Translators recently took their draft of Mark’s Gospel into six Jita villages. As they tested the Scripture with groups of volunteers, passing children grew curious. “It’s not the first time,” said Magesa, a Jita translator. “They were surprised to hear us reading in their language, so they came closer and sat down…”
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Hundreds of Burunge and Rangi children, and even some of their parents, are learning to read their own language. Just months since SIL partnered with Compassion International to offer youth literacy workshops in those communities, four church-based programmes were once again filled with students eager to gain new language skills…
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Rain kept down the crowd’s numbers, but not their joy. Sheltered inside a church-within-a-church, Nyakyusa speakers used this day of singing and dancing, preaching and feasting to celebrate their newly translated Scriptures “even our children can understand!”
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A Scripture translation “cluster project” in southwestern Tanzania has its eyes on several major milestones. Sixteen years since work began, a group of six language projects are bringing all their New Testaments to completion. One is ready for its official launch, another is being printed and bound. Following those, four more teams are busy with final checks and typesetting. It’s an exciting time of challenges and victories as global teams lend aid and local plans are laid…
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“We use our Scriptures for funerals and some church meetings,” says Mwaluanda, Supervisor for the Safwa Literacy team. “But we want to do more.” The team recently held their second three-day songwriting workshop, with Bible studies and composition lessons, even recording sessions. This time, the songs were inspired by the book of Acts…
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A busy season in several Mara Region communities has translation teams feeling freshly inspired to their work. In a Kwaya village, reviewers reported how many are enjoying reading and listening to Scriptures the team has completed. On a visit to check Matthew and Romans with the community, the Jita team kept hearing, “We know the work is hard—but keep going!” While checking eight new Ikoma Scripture portions, reviewers helped the team choose the best word for shepherd…
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“Sharing God seems easy now, with Scripture recorded in my language.” A Konongo speaker, named Lightness, took part in an Bible story-ing workshop. She has recordings on her phone, and plays them in the market. “A lot of women and children gather,” she adds, “and they enjoy listening.” Lightness has learned to narrate Bible stories orally, and lead group studies in her village. Meanwhile the new Konongo translation project works hard, encouraged by such early impact…
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“I’ve heard John 15:5 many times, in Swahili and English,” said Paulo Kijuu, a Rangi translator. “But the expression of ‘abiding in Jesus’ is not clear to Rangi speakers.” The team began to search for a way to make the meaning clear. “When we found it,” said Kijuu, “my eyes got teary because I could picture my own relationship with Jesus. I could feel his love…”
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The Ruwila language community has begun translation work as part of the Katavi Cluster Project. After initial community partner planning meetings, the team decided to use Render, an innovative computer software for oral translation. Nine Ruwila speakers took part in a weeks-long workshop training for the task ahead…
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