Zambian Christians had a fantastic response after hearing the Bible. They expressed their joy by dancing. Why? Because for the first time, they listened to the Word of God in their own native tongue. They said, “It’s like God is speaking our language.”
Wycliffe Associates
Zambia, a country in southern Africa, hides multiple untouched safaris and wildlife. Despite its landlocked geographical structure, God’s Word has undoubtedly touched the land. And Wycliffe Associates aim to have the Bible translated into the heart language of Zambia.
Wycliffe Associates are a group of Bible translators “committed to giving people who were still waiting for God’s word in their native language so they would know the God who loves them and desires a relationship with them.”
Consequently, their efforts have reached Zambia.
Today, there are over 5,000 people in the country translating the Bible into twenty native languages. The Wycliffe uses a groundbreaking Church Owned Bible Translation. In this endeavor, “they incorporate a team of native speakers to translate the Bible quickly and accurately.”
The method is effective because it puts the tools for Bible translation in the hands of national translators.
One of the team is Bishop Henry Mumba, a church pastor and church planter. He recalled his first memory of hearing the Bible when he was 19.
Zambian Christians
“My pastor was a missionary from another country and he came into this town,” he shared. “And when they preached the Gospel to me the first verse that I knew was John 3:16, ‘For God so love the world, that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'”
During a visitation of a team from CBN News, they witnessed the locals from Mansa, Zambia, hearing and reading the New Testament in Aushi, their native dialect, for the first time.
Just when they finished reading, Mansa churchgoers danced in joy.
Bishop Henry also expressed his joy, saying that the Bible is the first written literature in Aushi. He said, “We’ve never had anything before.”
Reference: CBN News