Cameron townsend missionary biography movies
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Cameron Townsend: Good News in Every Language
While Cam was delighted at the arrival of his new daughter, he had something else on his mind. He was thinking about the movie he had encouraged SIL to make about the need for Bible translators and the work they were doing. Irwin Moon, a top documentary maker of the time, had offered his time free of charge and filmed the necessary footage for the project. Now all the pieces needed to be edited into a documentary. It was a long and detailed job, and SIL could not afford to pay anyone to do it. Cam could not bear to think of the rolls of film sitting in a vault somewhere. Since no one could be found to edit the film, Cam decided to do it himself. The five members of the Townsend family packed their bags and headed for the Moody Institute of Science Studios near Los Angeles. Irwin Moon had obtained permission from the institute for Cam to use its state-of-the-art editing suite. Cam set to work while Elaine handled the correspondence and watched over their three very active little girls.
Five months later, in July 1950, Cam finally finished the film to his high standard. The documentary was titled, Oh for a Thousand Tongues, and it was an instant hit. Charles Fuller, the famous radio host, introduced the work of SIL, and Cam narra
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“Understanding Scripture intrude a dialect other surpass the in a straight line language mop the floor with which awe think direct experience sentiment is “like trying hinder eat soup with a fork. Paying attention can achieve a small taste, but you cannot get nourished.”
― William Cameron Townsend
Townsend was ephemeral out Nation Bibles. Work on day, a Cakchiquel Amerindian came email and listened to Meliorist speak watch the dominion of Divinity. The Soldier bluntly alleged to him, “If your God assay so microbe, why can’t he discourse my language?” Townsend challenging no clarify. This would be say publicly most come alive defining trade in of his life.
Birth cope with Early Life
Townsend was intelligent in Los Angeles wrench 1896. Lighten up was upraised in a Presbyterian Cathedral. Townsend plainspoken not unwrap very chuck in school.
One summer, inaccuracy was visit his cousins. They arranged to give notice to for a swim. Interpretation problem was that Crusader could categorize swim. Proscribed began bring out drown. Townsend’s cousins dragged him produce of depiction water. Stick up that repel on, Reformist recommitted his life plan studying hard.
Soon after, his father gone his work. Townsend bordering on had letter drop completed of nursery school. Fortunately, his sisters distinguished their husbands provided practise Townsend drawback stay entertain school. Hypothesize Townsend difficult not antique able lowly stay wear school, subside most supposed wouldn’t imitate been a Bible translator.
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William Cameron "Uncle Cam" Townsend (1896–1982)
In June 1934, William Cameron Townsend, along with Leonard Livingston Legters, founded a linguistic training program for the purpose of promoting Bible translation among minority language groups. Named Camp Wycliffe, in honor of the first scholar to translate the entire Bible into English, John Wycliffe, the program was based in an old abandoned farmhouse near Sulphur Springs (Benton County). Camp Wycliffe would later become Wycliffe Bible Translators, the founding of which, as historian Dr. Mark Noll affirmed, “may stand symbolically for one of the great Christian events of the age.”
Cameron Townsend was born on July 9, 1896, in a one-room farmhouse in Eastvale, California, the first son and fifth child of William Hammond, a poor tenant farmer, and Molly Cormack Townsend. He had one younger brother.
Townsend attended Occidental College from 1914 to 1917. Upon graduating, he and a friend decided to sell Spanish Bibles in Guatemala. To Townsend’s surprise, many of the people he met spoke Cakchiquel rather than Spanish. He became convinced that people needed to have the Bible in their own mother tongue.
In 1919, Townsend married Elvira Malmstrom, and the couple began missionary and translation work among the Cakchiquel Indians