What Happens When a Village Gets the Bible in its Heart Language?

This article was originally posted by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Though Christianity had been part of their culture for 100 years, there was no Bible in the Beembe language. It took 20 years of dedicated translation work for them to get a Beembe Bible – but when they did, they showed us how to party…

Imagine fumbling through a dense, tricky text in a second language. You can read it, but it’s hard. You understand in part, but you can't quite capture the meaning. This was the case for the Beembe people of Congo Brazzaville, who only had access to Bibles their second language: French.

Lost in translation

‘For me, the problem with the Bible in French was that I had trouble understanding certain concepts and words. So I didn’t read the Bible very often,’ 54-year-old farmer, Pierrette, explains.

Pierrette’s experience isn’t rare. For many people reading the Bible in a second language, the challenge of understanding is significant. But not only that, they’re not experiencing the message of the Bible in the words they can relate to; the words they use in their thoughts, their hearts.

A word in season

More than 1,000 people gathered for the ceremony to launch the first ever Beembe New Testament in early 2014. Elders banged drums and shook rattles. Young dance troupes performed energetic routines. People cheered.

Though Christianity has been part of the Beembe culture for 100 years, this was the first time the community had Scripture in their language. And the joy was palpable.

‘Now we have our own Beembe New Testament, I am very happy,’ Pierrette says.’ It will help us strengthen the faith of our children, who will discover a deeper relationship with God.’

Decades of dedication

Jacques Mberi is the man behind the Beembe Bible. He has spent decades poring over Hebrew and Greek, considering the best ways to convey the meaning of each verse  – especially when there’s not always a direct translation.

He smiled through tears as he said, ‘I am like Simeon, who waited years and years until he could see the Lord Jesus, and then once he did, he could die. I have worked hard to see this translation finished. It is my child, my pride and joy.’

Completing the task

Now the Beembe people have asked to have the Old Testament translated into their language and Jacques is already on the case.

But until then, we’re celebrating that this people group are now experiencing the New Testament in the language they most love and truly understand.

Find out more about funding similar projects around the world

62-year-old Mbambouloulu Evelyne clutched her Beembe New Testament and said, ‘I am delighted with this New Testament. It touches my soul. It allows me to feel closer to God, and I give thanks to God for this precious gift.’


Lives changed through Bible literacy classes

This article was adapted from one originally published by British and Foreign Bible Society.

Our counterparts in Pakistan are working to bring the Bible to life for 7,000 women in 2016 by teaching them to read. Will you help?
It costs just S$40 to help teach a woman to read and give her a New Testament.

AratiArati* was a cotton picker in rural Pakistan. She worked long hours to earn around S$2 a day. She was being cheated out of payment but didn’t know it – she couldn’t read the scales that weighed her cotton.

But at our literacy class the Bible changed Arati’s life for good. As she read the Bible for the first time, she met Jesus, discovered His love, and learnt that her life mattered.

Arati said, ‘Jesus died for us and there’s no one in the world who has died and rose again. We appreciate this love.’

Now I am literate, I feel empowered.

Today Arati teaches young children in her village to read. And since learning to read she’s realised the cotton traders were cheating her and others out of their wages.

She said, ‘After studying I read the scale and I knew the actual weight of the cotton and now the men can’t cheat us. Now I am literate, I feel empowered.’

Seven families in Arati’s village have become Christians since our literacy programme started.

‘There’s a big change in our village since the start of our literacy class’ Arati told us, ‘We are very happy and my family is very happy.’

Will you help more women like Arati learn to read?

Change for good

Arati is just one example of a life changed for good through the Bible. Through our literacy classes many women like Arati learn that their lives matter as God speaks to them through the Bible.

Just S$40 can help teach a Pakistani woman to read and give her a New Testament.

Your support could help teach Pakistani women to read and bring the Bible to life for them and their families. Will you join us in teaching more women like Arati to read?

*name changed