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 narrated the film himself. Many people declared it to be the best Christian film they had ever seen. Once more, Cameron Townsend had found an effective way to help people understand the need for Bible translation around the world.
On subsequent visits to the United States, Cam often showed the film in the churches he visited. After the film had been shown, he would always wrap up with his favorite challenge: “The greatest missionary of all is the Bible in a person’s own language. It never needs a furlough, and it is never considered a foreigner.”
The work of Wycliffe Bible Translators, as SIL was alternately known in North America, continued to grow over the next few years. New translation projects were begun in the Philippines, and young men and women from many countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, joined the organization. One by one, airplanes and pilots were being added, until by Christmas 1950, JAARS had four airplanes that were being used to transport and service the 280 full-time SIL workers spread around the world.
Cam and Elaine had one more child. The baby was born on January 20, 1953, and this time it was a boy. They named him William, and called him Billy for short.
Everything seemed to be going well. SIL was growing, partly because of the impact the Oh for a Thousand Tongues documentary had on the people who watched it. However, it wasn’t until 1962, nine years after Billy was born, that Cam began thinking about his biggest publicity plan yet. Cam was visiting JAARS headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, when a public relations man visited him. Cam told the man several stories about what was happening with SIL in Latin America.
The man’s eyes lit up. “Wow!” he exclaimed, “That is amazing. Why don’t more people know about your organization?”
“Well,” replied Cam, “we get the word out whenever we can. There’s a documentary out about our work, and a new book called One Thousand Tongues to Go has recently been published.”
“Good,” replied the man. “But you need more. You need a way to get millions of Americans to hear about your ideas. Think of the new workers you could attract!”
“I agree,” said Cam. “But what more can we do?”
The man’s face lit up. “I’ve got just the thing. Why don’t you set up a pavilion at the New York World’s Fair? It’s in 1964, but they are already accepting applications for pavilions. In fact, I have a friend who is on the fair’s committee.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “Here,” he said, handing the card to Cam. “This man should be able to give you all the information you need. Tell him I gave you his name.”
After the man left, Cam sat at his desk with the business card in front of him. Was it possible for Wycliffe Bible Translators to have its own pavilion at the World’s Fair? It was a great idea, since not just Americans but people from all over the world would be there. Cam wondered how much such a pavilion would cost and who would run it.
A week later, Cam had an answer to the first question. A site for the smallest pavilion at the New York World’s Fair cost a quarter of a million dollars! Cam checked his bank account; it had exactly two hundred fifty dollars in it. Having a pavilion at the World’s Fair may have sounded like a wonderful idea, but it wasn’t practical, at least not right then. Still, who knew what might happen next, Cam told himself as he tucked the business card away in his file cabinet. He would just wait and see.
In the meantime, Cam had plenty to keep him busy. SIL now had over fifteen hundred workers fanned out around the world, and Cam tried to keep in personal touch with as many of them as possible.
In February 1963, Cam attended another SIL board meeting in Mexico City. He mentioned the idea of a pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, but the board didn’t have much enthusiasm to discuss the matter further. Such a pavilion would cost more money than the organization could ever hope to see in ten years.
Cam, though, did not forget the idea. He just stored it away as the board members went on to discuss other business. New teams of translators were setting up in Nigeria and Ghana in Africa, and someone raised the issue of how computers might help speed up the Bible translation process. The board also discussed the possibility of the Townsends’ moving to Colombia to head up the SIL work there. Everything was going fine in Peru, and the work in Colombia had many challenges, especially since the country was not open to traditional missionary work.
Cam agreed to pray with Elaine about the move, and after the board meeting, he returned home to Peru. Soon after he got back, a visitor arrived from New York. Mrs. Magnuson had come to Peru on business, and a friend had told her to visit the SIL camp while she was in the country. Elaine Townsend had graciously offered to have her stay and observe the work SIL was doing with the Indians. Everything Mrs. Magnuson saw impressed her, especially the way the translators involved themselves in the daily lives of the native people.
At dinner on her last evening with the Townsends, Mrs. Magnuson said to Cam, “I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but it seems to me everyone should know how you are helping these tribes. Have you ever thought about a pavilion at the New York World’s Fair?”
Cam nearly dropped the baked sweet potato he had balanced on the end of his fork. He cleared his throat. “Well, actually,” he began, “I have given it a little thought.”
