Sequoyah (b. Ca 1760 d. 1843) was a Cherokee silversmith who, although he didn’t speak a word of English, noticed that the white men communicated using “talking leaves.” He thought that this was a wonderful idea and decided in about 1809 to create a way to make “talking leaves” for the Cherokee language.
His first attempt was a logographic writing system (as in Chinese or Japanese). He quickly realized that there were far too many Cherokee words for this to be practical.
What Sequoyah finally decided to do, rather than copying the English language alphabetic system, was to use symbols for each sound used in the Cherokee language (a syllabic system). This resulted in 85 characters which represented all the sounds.
The Cherokee nation had no tradition of a written language, and there was some initial resistance, but Sequiyah’s alphabet began to spread rapidly among an excited populace, and, by 1825, it was declared the official written language of the Cherokee nation. In the span of sixteen years, the Cherokees went from being totally illiterate to almost 100% literate. I believe that Sequoyah’s alphabet awakened something which was already there among the Cherokee people. It just needed a spark to make it explode.
The same principle applies to the unevangelized. Many are aware that something is missing, that there has to be more to life than just living a few years trying to be happy and staying out of trouble … and then dying. They are like the Cherokee tribe, ready to explode. They just need to hear, they need a spark.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Psalm 19:1-3
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