October 23, 2016

I’ve had the privilege of attending a unique Bible study each Tuesday evening since August. About 50 years ago, the wife of a pastor here on the Reservation learned that many Navajo Christians did not know how to read the Bible in their own language. Educated at boarding schools, they’d grown up speaking English. Though they spoke Navajo, they could not read God’s Word in words that spoke to their hearts.

Harriet Butler, who is now 95 years old, started Bible studies for women with the major emphasis being reading the Navajo Scriptures. Harriet Butler just retired from teaching the class in October. Many women came to her retirement party and shared how much Harriet and these studies have meant to them. 

A group sings "O, Happy Day!" for Harriet.

Harriet insisted that the meetings open with singing Navajo hymns (from a hymnal that was translated in 1979) and close in prayer.

This year we are reading through a book called The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament by Edmund P. Clowney.  Now that Harriet is retired, leadership varies. One Navajo leader translates the book into Navajo after we read it in English. She has become so fluent that you’d never guess she’s only been reading Navajo for two years. Every time we encounter a Scripture reference, we look it up in both English and Navajo. Because one of the major goals of the study is also to teach the women to read in their heart language, we read the Navajo aloud at least twice.  To them, the English language isn’t nearly as understandable as their own Dine. Some have said English is monotone and boring in contrast to Dine Bizaad, which is tonal and musical.

Of course, we ladies enjoy the easy give and take of ideas. And although we have been believers for different lengths of time, we are basically at the same time in our lives. Navajo women help each other with the pronunciation. They regularly tease me about doing my “homework.” They comment on the passages and point out how the Navajo explains the concepts more clearly. Sometimes they laugh together at something that we biliganas don’t understand. They laugh very easily and enjoy life, even though the prayer requests they bring are deeply troubling, reflecting the serious needs of those who live on the Rez.

I want to share a quick history of the Navajo Bible, which I found very interesting.

In the 1930s, Faye Edgerton came to work with the Navajos (after spending time as a missionary in Korea.)  She said,  “I longed to have the translation of the New Testament finished and more of the people able to read it, for I remembered so clearly what I had seen the Word in their own language had done for the Korean people.”

She became a Resident Assistant at the Navajo Bible Training School – which was the beginnings of Western Indian Ministries.  It was her delight to study the Navajo language and teach the students to read Bible portions.  Faye was bothered and embarrassed by the lack of a complete New Testament and the inadequate communication of God’s Word through interpreters.

The first missionaries who wrote the language were not linguists, and they did not recognize that the language was tonal. Neither had they learned that the length of vowels often makes the difference in the meanings of the words.

In 1942, she was challenged to take linguistics classes herself. Then she joined Wycliffe Bible Translators, and with another team, worked on translating the New Testament into Navajo. Her foremost language helper was a blind Navajo who first “read” the Bible in English with his hands then translated it into Navajo.

John 3:16

The NT was finally completed in 1954. It had taken more than 10 years. The result was God Bizaad: God’s Word.

“This was not just a missionary talking to us in another language – this is God’s Word in Navajo, “ commented one believer.  “It is just like God talking. It is like a fire burning inside me,” remarked one Navajo when he was talking to Roger Deal about the New Testament.

Having the New Testament also awakened the Navajo towards new endeavors to learn to read and write their own language.

The entire Bible was completed in 1984 and published by 1986. 

Prayer Requests:

The teachers will be attending the Association of Christian Schools International Professional Development Forum in Phoenix, November 3, 4.  Pray for safe travel, a great time of fellowship as a staff, and good ideas to take back to the classroom.

Blog: https://everettnavajo.blogspot.com

Support: Western Indian Ministries: http://www.westernindian.org/donate2/

P.O. Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515

Look at our house, car, and family drawn by a student!