“So you’re already on to it!” beamed Mrs. Magnuson. “I knew a man like you wouldn’t miss such a golden opportunity. I happen to know the fair’s manager. His name is Bob Moses, and I’m sure I could convince him to give you a free lot. Work like this needs to be promoted.” She took a deep breath and continued. “Grace tells me you are taking her to North Carolina to attend school soon. If you come up to New York, I will introduce you to Bob Moses and get the ball rolling for you.”
Three months later, Cameron Townsend found himself in New York City. He met with Cornell Capa, the famous Life magazine photographer who was producing a book titled Who Brought the Word for SIL. Cam discussed with him the idea of having a pavilion at the World’s Fair, and Cornell told him he thought it was a great idea, provided they could raise the money.
With great anticipation and enthusiasm, Cam accompanied Mrs. Magnuson to meet Bob Moses, who sat quietly and listened as she gave a glowing account of SIL’s work in Peru.
When it was Cam’s turn to speak, he began telling Bob Moses about the plans he had dreamed up for the pavilion. “We could make it up to look like a jungle,” he explained. “The public could walk along a jungle path with bird sounds and other animal noises playing in the background. Then they could go into a thatched hut and see a display of rare tribal artifacts. We would have our people on hand to discuss the items and answer any questions people might have about native tribes and the work we do with them.”
“Wonderful idea!” exclaimed Bob. “We don’t have anything like that planned. It would be a showstopper.” He reached across his desk for a sheet of paper. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Mr. Townsend. I’ll give you a free lot right smack in the middle of things.” He surveyed the paper, which Cam could see was a map. “Right here’s the spot for you. It’s on the corner of the Avenue of America and the Avenue of Europe.” He drew a ring around the lot and turned the page so that Cam could see it. “There,” he said. “Every person who comes to the World’s Fair will walk right past your pavilion.”
Cam felt himself grinning from ear to ear. This was more than he had hoped for.
“Now,” continued Bob, “you will need to have the money to put up the pavilion soon so that I can secure the spot for you, and the pavilion has to be ready to open in April.”
“Yes,” agreed Cam. “That sounds very fair. Thank you for all you have done for us. I’ll have to okay this all with the board, of course, but I’ll be back in touch with you as soon as possible to let you know if we can take advantage of your most generous offer.”
The next day Mrs. Magnuson saw Cam off at the airport. Cam was flying to California, where a SIL board meeting was to be held.
Just as Cam was about to board the plane, Mrs. Magnuson pressed an envelope into his hand. “You must go ahead with the pavilion,” she said.
Once the airplane had taken off, Cam opened the envelope. Inside was a check for a thousand dollars. He began to do some math in his head. Even without having to pay the two hundred fifty thousand dollars for the lot, Cam estimated it would cost about one hundred thousand dollars to set up the pavilion and staff it for two years. In his pocket was the first thousand dollars of that amount, but where would the rest come from?
Two days later, Cam had seven thousand dollars. A retired missionary couple who heard him speak at a church gave one thousand dollars, and five thousand dollars came from two of his relatives. Cam became more convinced than ever that the World’s Fair pavilion should go ahead. Now it was time to convince the board.
Cam told the SIL board members all that had happened so far with regard to the pavilion. While some of them could see that it might be a good idea, no one was ready to break the organization’s rules and borrow the money needed to make it happen. The debate went back and forth all morning long, until Cam came up with a possible solution. He leaned forward in his seat and looked at his friends around the table. “What if I found enough people who were willing and able to underwrite the project?” he asked.
As he looked around the table, Cam noticed one of the board members frowning, so he began explaining further what he meant. “I could ask some people if they would be willing to pay the shortfall if we didn’t raise enough money between now and the end of the fair. I would hope that we can make enough money from book sales and donations during the fair to cover our costs. If we do, these underwriters wouldn’t have to pay a penny. However, if we don’t make enough to cover our costs, these people will have agreed in advance to make up the difference. What do you think?”
Cam waited eagerly as the board members looked from one person to another.
“Well,” Ken Pike finally said, “we don’t want to go into debt, but that wouldn’t be debt, since we wouldn’t be responsible to cover things if the money didn’t come in. I think I could agree to that. What do you others think?”
Soon it was agreed that Cam should go ahead with the pavilion at the World’s Fair, as long as he found enough individuals to underwrite the entire debt for building and running it.
Cam was excited to have the matter approved. In his mind he could already see the crowds streaming past the huge ten-foot-high, one-hundred-foot-long mural that would run the length of the pavilion.
