Back from Babanki land

After three days staying with a Babanki family in their village, we and our friend Bep left their compound with our arms laden with bags of vegetables the women had collected for us from their gardens. More than that, we waved goodbye with hearts full of friendships that had been begun and new experiences to ponder.

The Babanki people farm almost all their own food, including greens, several kinds of yams, sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, corn, and trees like coffee, banana, plantain, avocado and passionfruit. The women do the farming six days a week, and each woman has her own garden. The two wives at the compound at which we stayed each had a large garden, and the older wife invited Bep and me to join her at the garden for a brief time one day. That is serious work! But out of that work comes the food for the whole family--the only foods the Babanki have to buy are salt and oil.

One of the most thought-provoking experiences we had in the Babanki village was attending church on Sunday morning. There is no Bible in the Babanki language yet. After an energetic singing time, the preacher got up and read out of the King James Bible and then preached a good sermon in English. The only problem was that most of the people listening didn't really speak English. The members of our group were scattered among several Babanki homes, and for the most part, we had trouble communicating with our host families because of the language barrier.

Although I've heard, and even explained to others, how common it is for people to receive their spiritual teaching and Bible input in a foreign language, it was something else to see it in person. To listen to the Bible reading and sermon, and to realize that most of the Babanki people quietly sitting there couldn't understand it at all, was very sobering. It re-inspired me with the need for people to have the Bible in their own language.

Here is a picture of Pa, the patriarch of the compound at which we stayed. He has had three wives (one is now deceased) and has thirty children--seventeen sons and thirteen daughters.

I would like to post some more photos of some of Pa's sweet children who we got to know (as well as our own sweet little guys!) but it is getting late here so that will have to wait for another day.