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Promoting the Use of the Scriptures in Nso', Cameroon

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Promoting the Use of the Scriptures in Nso', Cameroon A Strategy for Promoting the Use of the Vernacular Scriptures in the Cameroon Baptist Convention Churches in Nso’ Tribe, Cameroon: A Biblical Perspective. By Shey Samuel Ngeh A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER of THEOLOGY at the SOUTH AFRICAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY in APRIL, 2015 SUPERVISOR: DR BYEONG JUN DECLARATION I, the undersigned declare that this thesis has been prepared and written by me and has not been previously submitted to any institution for a degree. To the best of my knowledge, all citations and references in the thesis have been duly acknowledged. ___________________________ SHEY SAMUEL NGEH 10-04-2015 1 ACKOWLEDGEMENTS I honestly testify that this work could not have come to fruition without the irreplaceable contribution of others who supported me in every way. My deep appreciation goes to my supervisor Dr. Abraham Byeong Jun for his selfless, academic and moral support. His comments on my work greatly encouraged and motivated me to study harder. My deep gratitude goes to my beloved wife, Ngeh Brendaline for praying for me. I heartily thank Mr. Yonta Moise for facilitating the approval and extension of my internship scholarship offered by the Seed Company to whom I owe my appreciation as well. I equally thank the following for their encouragement and technical support: Bro. Efi Walters (General Director, CABTAL), Sis. Truus Babila, Sis. Ginny Bradley, Dr. Sunjo Frida, Sis. Comfort Mawe, Pastor Prosper Atchombat, Bro. Frans Barah, Mrs Lemfon Joan, Sis. Lydia Bongsuyru, Pa Vensu and Pastor Wepngong Henry who gave me free access to CBTS Ndu library. My MTh Cohort friends made my studies enjoyable especially during cohort meetings in Kenya. Their zeal to study motivated me. Our lecturers helped me greatly to overcome the difficulties I encountered studying online. I heartily thank the librarians of the AIU (African International University) library in Nairobi Kenya as well the Dimesse Sisters, Karen-Nairobi for always providing wonderful accommodation. Margaret Hill and Dr. John Ommani facilitated all our cohort meetings, tracking my progress and giving every reason to remain hopeful in relation to the completion of my work. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. My deep thanks go to Rev. Bah Emmanuel, the former Field Pastor of Nso’ Field and his pastors for facilitating the empirical section of my work by providing the data I needed. Finally, I owe my deep gratitude to my church (Faith Baptist Church, Bamkika’ay and all workers of CABTAL for praying for me. I bear full responsibility for any misrepresentations or shortcomings in this work. Shey Samuel Ngeh 10-04-2015 2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CBC: Cameroon Baptist Convention CABTAL: Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy SIL: Summer Institute of Linguistics CBTS: Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary CBS: Cameroon Baptist Seminary DTP: Translation Degree Programme LIM: Loyola Institute for Ministry IMRAD: Introduction, Methods, Results And Discussion 3 ABSTRACT This research was prompted by the observation that there is minimal use of Lamnso’ scriptures in Baptist churches in Nso’, even though the Lamnso’ New Testament has been in use since 1990. It was also observed that the active participation of Nso’ Christians in Bible studies done in Lamnso’ points to great prospects in the extensive use of Lamnso’ scriptures. Hence, the author in the thesis seeks to devise a strategy for promoting Lamnso’ scriptures for extensive use. He consulted academic works to find out what others have written in view of the importance of mother tongue scriptures and conducted a historical analysis to find out how historical factors have shaped the attitude of Baptist churches towards scriptures in Lamnso’. He did an empirical study by sending questionnaires to fifty-seven Baptist churches and receiving feedback. Data collected was analyzed and interpreted. The result shows that even though Lamnso’ scriptures are indispensable to spiritual maturity among Nso’ Baptist Christians, their use in evangelism and discipleship do not reflect their importance. This is due to lack of a proper strategy and biblical teaching on the importance of mother scriptures. Consequently, he has carried out a theological framework to provide a theological basis for setting forth a strategy for promoting Lamnso’ scriptures. The theological framework is followed by a practical framework based on the historical and empirical analyses, as well as the theological obligations of the church. The author contends that proposed solutions, recommendations and action plans with practical steps must be implemented by individual Baptist Christians, churches, Baptist theological institutions and the Cameroon Baptist Convention at large so that Lamnso’ scriptures assume their proper place in evangelism and discipleship for the growth of the church. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: Introduction ......................................................................................8 1.1 Background to the study ...............................................................................8 1.2 Need for the study ..........................................................................................9 1.3 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................ 11 1.4 Research problem and research questions ............................................... 12 1.5 Purpose ......................................................................................................... 13 1.6 Value of the study ......................................................................................... 14 1.7 Delimitations ................................................................................................. 14 1.8 Hypotheses ................................................................................................... 15 1.9 Definition of Terms ....................................................................................... 15 1.10 Literature Review .......................................................................................... 16 1.11 Theological Implications .............................................................................. 18 1.12 Practical Implications or approaches ......................................................... 23 1.13 Research Design and Methodology ............................................................ 24 CHAPTER 2: How historical factors have shaped the attitude of Baptist churches toward vernacular scriptures: The case of Lamnso’ scriptures .......................................................................... 27 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 27 2.2 First Baptist Missionaries to Cameroon and language policies from 1841-1954 ...................................................................................................... 27 2.2.1 Joseph Merrick and language policy in his ministry ............................. 30 2.2.2 Alfred Saker and language policy in his ministry .................................. 32 2.2.3 Contributions of Saker to the growth of the church .............................. 36 2.2.4 Carl Bender and language policy 1914-1929 ....................................... 37 2.2.5 Post- Bender missionaries and language policy 1931-1954 ................ 40 2.3 Language policies in the CBC after 1954 ................................................... 43 2.4 The Arrival of Baptist Missionaries to Nso’ land ....................................... 46 2.5 The role of SIL (Karl Grebe) and CABTAL .................................................. 50 2.6 Conclusio n .................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 3: Use of Lamnso ʼ Scriptures in Baptist Churches in Nso ʼ: The Present Reality ................................................................................. 58 5 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 58 3.2 Data collection (modes of collection) ......................................................... 59 3.3 Data Analysis and Interpretation ................................................................. 60 3.3.1 Language use in Baptist churches in Nso’ land.................................... 61 3.3.2 Language choice and solutions ............................................................ 62 3.3.3 Communicating church announcements .............................................. 64 3.3.4 Awareness of the importance of language in gospel communication ..................................................................................... 65 3.3.5 Usefulness of Lamnso’ scriptures ........................................................ 66 3.3.6 Difficulties using Lamnso’ scriptures .................................................... 67 3.3.7 Language choice in the church ............................................................ 68 3.4 Lamnso’ Scripture in Baptist Churches: The Present Reality .................. 60 3.4.1 Inquirer classes .................................................................................... 69 3.4.2 Sunday school ...................................................................................... 70 3.4.3 Bible study classes .............................................................................. 72 3.4.4 Sunday church service ......................................................................... 73
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