The Giving of His Word (in Tamil)

The most precious material gift you can give is a Bible in someone's native language. For many this is difficult, and for many it is impossible, to receive such a gift as either there is no Bible in their language or such Bibles are simply not available wherever they happen to be. What you see here is not a Bible in the local language of the Banyankore people (Runyankore). In fact it is not any sort of African language at all. Rather, it is Tamil, a language in Southwest India and part of Sri Lanka.

You may be wondering why on earth I would post anything to do with a language of a people group several thousand miles away. That's because there are a large number of South Asians who live in Uganda (and East Africa in general), including the three Tamil brothers who run City Top Restaurant, the best food in all of Mbarara (slogan: "Feeds Like A Mother"). Myself and Kari have eaten tons of Indian food at this little restaurant and have come to become friends with these three brothers, who are Muslims. The one on the left is the youngest, the one in the middle is the oldest, and the one on the right is, then, the middle brother.

When Kari got to the States she ordered a Tamil Bible online and then sent it to me. On Saturday night I brought the Bible to the brothers and gave it to them as a Christmas gift. As soon as they saw the cover they were excited. They knew right away that it was written in Tamil, and when they saw it was a Bible they were even more joyous. The oldest brother told me that they knew the Bible was a message from God but had never read it. They were so thankful that they invited me to have dinner at their house next Sunday evening, the only meal time when City Top is closed. Please pray that they will read (beginning in Luke, which I bookmarked so that they could read the Christmas story) and that God's Word will be at work in their hearts to lead them to Christ.