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.

An Ordinary Weekend

Around 2,000 years ago, history was forever changed. Heaven broke open and released all of God’s love, mercy, power, freedom, and grace. The veil that hid His face from us was torn, and since then we have lived in close communion with the King of Kings, where before only a select few could be in His presence or hear His voice.

When history was changed, so were our stories. Jesus’s resurrection day was our resurrection day, too.

But there are many who may as well be living 2,000 years ago. The Light of Christ has not broken through into their hearts and lives - not because they’ve heard the Gospel and rejected it, but because they don’t know that this man called Jesus has broken their chains. They’ve never read his words or felt his love transform their entire being.

For them, this is just an ordinary weekend.

But you can help to change their stories, just as your story has been changed. You can help to bring the Light into their darkness. You can help them to know: Jesus loves you and he speaks your language.

Will you help make history?

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Veronique Krüger

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Transformation From Generation to Generation

“What I find incredible and what really touched my heart is that this work that we are doing will be going from generation to generation; it will never end,” said Tago, one of the Basketo translators in Ethiopia. He and his team members, Abate and Tezera, recently completed the final consultation of 1 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah with the help of TWFTW consultant Nel Claassen. This means that these books are almost ready to go to print and is an exciting milestone for the team.

The Basketo translation of the Old Testament is 28% complete. Since the project started, the impact on the community has been incredible. “Before, there was a resistance to the gospel, and even violence because of it. But because of Bible translation, the door for sharing the gospel is open. People are now asking for it,” said Tezera. “There is a pride that has developed because of Bible translation, because they recognise that they are important enough for God to have His Word in their language.”

Abate also said that a Basketo education program has even started because of the project. “This has given them an opportunity for a dictionary in their own language, something they’ve never had before. It is only because of Bible translation that this could happen. It makes the language precious, and it makes the people extremely happy.”

The impact that Bible translation is having on the Basketo people and the transformation that is happening in every sphere of their society is truly amazing. Your partnership with us is changing history, one people group at a time.

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Church Building in Tanzania

This church building-in-progress will soon house a congregation of 38 members and counting in a remote village in Tanzania.

George Chombo, one of the members of TWFTW’s Department of Promotions, visited this Nguu-speaking village at the end of last year and distributed recently printed New Testaments to the people. For the first time, these people were able to read the Bible and the words of Jesus Christ in their mother tongue!

At the time, the church only had 9 members, but in only 4 months it has grown now that the people have been reading the Word of God in their own language. Praise God for the faithfulness of the Nguu translators and of this pastor and his family who are building the church!

The Nguu Old Testament translation is currently 34% complete. Help the Nguu people to receive the complete Bible in their heart language!

Story and photos supplied by George Chombo.

God Speaks Chikunda

Moses Kaputi is a middle aged man from the Chikunda speaking community of Kanyemba in the Dande Region of Zimbabwe. He is married to Fungai Dumba and they are blessed with four children, two boys and two girls.

Chikunda is spoken in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique. There is already a New Testament in Chikunda which has been published and distributed in the Kanyemba area. Moses says that before they had this New Testament in Chikunda, they would just try to guess from the Shona Bible (Shona is also spoken in Zimbabwe) what God was saying to them, but now that they have the Chikunda New Testament it is like God speaks Chikunda, and they can understand Him.

“Now I understand that before everything was, God was,” says Moses, “and all things came into existence through God. Therefore if I find myself in any difficulty, I know that God is all powerful, since nothing existed or exists outside of Him.” 

The Chikunda New Testament has also helped them in the making of the Jesus Film in Chikunda. The Chikunda people were delighted to watch Jesus speaking in their heart language! The elderly people in the community can now also read the Word in their mother tongue, and now they finally know that God is not only for the white people or the Shona people, but is also for the Chikunda people!

Story and photo supplied by Piniel Tawanda Zimbizi.

The Importance of Consultants in Bible Translation

Watch this video to see how crucial the work of consultants are in the work of Bible translation! The Word for the World is passionate about empowering local translators and consultants to translate the Bible efficiently and accurately.

Thank you for your continued support!