October 15. William Cameron Townsend. When Cam—as he was known to friends and family—was a sophomore in college, he heard John Mott challenge students to dedicate their lives to the evangelizing the world. Cam signed up—but then he remembered. He was already in the National Guard and had planned to fight in World War I.
A friend persuaded him to meet Stella Zimmerman, a missionary on holiday, and Cam told her that he and his friend were heading off to war.
“You cowards!” she said. “Going to war where a million other men will go and leaving us women to do the Lord’s work alone! You are needed in Central America!”
That set Cam back. He petitioned the National Guard to release him to go oversees as a missionary, and they agreed. If God wants a door open, the door opens.
Cam went on to minister to the Cakchiquel Indians. On this date in 1929, Cam completed a Cakchiquel-language translation of the New Testament. He founded three organizations that promote Bible translation among minority-language groups: Wycliffe Bible Translators, the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and the Jungle Aviation and Radio Service. And when he was 72, instead of retiring, he went to Moscow and studied Russian. After all, the door was open.
Where God calls you, He will equip you. Work hard.
Through the jungles of Central America, William “Cam and his Indian guide Frisco traveled hundreds of trails together. They forged ahead in blinding dust storms, shivered in the rain under the jungle canopy, endured swarms of mosquitos and fleas, and—during the pandemic of 1918—suffered a severe case of the flu.
But in spite of the hardship, God prepared Cam to achieve something daring and new.
Not that he was particularly qualified. Cam had left college for a year of adventure in Central America to sell bibles. Then again, God often chooses the “unqualified” to do important work.
On the trail, Frisco told Cam about witchdoctors, who instilled superstition and fear among the Indians. Frisco described some clergy, who only showed up to perform rituals. Evangelical missionaries ministered mainly to the Spanish speaking, and nobody was reaching the Indians for Christ in their own language.
Frisco challenged Cam to become a missionary—a missionary who would do a new thing—reach the Cakchiquel Indians for Christ in their own tongue.
The more Cam contemplated the idea, the more he became convinced that was what God was calling him to do. One day, a Cakchiquel Indian asked Cam directly, “If your God knows everything, why can’t he speak my language?”
Cam didn’t have an immediate reply, but the answer was coming.
“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:26–28 NIV).
One day the Cakchiquel would speak the Word of God in their own tongue.
Soon, on the strength of his own field experience, Cam was accepted as a missionary with Central American Mission. What he lacked academically, he made up for in dogged determination.
He had already been noting Cakchiquel expressions, and with his own savings and various donations, he started a small school for Indians. A believing Indian who spoke Spanish and Cakchiquel was hired to teach, while Cam concentrated on translation work and raising support.
When Cam struggled to unlock the mysteries of the Cakchiquel language, an archeologist advised him not to try to fit Cakchiquel into a Latin mold, but to learn it like the Indians do. So, Cam listened and asked countless questions of his Indian helpers.
Creating a written language meant learning the many complicated sounds of Cakchiquel. Cam also discovered the language was built upon root words, much like English, and that one verb might take on thousands of forms. He took hundreds of pages of notes until a complex pattern of language emerged. Incredibly, he was becoming a linguist.
Cam translated the first four chapters of Mark and had it printed. The Indians were thrilled. “God speaks our language,” they exclaimed. It wasn’t long before the adult Cakchiquel wanted to attend school, where they, too, could learn to read the bible.
It took ten years of painstaking work and inquiry, but step by step Cam completed the whole New Testament in the language of the Cakchiquel, and the methods he developed became a roadmap for Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Do you see a need where God is calling you to make a difference? Where God calls you, He will equip you. Work hard.
Hefley, James and Marti Hefley. Uncle Cam, the story of William Cameron Townsend, founder of the Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Huntington Beach, CA: Wycliffe Bible Translators, 1984.
“Cameron Townsend Resolved to do God’s Will.” Christianity.com. May 3, 2010. https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901–2000/cameron-townsend-resolved-to-do-gods-will-11630715. html.
“William Carmeron Townsend.” Missions Box. July 2, 2013. https://missionsbox.org/missionary-bio/william-cameron-townsend/.
Petersen, Matt and Borghy Holm. “William Cameron “Uncle Cam” Townsend (1896–1982).” Encyclopediaofarkansas.net. June 15, 2015. http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx? entryID=4453.
Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?
Technically the manuscript was done by October 15, 1929 except for the last two words in Revelation. Cam wanted his parents to write in the last two words during a special dedication service.
“The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner.”
~William Cameron Townsend
“Understanding Scripture in a language other than the heart language in which we think and experience emotion is like trying to eat soup with a fork. You can get a little taste, but you cannot get nourished.”
~William Cameron Townsend
Story read by: Blake Mattocks
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Story written by: Toni M Babcock, https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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