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God, When Will You Speak in My Tongue?

January 26th, 2012 by Hannah

This poem is by James Lokuuda Kadanya, a speaker of the Toposa language of South Sudan. Toposa is still without Scripture.

God, When Will You Speak in My Tongue?

Far and near
It is said that you, God, speak!
How do you do that?
Is it in their tongues?
If it is truly so,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

East and west, north and south,
The Creator speaks, it is said!
Not in the language as of birds;
But in other human tongues I cannot understand!
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

Children and grown-ups of other lands,
With their different tongues,
Know your voice.
In their tongues you speak a special message to them!
If you speak messages in different tongues,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

In the world around, we perceive you,
Yet your language is not clear.
We want to know you personally,
We want to hear you speak to us.
If you know all tongues,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

We search you as a treasure.
Our eyes look on mountains, rivers,
Even in caves, forest and world around us.
Many voices are heard, confused we become,
If your voice is one, as of that of the Creator of all,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

Oh! God, Creator of all people,
You who do not segregate,
Is it possible to hear you speak?
Can you speak in my tongue?
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

When he wrote the poem, James was studying in a linguistics school, and he now works for a mission, spreading God’s good news around the country. As many as half a million people who speak Toposa still only have a few portions of the Bible in their language. Do something so that people like James will hear God speak their tongue.

This poem has been reposted from the blog of a partner organisation, The Seed Company. Read their blog.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 8:00 am and is filed under Africa, Culture, Languages, People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “God, When Will You Speak in My Tongue?”

  1. “If your God is so great, why doesn’t he speak my language?” « John 20:21 says:
    26 January 2012 at 12:21 pm

    [...] Toposa language of South Sudan. Toposa is still without Scripture. The full poem appeared in the Wycliffe Blog this [...]

  2. Johanna Fenton says:
    26 January 2012 at 2:57 pm

    Thank you Hannah and Wycliffe UK for sharing James’ poem. It will mean a lot to him, I know. And we appreciate our partnership with you. Blessings!

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