News

Sometimes God uses Bible translation to sneak into people’s lives. Sasha, a translator for the Roma Arli (Serbia/Croatia) dialect, enjoys telling the story of his non-Christian neighbor whom he invited to the translation team’s book distribution.

God’s Word is advancing around the globe as The Word for the World equips indigenous leaders to translate Scripture into their own languages. This incredible movement continues today at an accelerated pace through the prayers and support of partners like you.

More than 770 million adults do not have access to the Scriptures because they cannot read, and a further 2-billion people struggle to read full sentences.

This year, The Word for the World anticipates more people than ever before in history will access the I will promises of God in their own languages. But heart-language Bible translation work is tough and comes at a cost.

Let praises thunder around the world for how God breathed His life into bibleless people groups through The Word for the World in 2023. 

For the first time in history, the number of languages with Bible translation in progress has exceeded the number of languages without work in progress – thanks to you; glory to God!

Extraordinary growth in heart-language Bible translation has seen more projects initiated in a year than ever before! “A tipping point has been reached: for the first time in history, the number of languages with work in progress (3,742) has exceeded the number of languages without work in progress (3,652)”, State of the Bible 2023.

Cut off by his family, persecuted by the local police, and braving multiple attempts at the theft of his livelihood are all things that Boe endures as a follower of Christ. He lives in a part of the world where to be a Christian is to be at risk daily. In addition to persecution, he suffered because he lacked a Christian community or the life-giving Scriptures in his language.

The bus bumped and lurched along the rural Zimbabwean dirt road which caused Keto Sithole’s fellow passenger’s elbow to keep jabbing into his ribs. He felt himself wishing for some fresh air and a bit of personal space as the bus stopped every now and then to pick up yet more passengers. However, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, happy to be on the way to their destinations.

In 1666, a terrible fire destroyed the central part of London and left many church buildings in ruins. St. Paul’s Cathedral was completely gutted. 261 years later, in 1927, a man named Bruce Barton published a book titled “What Can A Man Believe?” in which he told a story about the rebuilding of St. Paul’s by master architect, Sir Christopher Wren.

Buta Kapoko Domingos cannot believe how God has changed his life! He grew up as a refugee child with no experience of ever having as much as a pair of shoes, a school bag, or even lunch. He never imagined he would be part of Bible translation work.

Over 3000 people converged in Obongi District along the West of the Nile in Uganda just over a month ago on the 1st of July, 2023, to witness the launch of the Gospel of Luke in Reli, Gimara, Aliba, and Kuku languages.

In the heartlands of Dande, under the majestic Mount Darwin, in the Moshonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe, live three men and their families who are organising, structuring and implementing changes for their language community - the Korekore. They are proud of their heritage and culture, despite the fact that the Zimbabwean government does not recognise Korekore as an official language, even though they have a population of 1,7 million people!

Tucked away in a hilly area, scattered with large sculptural rock formations in central northern Tanzania, lives a tribe called the Nyisanzu. Proud of their culture and way of life, they are primarily farmers who rely heavily on the seasonal flooding of the rivers for their agriculture and everyday domestic needs. In dry seasons, they have very little access to water. It is estimated that there are about 99,000 Nyisanzu people in this region.

In the last number of years, love and loss collided in Dave Stadt’s life. Dave’s story is an ongoing testimony of God’s faithfulness in working inside of his heart to act according to God’s good purposes - even in the midst of heartbreak. Through a series of bends and turns, God has moved Dave’s heart towards catalysing a new Bible translation project for a people group he had never heard of before as a lasting legacy to both his late wife and his late Mom.

Over the weekend of the 1st of July, the Reli people of Uganda will celebrate the first completed book of the Bible translated orally into their mother tongue. This profound joy of receiving the book of Luke is not just for them as a people, but for Christians everywhere who are passionate about outworking the Great Commission.

In today’s blog, we want to share with you the encouragement of the testimonies from the community checking happening in three Roma dialects - Arli, Gurbet and Chergash.

Did you know that we are living in a time of mass language extinction with one language going extinct every two weeks? According to Smithsonian Magazine, ‘The grimmest predictions have 90 per cent of the world's languages dying out by the end of this century.’

‘But why go to all that expense, effort and time to train people to translate the Bible into their mother tongue? Wouldn’t it be better to just go and spread the Gospel?’ This question is one of our favourites, because it gets right to the heart of mother-tongue Bible translation.

Miracle upon miracle! Take a moment to read highlights of mother-tongue Bible translation work and hear what God has done in the hearts and lives of many people whom He has touched and saved.