%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 20 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 17 0 R /GS4 18 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 3.1.0 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250915204934+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250915204934+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1254 >> stream xWM6W̱ol`@Fs(z%bV]ޭ3z#e{ SXѢ973oU’$ٯl(+KYU,+jtt6'^6;_{MObHIIZoyO?mV(g g65RVg勐S9*xSOfKγfy/]we䩮r֫HGVeNӈAbWCgi3zr^=K(_ N%FQ:LXyꆯKQHdZXZA> i"tji"SAOk:=R?iQR4w:{D[(814%{5Aa^*krLc[ q*41R}ׁ5bAA3.[4S>i41 A$;Kߒ4cYYWZ{Pt>͡"dzЛon;4zF}IjV61jnSD @䥁}; B'jhH 8ٷli/ Ȫ4g$ɭ0>'^|+zWG[̪+d;w?ܴxrô_߷y@:?K@toxD.Y'a)ÕWI/xVIn. endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 21 0 R >> endobj 21 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 864 >> stream xmUˎ8+d-d XmZ$)RCRcx#%3 xm>/)n1 c’$_o˟*MXVϔҌ%tys9ϻfٜՕ1g2ȓZ$dRr\Y+~r@g#X@2 Ǡm!gU/ Pr\3t1\aUĮMC7&F:,|Xq)k1s^ _º_@fpQ0ƅ ֌jqG`y1Er#n٧1c2 %H@g{`岓oPJp,+*"CR?L{ԡ{[2^/n'n,8 Q6x}j4xo^TV,kAQ3+b0n>!͢Xyf%+{{.|5 endstream endobj xref 0 22 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000401 00000 n 0000000430 00000 n 0000000579 00000 n 0000000682 00000 n 0000002009 00000 n 0000002116 00000 n 0000002224 00000 n 0000002334 00000 n 0000002447 00000 n 0000002563 00000 n 0000002592 00000 n 0000002702 00000 n 0000002759 00000 n 0000002816 00000 n 0000002875 00000 n 0000002934 00000 n 0000002963 00000 n 0000003068 00000 n trailer << /Size 22 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[] >> startxref 4005 %%EOF A wall of witness | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

A wall of witness

January 29, 2008
2 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

An art scheme in Tanzania is taking the Bible to the people.

by David Watson, Major –

Major Christine Watson visits with local children in front of the wall of Bible pictures.

In the semi-rural setting of Mbeya, in the southern highlands of Tanzania, Africa, sits The Salvation Army’s Shukrni International College, surrounded on three sides by a wall topped with barbed wire and with a wire fence in front. For many years the wall, like most local structures, has remained plain gray cement.

While working on a project for disabled children, I saw other walls, mostly in schools, which had been decorated at the behest of enterprising teachers with things like physiology or biology charts and maps of the world or Tanzania.

Most Tanzanian schoolchildren have only the basicsa couple of workbooks, a pencil and a ruler. Very seldom do they have textbooks, so instead the walls themselves provided the information. Similarly, the majority of Tanzanians do not have Bibles.

Not long ago, my wife, Christine, and I visited a Roman Catholic cathedral in Songea. Its high walls surrounding the central space above naves and aisles were decorated with colorful murals depicting biblical scenes, which led to an ideawe should create a wall of witness at Shukrani College.

The staff quickly took on the thought, and finances came pouring in from friends in Australia. One teacher contacted a local Christian artist, John Chota, and a month later the wall was finished, from Eden all the way through to the last judgment.

Each of the 40 panels bears a brief caption and the relevant Scripture reference in Kiswahili, the local language. Along the top of the wall are four Scripture quotations. The final panel lists the local corps activities and portrays Jesus welcoming children.

This “Bible in pictures” is already making an impact on those who trudge the roads alongside itchildren on their way to school, women carrying their goods to and from the nearby market and young hawkers carrying their handfuls of shoes and clothes. Both the young and old stop to wonder at the stories, some even writing down notes and asking questions.

One grandmother passing by stopped with tears in her eyes.

“I cannot read but at least I have a Bible I can see,” she said.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like