Two characters, firstly William Cameron Townsend a missionary with a heart for the translation of the Bible. His summer schools that were training missionaries in linguistics (Summer Institute of Linguistics), were pushed to the limit. Added to that, Townsend felt a call upon him to ‘Call upon Me and I will answer you and thrust forth workers into every unreachable tribe in Mexico, small and large.’ Yet funds were running short, and with the outbreak of World War Two, many fields had started to become closed.
He wrote to many he knew ‘How many of you would be willing to help open up a new station next autumn, giving at least one month of your time to this task?’ Knowing this was a big jump from the 44 workers he had to almost 100, he believed that God had given him assurance of the 50 new workers.
The second character was Della Brunstetterm.
She was teaching French at the University of Oklahoma, but had become fascinated with the Cherokee language - wanting to learn, then write it down into a modern script so that it could be taught to others around. After a few failed attempts at getting to grips with the translation into phonetic characters, a companion told her of a group of people that had started a Michigan summer session school so that they could learn from the beginning again with the language. 1941 saw her first attendance to this group that was called the ‘Summer Institute of Linguistics’.
After the summer session had ended, she saw that the missionary motivation of this group that made that time ‘a wonderful summer, spiritually and intellectually’, was also limited due to its space and rustic living conditions. Della petitioned the Board at her University to hold these lessons in their grounds, and it granted the space.
The first sessions kicked off in the University in 1942, and it didn’t take long before this work grew due to the classes being open to the public and its prime location for many Indian tribes to visit and share in its work. By the ninth session, 130 students had attended these courses from over 32 states and 12 countries. Also 51 people responded for the call of workers to Mexico.
S.I.L continued its partnership with the University until 1987, and to this day carries on supporting Wycliffe Bible Translators. It also produces Ethnologue, a web and print publication that is a database which includes many lesser known languages.
* pg:122 Wallis, E.E & Bennett, M.A: Two Thousand Tongues To Go (1959): Hodder & Stoughton
* pg:125 Wallis, E.E & Bennett, M.A: Two Thousand Tongues To Go (1959): Hodder & Stoughton
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