Bambara at store. Fri, Sep 28, 2007.
09/28/2007. 891. While driving back home after lunch and errands, I stopped at a store to buy some stuff, and check out on a product that another church member suggested for a project. He said he saw it at this particular chain. I ended up buying what I needed, but forgot about the other item he suggested.
My cashier was a tall African man who spoke with a beautiful accent. I asked where he was from and he said Mali. I asked if he spoke French, and he did, so we spoke a little French. We got to talking a little more, and his other language is Bambara.
So I offered him a Bambara translation of Gospel Fundamentals, the Sunday school manual.
He agreed to see it, and said it was okay if I gave it to him while he was on duty. I took my stuff out to my car, and brought back in the Bambara and English Gospel Fundamentals, and a multi-lingual "Special Witnesses of Christ" DVD that has a French audio track.
I waited while he attended another customer, then presented the material. He graciously and enthusiastically accepted them. He quickly flipped through the Bambara book, and confirmed it was his language. He was very pleased.
I didn't want to take up too much of his time, so I gave my name, shook his hand, and said both my number and the church's phone number were in the material, and to call if he liked what he read.
Prior to stopping at this store, I took a route that I don't think I've taken before, and I was able to scope out a couple more restaurants to visit.
posted by Bookslinger @ 2:10 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Bambara! Amazing that you would have Bambara with you. How many African languages do you have covered? Wikipedia tells me that only 6 million people speak this language - amazing.
Way to go, Bookslinger!
Thanks Jeff.
There are 15 African languages that have a Book of Mormon translation. I keep all those in the car.
There are a bunch of other African languages that have "Gospel Fundamentals" translated. I also keep in the car copies of GF in: Afar, Bambara, Bemba, Fon, Fulani, Hausa, Luganda, Malayalam, Ndebele, Pashto, Somali, Wolof, Yoruba.
Whenever I met someone who speaks one of those languages, then I started carrying that book in the car for the next time. If they are a store employee, I go back and try to find them again and give them the book. I never ask for personal contact information, no matter who they are. If they are just another customer, I invite them to call one of the church 800 numbers, or the local mission office.
In either case, I add that language (either BoM or Gospel Fundamentals) to the car's inventory. As of now, the trunk and back seat are pretty much filled with copies of the Bible, Book of Mormon, Gospel Fundamentals, DVD's, and Liahona magazines.
Oh, and _all_ the church's translations (1 copy each) of the Joseph Smith Testimony, fit in one computer laptop case, which also qualifies in size as an airplane carry-on. So no matter who I sit next to on an airplane, I'll likely have a JS Testimony pamphlet for them. :-)
You can read a list of languages I've encountere here.
Post a Comment
<< Home