Serving Bernatus

Bernatus Kachelewa is 83 years old and lives alone in his Pogoro-speaking village in Tanzania. He cannot work due to his age and the fact that he suffers from leprosy. Because of this, he relies on his neighbours for food and his other needs. His neighbour’s son came to visit him every day and read the gospel of John in Pogoro to him. He says that hearing the Word of God in his language touched his heart and hearing the Bible in his mother tongue brought peace to his spirit. He gave his life to Christ after hearing the gospel in his own language!

I went to visit him along with John Kahonga, the Pogoro project leader. We cleaned his house for him and brought him food, drinks, and clothing. We shared with him more about the love of God, and as we were reading the Bible with him, some of his other neighbours came to join us. After hearing us read the Bible in their heart language and seeing how we had served Bernatus by cleaning his house and bringing him food, they also decided to give their hearts to Christ!

“Jesus brought love into my life,” Bernatus said. “People who were in darkness can now see the light because they see the love of God completely when they hear the Bible in their language.”

Story and photos supplied by George Chombo.

Literacy is a Crucial Part of Bible Translation!

During 2018, TWFTW helped mother tongue speakers representing nine minority language groups to develop reading and writing materials for their own people. When a Bible translation project is initiated among a language community, the language is usually only oral and has never been committed to writing. A writing system is developed based on the sound system of the language, using the alphabet of the state which is adapted to suit the particular language.

Some of the speakers of these minority languages may be semi-literate in the state or national language, but since their language has never been in writing ever before, all of the speakers of these languages cannot read or write in their own language. Literacy materials are produced during workshops held in the respective regions and are compiled by the speakers of the languages according to the guidelines given by linguists and others.

Some materials provide a quick transition to reading in the vernacular for those who have already acquired literacy skills in a second language; and for the many who are illiterate in any language, there are materials to systematically teach them to read and write their own language and gain fluency in their newly found literacy skills. Books on basic mathematics, fables, and more are also prepared.

Since each language is unique, every language team develops an individualised set of books for later use in community literacy programs. Literacy is a crucial part of Bible translation! To learn more about our work with literacy, visit www.twftw.org/literacy.

Supplied by the Van As family.

Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! We are grateful together with those who have received the Word of God in their heart language for the first time and pray that through this, they will know Him more deeply. And we are thankful for YOU for partnering with us and helping to end Bible poverty! May you experience God’s abundant blessings in your life, and we look forward to continuing our work with you to bring people the Word of God in their heart language.

We Give Thanks to Him!

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“Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.”

-Psalm 100:4

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This has been a year full of the blessings and abundance of God and we are filled with thanksgiving for His goodness, His provision, His strengthening, and His faithfulness! Here are just a few of the things that we are thanking God for:

• The release of the Sakachep New Testament and the distribution of over 15,000 copies in Southeast Asia!

• The amazing impact that the Word of God has been having in the Matengo community in Tanzania as translated portions of the New Testament are released to the people.

• In Zambia, the widely celebrated and much anticipated release of the Soli new Testament despite the translation team experiencing illness, drought, and death. We praise God for their perseverance and for the Lord sustaining them through their work!

• The joyful anticipation of the Kalanga and Kore Kore people groups in Zimbabwe as the translation teams work hard to bring the Bible to their people in their own language.

• The many testimonies of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing that have occurred in communities that now have the Word of God in their mother tongue!

• The 26 successful training events that we’ve held in 8 countries over the past year, and the 2 that are still to come before the end of 2018.

Last but surely not least, we are thankful beyond words for you; your prayers, your unending support, your encouragement, and your unwavering belief in the work we are doing. As you gather with family and friends, may you have a blessed, restful Thanksgiving and receive the abundant blessings of God in your life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Veronique Krüger

Connect with The Word For The World

People of the Book

In Tanzania, 11 of the 15 local people who review the Ndendeule translation as it is completed are Muslim. They are thrilled to have something written in their language, even if it is the Holy Bible!

A while ago, we told you the story of a man named Maulidi Kimbunga from this language community who could not see, but when he was attempting to read the Gospel of Mark in Ndendeule, God healed him and he was able to see again. Maulidi had been a Muslim, but through his encounter with God when he read the Gospel of Mark, he became a Christian. Since then he has gone to his eternal home, but the testimony of his life and faith has spread among the other Muslims in his community.

We pray that through Maulidi’s testimony, which has amazed his Muslim friends and family, and through reading the scripture translated into Ndendeule, more Muslims in Tanzania will encounter Christ and be transformed by His Word!

The Ndendeule project is well underway and the New Testament is 58% complete. To contribute to this project, click here.

Supplied by George Chombo.

A Land of Milk and Honey

My name is Elias Joseph Hlomani Ncube and I was born in 1932 on July 13th. I was born here in Dombodema, Zimbabwe.

