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. We truly give God the glory, and we are grateful that He involves us in this awe-inspiring work of the Holy Spirit. Hear and see that God is on the move, and He uses heart-language Bible translation as part of the tapestry that He is weaving to accomplish His will on earth this very day!
Meet Pastor Emanuel Ngalemba, who was not always known by that name. He used to be called ‘Ahmad Mohamad’, and he was a Muslim who practised ancestor worship. Hear his joy as he shares his testimony of what a glorious thing God has done for him!
Pastor Emanuel is from the Ngindo tribe which is in the Liwale District in Tanzania. He was the first person in his community to come to faith in Jesus Christ back in 1964. He went through many hard times, torture and attempts on his life by his own people and the authorities because of his new faith, but by the power and grace of God, he was empowered never to deny Christ. Pastor Emanuel remembers that when he became a Christian many people were angry with him and turned against him. He recalls being taken by force to join the army to fight against Idi Amin - hoping he would be killed in battle! Thanks to God, his life was spared, and now he has lived to be a testimony to the love of Jesus and a witness to his own people. He is now a reviewer in heart-language Bible translation work, and he is a profound blessing to some of the Bible translators from his tribe.
We hear another story of God’s work in the Ngindo tribe in the life of Exavery Mtwiku. In fact, God used Pastor Emanuel Ngalemba to reach Exavery when he preached the Gospel to him in 1984, which was when Exavery believed the Gospel and put his trust in Christ. After that, his wife converted to Christ, and then their five children also became Christians! Sadly, Exavery also suffered from persecution in their community. Like Pastor Emanuel, they had to live out the Scripture to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Jesus.
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
As a transformed man from his former religion, God chose him to become a part of the global family of believers who serve the Lord in reaching people with the Word of God - the Bible translators. His life and family began to change through reading and translating the Bible. Exavery says, “I feel great, because it is the grace of God. This is an opportunity to know God and the Bible. Being a translator transformed my life. This work has taken me to different countries like Uganda. I visited Uganda to record a Bible radio session. These things have helped me know God’s character and His will.”
And lastly, in Jeniffer Likunja’s face and testimony, we can see that God’s blessings of salvation and purpose carry through the generations and that the Good News is for young and old, men and women - every tribe, every tongue. Jennifer is 36 years old and is part of the Ngindo tribe like Exavery and Pastor Emanuel. She is one of the Bible translators for their language, and her translation journey began in 2018 when she met her pastor and heard about the ministry of Bible translation. Like the struggles of Exavery and Pastor Emanuel, she also experienced painful times because of challenges in her family life. Many family members are ancestor worshippers. But, by the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit, He enables her to walk the road of the people of God before her. She continues with Bible translation work because she has put her trust in Christ, and will follow Him wherever He leads her.
Please join us in praying for these brothers and sisters in Christ who, like us, long to see God’s kingdom come and will be done on earth. Pray that God will encourage them and help us to support them in any way we can as one body of Christ, each with our own part to play as He sovereignly weaves the tapestry of His kingdom. May we all be helped to love one another as He has loved us, and by that love, the world will know that we are His disciples.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (ESV)
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