In Perils Oft

Yoseb read newly translated selections from the Bible in the little Tibetan church. Now the words came alive; they stirred the listeners to a new devotion to God. At first he had planned to translate only the New Testament, but with the new-found key the whole Bible could be translated. Why had neither he nor his father thought of using this language? Why had so many years been wasted, when the answer at last proved so simple? Yoseb pondered the question but never found the answer. He could only conclude that God works out everything in his own good time, and he must be content to leave the matter there.

Yoseb Gergan toiled on for years in the work of translation. Even with the key before him, sometimes he spent months interpreting a single book of the Bible. Dr. Francke returned to Europe, but while he lived Yoseb kept in touch with him.

At last, in the Tibetan year of the Wood Hog (1935) Yoseb laid down his pen. Now fifty years old, he had toiled since he was twenty-three with the stupendous task. Gazing on the completed manuscript, he bowed his head: "Thank you, Lord. The task is done. Now the Bible has legs to go to my people. Now the Book will be printed; then it will go to its appointed task. May it be soon, Lord. "

Reverently he picked up the thick pile of manuscripts from his desk. Here was the hope of a people beyond the snows, who had never heard the good news of salvation. Soon they would hear and understand.

---oooOOOooo---

Yoseb Gergan, a photograph in the home of Elijah Gergan, Yoseb's grandson in Leh. Sent to me by Paul Sarchet-Waller, Elim Pentecostal Church, Hong Kong.

Yoseb stared unhappily at the letter in his hand. Again he read the words, "We are sorry, but we have no way to print a Tibetan Bible here in India. We suggest you send the manuscript to the British and Foreign Bible Society in England. They will be able to do the work you want." The letter's writer represented the Bible Society at Lahore, where Yoseb had hoped to have the new translation printed. To England! So far away! Could he let his precious manuscript travel over the great ocean? Yet, what other hope did he have?

He packed the pages which had cost a lifetime of toil and sent them away. Then he waited to hear that his precious package had arrived safely.

The arrival of the Tibetan manuscript at the Bible Society in Britain generated a wave of excitement. Tibet, that closed land of mystery, was at last to have a Bible of her own! Eagerly the staff gathered to see the parcel opened.

"Which way do you read it?" questioned Shirley, a secretary in the manuscript department. "Do you begin at the back like Chinese and read the words in columns?"

"How would I know?" answered her friend Sue. "It looks hopeless to me."

The secretary of the society smiled. "I cannot read it either, girls, but I do know it is like most of the Indian languages. This means you start at the front of the book and read across the page from left to right. We will have the manuscript carefully checked before it is printed."

First they compared the manuscript with Tibetan texts in the British Museum. Travellers to Tibet had collected these books over a period of years and the Youngliusband military campaign to Tibet had yielded some of the volumes.

Securing the aid of scholars, they had the manuscript laboriously copied. Then they prepared a list of questions. They sent the manuscripts with the questions to the Tibetan borderlands of China, to Bhutan and Sikkim, small Himalayan kingdoms with substantial Tibetan populations. The reaction to the Bible by the Tibetans in Sikkim proved of special interest, as this kingdom is a gateway to Tibet from the Asian sub-continent of India. At that time over a thousand mules a day plodded over the Nathula Pass bringing the exotic treasures of Tibet - gold, silver, furs, and yak tails. Returning, they carried kerosene, clothing, and other items.

In Sikkim the manuscript was tested around campfires each night. Skilled researchers carefully read from the Bible, then questioned the muleteers about the scripture they had heard. To their delight the Tibetans understood the translation.

Bhutan boasted a number of centers of Tibetan learning. One of these, the Tiger Lair Monastery, clung to the side of a precipice. Here Tibetan scholars agreed to examine the Bible portions to see if they were in clear Tibetan. As the old lamas read the pages, they seemed ready to adopt it as one of their holy books. "This is an inspired book," exclaimed one of the rimpoches (living Buddhas) .

These words and others like them echoed along the borders of Tibet. The survey committee finally reported to England, "Never would we have believed a Tibetan text would be so readily accepted by the diverse Tibetan peoples. We look forward to the final preparation of this inspired translation."

Back in Europe war threatened. Adolph Hitler's Panzer divisions goosestepped across the Austrian border and later threatened Czechoslovakia. Britain prepared for war. The staff of the Bible Society, worried about the valuable manuscripts in their vaults, began to arrange for their dispersal to safer centers.

