TORONTO, Canada, March 25, 2003 — Life changed for Dave Devers, the day he made a trip to his community dump, 16 years ago. Devers, now 44 and a resident of British Columbia, had been hired to cart away a load of unwanted refuse. But one of the items he unloaded from the back of his pick-up truck caused him to have second thoughts; a box of old-looking books. After several moments of indecision, he loaded them back on his truck and took them home, where he stowed them away in his basement, only to forget they even existed.
One wintry day several months later, Devers came across the books once again, and promptly threw them into his blazing fireplace for fuel. It was his wife, Abby, who thought better of her husband's hasty decision, and rescued several of the books from a fiery fate.
'This man was willing to risk so much for the sake of the Gospel'
Map: Canadian Bible Society
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Dave remembers, "I picked one (of the books) up and started reading it. It was an original copy of the biography of John Paton - published in 1889. I was quite awestruck at how his story unfolded; how he lived among these cannibals, (even) after his family had died. So the book was deeply challenging to me. It was challenging to me that this man would be willing to die - and to lose so much - and to risk so much for the sake of the Gospel."
The book that had affected Devers so profoundly told the story of Scottish-born missionary, John Paton, and how in 1858, he left home with his wife Mary Ann and sailed to the Southwest Pacific island of Tanna, (now part of the independent republic of Vanuatu, located between Fiji and Australia), to preach the gospel. Within months of the Patons' arrival, both Mary Ann and the Patons' infant son succumbed to malaria and died. But the missionary stayed on, in spite of both his great loss and the constant threat posed by the cannibals who lived on the island.
Devers says he re-read the book many times, and as the years passed, "often dreamed of retracing Paton's footsteps". His opportunity came in June of 2001, when the Devers decided to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary with a trip to Vanuatu.
Devers bought a Bible from the local Bible Society
Ladies in Vanuatu show their joy and appreciation to Dave Devers, when they receive a copy of the Bible in their native language Bislama.
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Upon arrival there, Devers paid a visit to the Bible Society, to purchase a Bible in the language of the locals. That language is Bislama, a form of Melanesian Pidgin, declared by the nation's constitution to be Vanuatu's national language. The Bible is the largest single document ever written in Bislama. Says Devers, "I bought a Bislama Bible at the Bible Society of Vanuatu (in order to learn) the language better. I took it with me (to Tanna) and I showed some of the natives my Bislama Bible."
Devers kept meeting people who were in awe of his Bible, and says he left with the overwhelming impression most of the islanders had never seen the Scriptures in their own language before. "It kept impressing on our hearts that there was a need there," Devers says.
It was a heart impression that lingered. Returning home to Canada, the Devers remembered the people of Tanna who needed Bibles of their own.
'Would you like to donate that quarter for the start of a Bislama Bible fund?'
 Fact Box: Vanuatu |
Population:
196,178 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 35.6% (male 35,681; female 34,164)
15-64 years: 61.1% (male 61,384; female 58,473)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male 3,473; female 3,003) (2002 est.)
Ethnic groups:
indigenous Melanesian 98%, French, Vietnamese, Chinese, other Pacific Islanders
Religions:
Presbyterian 36.7%, Anglican 15%, Roman Catholic 15%, indigenous beliefs 7.6%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6.2%, Church of Christ 3.8%, other 15.7% (including Jon Frum Cargo cult)
Languages:
Official languages: English, French, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama), plus more than 100 local languages
Literacy:
Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 53%
male: 57%
female: 48% (1979 est.)
Government type:
parliamentary republic
Capital:
Port-Vila |
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- Source: CIA World Fact Book
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"My wife and I were out walking one day," he recounts, "and she found a quarter on the ground. I said, 'Hey - would you like to donate that quarter, for the start of a Bislama Bible fund?' And she said, 'Yes, I would.' So we started to pray about it." Before long, and with the help of friends, family and church members, the fund grew from that 25 cents to $7,600.
Soon, Devers was planning a second trip toVanuatu; this time, to buy and deliver Bibles to the locals. He contacted the Bible Society of the South Pacific, to arrange the purchase of more than 700 Bislama-language Bibles.
Solomone Duru is the General Secretary of the Bible Society of the South Pacific. He says when Devers called his organization, they just happened to have the 700 Bibles in stock.
Translation work on the Bislama Bible began in the late 1960s, according to Duru, and was completed when the first Bibles were published in 1998. At that time, local churches ordered roughly 15,000 copies to be printed. One of the churches made a special order of uniquely designed Bibles, but when it came time for the church to pick them up, they couldn't afford to pay for the books.
Devers was truly 'heaven sent'
Duru says Devers must have been heaven sent; "By the grace of God, David Dever came in, bought and distributed a large number of (the Bislama Bibles) to Tanna. His project was very effective because it linked the donor to the people through our local networks, to see the needs and to meet them."
The Bible Society arranged for the Bibles to be shipped to Tanna. The following day, Devers and local church members helped to unload the books, box by box. Together with two clergymen, Pastor Barnabus and Pastor Sirus, Devers handed out the Bibles, one by one.
Devers remembers, "Pastor Barnabas said, 'September 28 - a day in history!' Never before had Bibles come for free. Some of the people were crying. There was one man who cried and said, 'How is it that I've lived my life in the jungle all these years, and I've never had a Bible of my own?' A lady said, 'I didn't believe this would ever happen.'
"There was one man crawling. He had never walked. The first time I saw him; he was crawling through the jungle all alone. I gave him the first Bible. He was (literally) jumping on the ground."
It is clear from the emotion in Dave Devers' voice, the image will remain etched in his memory for a long time to come. It is also clear, the experience of witnessing the joy of the people who received those free Bibles, remains a motivating influence. There are approximately 190,000 people in Vanuatu. According to the Bible Society of the South Pacific, roughly 13,000 Bislama Bibles have been distributed since 1998. Devers knows there is much that can still be accomplished. He has already accumulated $1,200 in his next Bislama Bibles fund, and is planning a return trip to Tanna in November, 2003.
'God delights in using ordinary people'
"I'm an ordinary person," says Devers quietly. "And God delights in using ordinary people. God says, 'I want you to be available. I want you to be totally, 100% sold out to me. And if you will come to me this way; then I will use you.
"I believe that's God's word to us all. There's nothing insignificant to Him. If He's calling you to do something, He will give you a vision, and He will give you the ability to do it. You don't have to have it all figured out at the other end. It will work out."
It comes as little surprise that Dave Devers' favourite Bible verse happens to be Proverbs 19:17, "He who is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done." What may seem surprising however, is the fact that Devers obviously feels he is being rewarded already.
"I was thinking," Devers reflects, "that in 1858, God called John Paton to Tanna, where people were eating each other. It was just chaos there. And now, 143 years later, a native pastor (on that same island) is saying, 'this makes history - this has never happened before - Bibles coming for free!' So one-and-a-half centuries later and it's nothing to Him.
"God will do things in His time and in His way. And He'll choose who He chooses. This is the way God works.".
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