Learning Greek, Hebrew and Suffering

As I had suspected, I was not able to teach this morning. However, I decided to give it a try this afternoon and things went relatively well. I felt very sick last night and was a little dizzy this morning. It makes me wonder because the Dean of the seminary was also sick yesterday with similar symptoms to mine. So it could be related to the sumptuous meal we ate on Sunday. Oh well, I hope I am back to normal tomorrow.
My students, with my translator (left)

Today I enjoyed getting to know my students more after class. This is the time when they talk about their personal lives and also ask me personal questions. We stand outside under a tree and talk until my ride comes.

I wish I had time to tell you all that these students and faculty have experienced. First, there was the rebellion in 2002, when all the students of both Bible Institute and seminary had to run to the woods to escape certain death. They walked 86 miles to another village and many of them had to stay there for 8 months, living under very squalid conditions.

The students who are now in the seminary didn't experience the rebellion in Bata (though they may have been victims in their own villages), but then came the bandit phase. At least twice bandits came to the campus and harassed students and faculty. One time they took more than 12 students and beat them because they wanted to take their possessions. One student pointed to an area on his back where they had hit him with the barrel of a Kalashnikov. From then on they could never be at ease on campus. They couldn't be in their houses at night until the bandits passed through with their guns and they knew they were relatively safe. Theodore, the professor who is also my translator, pointed to several students who were in Hebrew class with him one day, when one of them said: "Professor, there are people running outside. Should we run too?" They looked outside and sure enough they started running too!

The last attack happened a few months ago. Dr. Ngumape, who is the Dean of the seminary, was taken hostage for a couple of hours. His captors were probably from the Chad, as they didn't speak Sango and were using Arabic. They were Muslim by origin. He was on his way out of the village of Bata, where the school was, riding his motorcycle, when 4 bandits stopped him and told him to take them to the village of Bata. Smartly, he acted like he didn't know where Bata was. He didn't want them to suspect that he was from there. Well, they gave him the general direction of the village and forced him to take them there.

Dr. Ngumape, left, with Professor Theodore, my translator

Upon arriving in the village the students, faculty and families all understood what was going on. But instead of running to the woods, as people usually did, they stayed in the village. The women were praying out loud and the men approached the hostage takers from a distance. The bandits would shoot to disperse the crowds, the people would duck, but then rise again and continue to make noise. The bandits had long discussions among them. They tried to take Dr. Ngumape outside the village, but the people began to get closer and closer, and every time they would shoot and they people would do the same that they had done before.

Finally, the bandits got scared. They shot Dr. Ngumape's motorcycle and ran away. Later on he heard a report from another village where he has acquaintances. The bandits went around asking who was this person who look thus and so and upon hearing that he was the Dean of the school, they replied that he was the one they had been after for a long time. "But he looked so young," they replied. Hey, youthful look has other advantages than mere vanity. In this case, it probably saved his life, in addition to the bravery of the people from the school.

If anything, it was a clear demonstration of the love with which these people love this man chosen by God to lead a work in such difficult circumstances. Had he been driving the school vehicle rather than the bike, he would have been taken right away for ransom. Normally the bandits, whose entire goal is to disrupt the government and create chaos in the hopes that some radical Muslim government be installed in the Capital, give two weeks and if the money is not paid, they simply execute the person.

Ah, yes, the bandits did also say about Dr. Ngumape: "His God is big, but we will eventually get him." The fact that these students are sticking with it at all is another demonstration of the power of God. I wonder how many of us would have the patience and courage to continue on this career path after so many close calls like these men and their families have had. I am humbled to be in their presence and take this responsibility to impart them something from the eternal Word of God very seriously.

About three weeks ago they moved the seminary to Bangui at great sacrifice to students and faculty. They only have 15 students now and two faculty members. They have no building (they are meeting in a house that has been donated for them for a short period of time). They have nothing in terms of an infra-structure. But they have a conviction from God and a dream to train hundreds of men and women to faithfully give God's Word to the people of this country who still need to hear about Jesus Christ. The need for qualified Bible expositors and well trained church leaders is great.

It costs about one thousand dollars per year to sponsor a student at the seminary. Are you willing to sponsor one? I hope God will touch your heart and you will give generously to ensure that men and women like the ones I am teaching will receive the kind of training they need to continue the work God has called them to do. Talk to me if you are interested in helping.

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

itrindade@woostergrace.org