In September, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and the world was at war. Germany smashed Poland and then turned to crush France. Next Hitler ordered his bombers to pound the British into submission. The hail of bombs fell on the cities, reducing many areas to smoking rubble.

The Tibetan manuscript lay in an underground vault of the Ripon Cathedral, 200 miles north of London. As the Battle of Britain reached its height, enemy bombers moved farther north, and places previously thought to be safe received their share of the bombs.

One 2,000-potind missile from the skies landed on a roadway beside Ripon Cathedral and came to rest against the wall of the church without exploding. Four feet away, inside the church's wall, lay the Tibetan manuscript. Gingerly a bomb demolition crew defused the bomb. The firing device seemed faultless and they could not understand why it had failed to explode. The old sexton was certain that a divine hand had sabotaged the bomb.

By the time the nightmare of the Great War had ended, Yoseb Gergan was sixty years of age. He wrote anxiously to Lahore, asking when the Bible would be printed. Was he not, before he died, to see this book to which he had devoted his life? If the Bible could not be printed in England, could the Bible Society return the manuscript to India to be printed there? The Lahore Bible Society had acquired new equipment and felt that the work could now be done there. They requested London to return the manuscript to India, and the request was granted.

When the manuscript reached Lahore, the printers looked at the closely written pages and shook their heads. "We can never print from that manuscript. It has been written on cheap Tibetan paper which has not taken the ink well. We have no Tibetan type, so we had hoped to photograph the manuscript and print by the lithograph process.

"I am afraid we cannot use this copy," explained the press manager. "Our only hope is to have the manuscript re-written on special white paper so that we can get sharp photographs. But we cannot buy such paper at present. I suppose, however, we could secure the best paper possible and prepare the surface with our own chemicals."

Chandhu Ray, the Bible Society secretary, looked at the tattered manuscript. "Are you sure you know how to prepare the right chemicals?"

"With God's help I am sure it can be done," replied the manager. "At least it's worth a try."

They treated thousands of sheets of paper with chemicals mixed with egg yolks, and were highly pleased with the results. Now the task was to write the Tibetan text carefully on the sheets. Who would be able to do the writing?

Yoseb, learning of the problem, begged the Society in Lahore to send the Bible back to him for rewriting. It would be a tremendous undertaking, but at the same time he could make some necessary corrections.

The Lahore Bible Society sent the manuscript on its perilous journey, which included long distances by muleback. Finally it reached Yoseb at Leh. Holding the manuscript again in his hands, he felt his old enthusiasm return. He set to work immediately revising the text and writing it in Tibetan ready for the press.

Days and months slipped by as Yoseb concentrated on the exacting task. Two years passed, and still the work was far from finished. The aging Tibetan felt his strength ebbing, and once or twice he suffered from dizzy spells. Would he ever finish the rewriting?

Then it happened. As he sat writing on his low table a searing pain shot through his chest and down his left arm. He fell unconscious to the floor. His servants rushed in to find him breathing feebly and gasping for breath. They lifted him gently up on a bed and called a doctor.

"Poor fellow; his heart has given out," said the physiclan. "There's very little hope, I'm afraid."

Members of the little church in Leh believed God would never take their beloved pastor until his work was finished. Who else could complete the Tibetan Bible if Yoseb died now? They gathered around the dying man to plead with God to spare their pastor. The devil must not win the contest now.

God must have heard their prayers, for Yoseb slowly regained his strength till he could sit up in bed. Then with a specially prepared table he resumed his work on the manuscript.

"I ought not to let him work like this," said the doctor. "He may live five days or five months. Who knows? There is a fire burning in him which keeps him alive."

Two Tibetan scribes, Gappel and Phunthsog, now did most of the writing, leaving Yoseb to check the written sheets. But time was running out. They needed more help; so they found two more scribes, Stobldan and Zodpa, to help finish the task. Each man had his distinctive way of writing, so that the finished manuscript bore five different styles.

There were days when Yoseb could barely hold the sheets passed to him. With willpower and dependence on God, he determined to see the task concluded. The work became a race against death. Would he last? And if he failed, who else could do it?

Now there was no time to rewrite a page if a mistake was made. Correct it as well as possible and press on! James, the epistles of Peter and John, Jude, Revelation - still Yoseb nodded approval as each page was finished.

Then came the day, August 11, 1946, when Yoseb Gergan read in Tibetan the words: "Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

"Thank You, Lord," whispered the old warrior. "Come quickly. My task is now finished. This Bible will speak to the millions of Tibet."

Five days later, in the Tibetan year of the Fire Dog, Yoseb Gergan fell asleep in his Lord.