Who is this old man? What does he want? Could he be another beggar? In December 1997 a poor man appeared at the Accra Office of the Ghanaian Institute of Languages, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT). He sat on one of the chairs catching his breath before he spoke. The faded bag in his hand made one think he carried something for the day’s consumption. He had obviously walked a distance in the hot sun as he was totally exhausted. When approached by one of us, he said with laboured breathing “I pass by to give something small for your Bible translation work.” Then he carefully unfolded a sheet of paper with a five thousand cedis note in it (the equivalent of NZ$594.00). We were all speechless. Tears came to our eyes. This poor man who looked himself to be a beggar was offering his “ mite” for the cause of Bible translation. It put us to shame.
Mr Baah was unemployed, but occasionally sold a few Bibles here and there so that somehow he was enabled to earn something small. He had received GILLBT’s newsletter, Mother Tongue. It had strengthened his faith. Then he began to realise that it was his Christian responsibility to give of the little he had for others to receive God’s Word in their own language. He had also heard a message by Mr Kofi Agamah, of the Bible Society, which had left him unsettled in his mind until he sought the cashier’s desk of GILLBT, offering his “mite”.
The day Mr Baah gave from the little he had so that God’s Word could make a difference in someone else’s life, made a huge impact in our lives.
Source: GILLBT, Ghana
[Africa, Ghana, Bible Translation, literacy, generosity, widow’s mite, MT, Humbling]