written by Chris Gilmore (work role)
Until recently, the Zinza people of Tanzania were without any Scripture in their language. They recently received and dedicated with a great celebration the Zinza book of Genesis, Echitabu cho Kubanza “The Book of the Beginning.”
On the day of celebration there was traditional Zinza dancing, singing and parading of books. There were choirs and many speeches, food and general celebration. We praise God for his Word and that the team was able to complete this task.
Heena echigambo choóna chóona echilíkuhicha kumulema OMUKÁMA? Mmáhi! (Echitabu cho Kubanza 18:14)
Is anything too hard for the LORD? Nothing! (Genesis 18:14)
The Zinza translators and project advisors called together key political, church, and community leaders to give them a preview of the book they were about to dedicate and distribute. In that day-long meeting, we were able to witness the reaction of these Zinza leaders opening this book (for some, it was the first they had ever seen in their language) and to hear their initial comments. These comments were priceless and encouraged us so much in the work of Bible translation here in Tanzania.
One man declared, “Reading this book is not only sweet to my ears, but adds to my understanding!”
Another was delighted to see that we had published the book in diglot form (with Zinza and Swahili side by side) and proclaimed, “This book is not just for the Zinza people, but is for all the people!”
What a joy to see this reaction from the leaders. Praise God with us for the encouragement we all received that day!
photo above: Zinza reading “The Book of the Beginning.” (photo: Chris Gilmore)
