From shoemaker’s son to Bible translator
By Paul Thiessen
Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission
Paul Thiessen with stacks of the published Gospel of Luke in Siamou. (Photo supplied)
A shoemaker’s son, born in Steinbach, developed a dream for Bible translation. In April 1972, while Arden Thiessen was preaching at the Blumenort Community Church, this long-haired rebellious teenager rose to his feet and decided to follow Jesus.
It was that very moment when a vision impressed itself in this young man’s heart. It showed him that he was needed for overseas missionary service. Some years later, he and his new wife attended Briercrest College to pursue missionary training in preparation for an overseas assignment. After three semesters at the Summer Institute of Linguistics, the assignment became specific. Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission needed a translation team to provide the Scriptures for the Siamou people in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
That invitation marked the beginning of a 40-year Siamou New Testament Bible translation project.
The road toward completing the New Testament translation had many barriers, mountains, and ravines to cross. First, it would require learning three languages. French was essential to begin any assignment in Burkina Faso. The Jula language was needed for shopping in the market, and the target language, Siamou, had a formidable tonal system. A year in France brought us across the first hurdle, and some months in Bobo-Dioulasso gave us a start in Jula. But the impossible language was Siamou.
It took five years of spinning our wheels, with little progress, to realize that without expert help, it would be a hopeless task. God provided. Anne Garber guided me through a very complicated analysis of tone, giving us hope for progress in language. After years of hard work, we began to understand the patterns of the high, mid, and low tones. We discovered the nuances of high-mid falling tones and high-low falling tones. Every syllable had its own tone.
In the midst of this slow progress our growing family took turns suffering from malaria, hepatitis, cholera, boils, giardia, and bronchitis. But God was faithful and brought healing each time. However, with medical help far away, these illnesses slowed us down and interrupted our progress in prolonged and discouraging ways.
In 2008, we faced a health crisis that took us to Canada for an extended period. Before we left Burkina Faso, Pastor Traoré Siaka inspired us to remember that God had called us to translate the New Testament for the Siamou people and that we should plan to come back to finish the job.
We also experienced opposition from people who questioned the need for a Siamou Bible. After all, most of the Siamou people speak the Jula language and the Bible was already translated into Jula. Why not just preach the gospel using this easier language? Our vision was clear. The heart language, the preferred language of the Siamou people was their precious Siamou. They needed to hear God speak in their mother tongue.
A season of several years was particularly difficult when my first language assistant got sick and died. This was followed by the deaths of a number of Siamou people close to us. This sorrow was compounded with the loss of family members in Canada, including Paul’s and Lois’s mothers.
Through all of this there were bursts of encouragement and blessing that kept us going. Anne Garber (now Anne Kompaoré) not only helped with the earlier tone analysis, but later became a consultant on the Gospel of Luke. Solo (Traoré Souleymane) became our Bible translator and worked at translation faithfully and tirelessly, year after year. Later, Idda Niggli guided us in correcting the Gospel of John. I thank God for Fatogoma, who worked with me from a distance for years, correcting the translated Scriptures. Eventually, Pastor Bananzaro became the director of the translation project. I am thankful to God for each of these people.
Fatogoma, a key partner in the translation project. (Photo supplied)
In 2025, I had already semi-retired from this translation work but still worked toward the goal of completing the Siamou New Testament. But progress was slow, and the end was not in sight. During a visit with my son Caleb, he encouraged me to complete this task that I had been working on for 40 years. At the same time, I read Numbers, where Caleb and Joshua returned from spying out the promised land, and reported that in spite of the giants, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” (Numbers 13:30). God gave me a renewed vision that day; I thought, “We can succeed in completing the New Testament. It can certainly be done.”
With a renewed inspiration, I asked the EMC Board of Missions for one more year to get the job done. They gave me six months, through the end of June 30, 2026. Lois and I made a plan to travel to Burkina Faso in January 2026 to do a four-week workshop to correct the last half of the NT. God blessed this effort by giving us visas to enter the country, providing the six Siamou assistants we needed, giving us health and protection, and providing the finances. The workshop was a success, and we got the Gospel of Luke published for distribution. Now the Siamou people have a physical book in their hands. Praise the Lord!
It has been up to Solo to study those proposed corrections and make the necessary changes in the translated text.
As we near the completion of the translation and correction of the New Testament books, we face the challenge of the final 12 steps needed to make it ready for publication. Again, Idda Niggli came to the rescue, offering to help from her home in Switzerland. She is willing to guide Solo as he prepares introductions for each NT book, completes the glossary, harmonizes the Gospels, and prepares maps and illustrations.
As we approach the end of 2026, we anticipate that the Siamou New Testament will be ready for publication. We look forward with excitement to the date, expected in 2027, for the celebration and dedication of this book.
I am thankful to the EMC Board of Missions, to the EMC churches who have prayed for us, and the Siamou prayer group that has walked with us as we have approached our translation goal. I am thankful to God for the many generous donors who have made this work possible through the years. I am also thankful for my wife, Lois, who has stood with me, supported me, and assisted me every step of the way.
God is faithful as he builds his kingdom in Burkina Faso.
Paul and Lois Thiessen have been involved in work with the Siamou people of Burkina Faso since 1984.
Audio is generated with AI voice technology.
