated, unheard of tribal languages that they themselves only recently acquired.
And sometimes, teaching reading in a tribal setting doesn’t even begin with what we might first think of – learning the sounds and symbols of the alphabet. Instead, it may start with discovering how to hold the new thing called a “pencil.”
But regardless of the obstacles, people groups in the remotest regions of the world are learning to read and write. And the celebrations for those achievements are not so small or silent.
The first-ever Inapang literacy graduation moved even the strongest tribal men to tears.
“We have seen grown men cry because they are reading and writing in their own language,” said missionary Kelley Housley.
In March, a group of 15 Inapang men and women of Papua New Guinea stood proudly by the little village school and shared their newfound skill.
“They dressed in their ancestral clothes, ornamented with sport watches, tennis shoes and eye glasses,” Kelley said, “and used the community megaphone to read their very own stories that they wrote in their own language.”
About 300 people gathered to listen and rejoice with them. But the joy wasn’t just because of their important accomplishment. It was also from what they would eventually be able to do with it.
One graduate’s story told it best.
“My name is Gumentige. … I came into this literacy class and now I can read and write in my own language. I am really happy about this. … Why am I happy about this school? Because this is how we will learn. … If we learn to read and write in our own language, we can read God’s own Word and then other men won’t come and deceive us about His talk.”
Gumentige and others like him desire to know the truth. And soon, with their fresh literacy skills, they will be able to hold the translated Scripture in their hands and read that truth for themselves. And that is something to joyfully celebrate. Pass the megaphone!
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