Touching and Changing Hearts!

Hudumo Dimosha is an elderly man. His mother tongue is Maalegna. The Maalegna speaking people settled in Kamba many years ago. A literacy program was established in Kamba, near the border of Maale, South West Ethiopia. Hudumo inspired Maale church leaders to participate in the literacy program.

Hudumos’s children taught the people of Kamba how to read and write. Many participants of this program were not Christians. While learning to read and right, they used the Bible as a text. They have come to understand the message of the Bible in their own heart language. The truth of the Gospel was clearly communicated and touched their hearts!

More than 20 churches were planted. In places like Maale, where literacy programs are combined with Bible distribution, we see effective Bible engagement that results in transforming people’s lives.

Tamene Lale, Maalegna Bible translator, TWFTW Ethiopia

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God gave us our language!

Mbui Lingonu used to be the witch doctor in the Village of Ngongua in Tanzania for 38 years. At the age of 86, he is the oldest Chief of the Pogoro speaking people. He lived his life by instructions from his ancestors.

In 2018 he received the New Testament in his mother tongue, Pogoro. At first he was reluctant to read it. However, he felt a strange urge to open this book. After spending several days reading the book of Luke he said: “Behold, it is very true – God is the God of all languages. I thought ancestor spirits were the founders of the Pogoro language, but that is not the truth. The Good News in Pogoro shows me that the truth is that God is the giver of all languages!”

He also declared: “This book is alive. It goes straight to your heart, like an arrow. Because of what I read in Luke 22:15-20 I have come to believe Jesus is the King of all Kings.”

The Word of God revealed to him that Jesus died for him on the cross. Mbui Lingonu gave his life to Christ at the age of 86!

Story and photos by George Chombo, Tanzania

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The Lambya Scripture brings Joy!

The Word of God in the Lambya language is bringing joy to people’s hearts. TWFTW are working in cooperation with the Seed Company to help bring this joy to the Lambyan speaking community of Malawi.

Since the launch of the New Testament in 2016, people can read and understand the message of love and hope in their heart language. Now preachers and chaplains can clearly teach the true message of the Bible. The Bible speaks directly to people’s hearts.

The aim now is to have Psalms, Isaiah, Joel, Hosea Habakkuk and Malachi in print by 2020.

Please keep praying for the TWFTW translators, consultants and all parties involved working towards this goal!

Mother Tongue Translation

“In our hearts we carry the vision: to see every person with the Word of God, translated into their mother tongue. To empower mother tongue speakers to translate the Bible into their own language”

When a person reads the Bible in their mother tongue language, it speaks to their hearts and makes it easier to apply in life. When understanding the message, it brings change to their lives, and the lives of their families.

Enjoy this video on the impact of mother tongue translation with us!

Isaiah 50:4 New International Version (NIV)
4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

God Speaks My Language!

Imagine waking up one morning and everyone around you speaks a language you cannot understand. You are unable to fathom what is going on. You are unable to express your feelings. Helpless to speak and to be heard. You are at a total loss.

On a recent trip to a country I had never visited before, I sat in the plane listening to the voice of the airhostess. I could not understand any of what she was saying. Long sentences with many words, sounds that were meaningless to me. Foreign sounds. Then she switched to a language I understood. It was an incredible assurance!

I then realized what it must be like for so many people around the world who do not have the Bible in their own language. They hear the Word of God in a language they do not understand. What joy and revelation it must bring to people when they receive the Bible in their own language for the first time. The message of hope, love and salvation. The Good News in a language that speaks to their hearts!

TWFTW’s prayer is that every person will know that God loves them and speaks their language. The vision is that everyone will have access to the Word of God in the language God gave them.

The Words of His love and His ultimate sacrifice reaching the Bibleless everywhere!

Thank you for your support today that makes it possible to achieve this goal.

John 1:1 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Bringing Light to the Darkness!

