The Bibleless Peoples

The world's largest missionary force, Wycliffe Bible Translators, was started by a question posed in 1918 to missionery Cameron Townsend. Townsend had come to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles, which many of the nation's tribal groups could not read. As Townsend tried to distribute his wares among the quarter-million Cakchiquel-speaking people, one man asked him an unforgettable question: "If your God is so great, why can't He speak my language?"

Townsend was so challenged that he settled among the Cakchiquel, studied their language, and began translating the Bible. A local religious leader called it "the work of the devil," but having little else to read, this man devoured the Cakchiquel Bible and was converted. He burned his false gods, saying, "I served them all my life, I thought it was time they served me, so I made kindling wood out of them and cooked my beans." Thus the Cakchiquel Church was born.

Townsend soon began asking, "If God was so great, why couldn't He speak all the languages of Brazil and Mexico and Africa and Asia?" Traveling to Chicago, he shared his vision with missionary leaders, but they advised him to devote his life to the Cakchiquels.

Townsend returned deeply troubled, uncertain of himself, unsure of the future. In desparation, he asked God to guide him, then opened his Bible and put his finger on a verse at random. It was Matthew 18:12: "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one who is straying?"

That was Townsend's answer. "Yes, Lord", he prayed, "I'll leave the 250,000 Cakchiquel and go in quest of the Bibless peoples."

The worldwide work of Wycliffe began in the heart of "Uncle Cam" Townsend then and there. Over 2,000 language groups have now at least part of the Bible in their language, and nearly 6,000 translators are currently working in over 50 countries.