When we grew up here in Dombodema, there was a Bible in Kalanga which was called "Ndebo Mbuya". That is what we read when we were growing up. Then it was destroyed because of the war that happened between the white people and the black people. The black people thought that the missionaries had used the Bible to colonize them, and they never wanted to use anything associated with white people again, including the Kalanga Bible. So we burned all the Bibles and didn’t have them anymore.

But now we are very happy when we see that our children want to have a Bible in their own language, and our own people are translating the Bible, so they won’t think that white people are using it to control us again.

We used to sing a Kalanga song which said, "This is our home of Dombodema, we are here in the land of Dombodema, the land which is similar to the land of Canaan, a land that flows with milk and honey." This song was written in Kalanga but today it is only sung by us, the elderly, meaning that in the future there won’t be such a song anymore. Let the Ndebo Mbuya (New Testament) be translated, and may God also help that the Kalanga people may also hear the Word of God that they will believe.

Supplied by Piniel Tawanda Zimbizi. The Kalanga project is well underway and 30% of the New Testament has been translated so far. To contribute to the completion of the Kalanga Bible, click here.

4 Ways to Help Us Change History

Approximately 2,500 language communities already have some or all of the Bible. That leaves over 4,000 languages with no access to God’s Word unless someone steps in and changes history.

Who is that someone? Well…you!

If you’re wondering how you can get involved with Bible translation and be a part of bringing God’s Word to a language community in their mother tongue, look no further.

1. Learn. Awareness, and helping to spread awareness, is key! Spend some time reading the testimonies and stories here on our blog, and sign up for our e-newsletter. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

2. Pray. Prayer is essential to the success of Bible translation. Our translators and consultants constantly need wisdom and discernment, and all the members of The Word for the World face opposition for the work we do. Your prayers are invaluable and necessary. To get prayer and praise updates so that you can pray more effectively, sign up here.

3. Give. Your financial contributions are like the fuel that keeps the car running: you can have the biggest, fanciest car in the world, with the ability to go anywhere and do almost anything, but if there’s no fuel, it’s not going anywhere. To contribute and help bring God’s Word to all in their language, click here.

4. Volunteer. Are you interested in doing more than helping from afar? Consider volunteering with The Word for the World! We need people to train translators, train consultants, handle IT concerns, and much more. If you feel called to the work of Bible translation, please contact us and we will get in touch with you.

What will your legacy be?

Connect with The Word For The World

It Is Good!

I recently visited the Mt. Darwin area in Zimbabwe, where our Kore Kore translation project is taking place.

We were warmly welcomed by Reverend Takapera and his wife, Dadirai—and since we had traveled a long distance, we were treated to some cold water as we rested. After we had the delicious meal that Dadirai prepared for us, I asked her how she was coping since her husband is also the leader of the Kore Kore translation team.

Dadirai said, “I accept the work that my husband is doing because it is helping the community and also helping the family. Also the language of Kore Kore that was previously not written in any written form is now being written down in the form of the Bible. That is why I'm grateful and I say that it is good!”

Please pray for the team as they continue their hard work! To see the progress on our translation projects, click here.

Supplied by Piniel Zimbizi.

The Word of God is God’s Story

illumiNations Bible partners with several Bible translation organizations, including The Word for the World, to provide God’s Word in everyone’s heart language in a format they can engage with so their lives may be transformed. To learn more, visit their website here.

When the Chaga people of Tanzania see Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest freestanding mountain in the world proudly raised at 20,000 feet, they boldly declare their only reasonable response: kibo, which means “wow!”

As we reflect on this illumiNations weekend, kibo feels like our only reasonable response to all we experienced. God is opening doors like never before for the Word of God to reach the nations. Jesus is showing Himself strong on behalf of the unreached.

Louie Giglio shared with us, “God meets our obedience with His faithfulness.”

There were so many kibo moments from our weekend together. Friends, we celebrate the stunning generosity and faith-filled obedience you demonstrated. Thank you for your response to pour into the nations what lasts forever.

This Book is Alive,
Mart Green and Todd Peterson
illumiNations Bible

The Feet That Bring Good News

Sometimes George Chombo, who works with The Word for the World’s Promotions department, carries Bibles on foot so that he can reach places and people that are unreachable by car or motorcycle. Recently he did this to bring some of the Nguu people their completed New Testament, and they were ecstatic to receive the Scripture in their own language! Many of the people are Muslim, but they are filled with joy that something like the Bible has been translated into their language, and they even gather together to read it.

One elderly man told George the good that God has done in his life since he received news of the Nguu Bible translation project. In 2016 he was very sick and could also not see with his left eye, so he had to rely on his right eye. Just before he went for an operation to improve the eye, he had a dream.

He said that he saw someone give him the Nguu Bible, and the person who gave it to him said, “You will not go for an operation for your eye, but instead you will be healed. But tell of this and speak with the older people in your village about the Nguu Bible.” When he woke up the next morning, he realized he could see out of his left eye! So he went right away to the church to tell his pastor about the dream, and the pastor told him, “Jesus Christ was the man in your dream, and He has healed you.” Praise God!

Story and photos supplied by George Chombo.