The Democratic Republic of the Congo faced severe difficult situations in the past, which made the translation process of the Taabua Bible a long and difficult one. Due to the dedication of the translators, your support and prayers and through the Grace of God, the Taabua people received the Kitaabua audio New Testament!

The Taabua people of the DRC are so excited to receive these audio Bibles as they are planning to distribute them widely.

The Taabua New Testament is complete, but the people of DRC are yearning to have the Old Testament in their heart language as well. As at 31 December 2018 the Old Testament was 61% complete. Please continue to pray that the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo will receive the whole Bible in their heart language.

“Kalinde Nzika once summed up the eternal impact of the project when he wrote, “The Taabua Bible translation project is a splendid and powerful hammer to break the darkness in which the Taabua lived for so long. They were unseen, non-existent and ignored. But God will raise them up, as the Scriptures say in Hosea 2.23: …I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one’. I will say to those called ‘Not my people’, ’You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God’. The voice of God in Taabua will be with them and in them. He is in control.”

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Our God, the God of all People and all Languages

Moses Magega, an elder from the Makonji Village, Tanzania says: “Since I was born, I received many gifts, they did not transform my life, but I thank God almighty! In my age I have received a very special gift. My life has changed! I can see the goodness of God who created us, now I see the love of God from my Ngindo Bible. God is for all people in all languages under the sun. Now I share with my grandchildren and neighbours at Sunday school in Ngindo Bible”

Thank you for being part of this testimony! With your help TWFTW is able to help the people of Tanzania receive the Bible in their own languages! Having the Bible in their heart language, inspires more people to read from the Bible and come to Christ.

Story and Photos by George Chombo Tanzania

Such a time as this!

We are on the cusp of a new era in Bible translation in The Word for the World. A team of pioneers in South East Asia have been prying open doors to countless Bible-less ethnic groups in the region. Just what does a new pioneering phase entail?

During the pioneer phase, the team becomes aware of the needs in a particular region. While waiting on God for His timing, they prayerfully start investigating the possibilities. After visiting the area – sometimes numerous times – they attempt to find the key people God has been preparing for such a time as this.

Without faith it is impossible to please God*. And this is the heartbeat of initializing new projects. It is a faith venture, the coming together of the belief that God is moving us into a new region combined with God-moments, connecting us with those He has gone ahead and prepared for the team to meet.

It is a profound time where sweat, hard work and trusting God come together. The quality of the translations produced by The Word for the World bears testimony to the significance of identifying the right people to work with within a region. Join with us for such a time as this!

*Hebrews 11:6

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God’s Words: Creating Unity and Transformation

“Having the Word of God in my Ngindo language makes me happy. Reading it myself or with neighbours brings Unity.”

These are the words of Miriam, a Ngindo speaking lady from the Kitolgo village in Tanzania.

“I can see that God is the owner of all languages, I feel He is speaking to me. I love the Ngindo Bible.”

Being able to read the Bible in their heart language transforms lives, and the desire to read the Bible to themselves and their children increases.

449,618 people in Tanzania speak Ngindo. The New Testament was completed in 2016, but the Old Testament is only 33% complete.

Please pray with us that the Ngindo speaking people may receive the whole Bible to ensure further unity and transformation!

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The Word of God is Life

“There is power in our language,” says Marco Peter. “Now I can say that Jesus is Lord in my life.”

Marco is a Pogoro-speaking man in a small village in Tanzania. When he heard people from The Word for the World reading the Pogoro New Testament to some of the teenagers in the village, he went to them and said:

“I was listening when you told the young people about Jesus and read to them. Please, tell me how I can read the Bible too?”

The translation project leader, John Kahonga, offered to read with him. When Marco heard the words of Jesus in his mother tongue, he said, “There is power in our language that can lead me to say that Jesus is Lord in my life. I have complained a lot to God, but now that I hear Him speaking in my language, I believe God loves me and has a very good plan with me. He is the only way.”

Marco gave his life to the Lord that day because he heard the Word of God in his heart language. The Word of God is life!

Story and photos supplied by George Chombo and Spencer Erasto.