Miracles

Miracles are something done by God for the salvation or joy of people he is saving. They point to His ability to do in an unusual manner many of those things that he would otherwise do in an ordinary manner. They must include a salvific element in them to qualify. There are, therefore, no secular miracles or humanist miracles. Miracles point us to God's intimate involvement in human affairs. They clearly show his earnestness and pleasure in saving the lost.
In this light, I would point to two miracles we have witnessed since following Christ in engaging the Njyem people.

1. The solution of the phonological problem.
   I was not a speaker of Njyem in Feb. 2004 when we came to the USA, nor did I understand it. I had one tape of dialogue that I had neither understood nor transcribed. I was unaware of the tonal system and not aware of the existence of "polar tone rules". I came to understand the tape and the amazing tone rules by listening to the hitherto meaningless tape. This was miraculous!
2. The meeting with the Njyem community
   I knew the name of a Njyem speaker in the city of Yaounde who was to host a meeting at his home. I had never seen his home or the neighborhood in which he lived. I went to the neighborhood to make contact with that man, resolving to ask strangers until I found him. The first person I talked to about this man was the man himself! That was miraculous! (See also http://khbeavon.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-i-met-njyem-in-ekunu.html)

What these miracles mean to me is that God is preparing to do a mighty work among the Njyem, drawing many to himself.