by Helen van der Walt

As of July 2026, all 24 language groups that Wycliffe SA partners with have been through the “Introduction to Scripture Engagement” training! This is a huge milestone that has been completed over 3 years. There have been amazing responses of appreciation, and the ripple effects in different communities are mind-blowing. God is at work.

Nearly all groups have adopted Listening Groups as an oral method of learning and exploring biblical stories. Every month we hear testimonies of God working in people's lives through His word and through these groups. There is incredible transformation happening within individuals and across whole communities, with changed lives bringing impact to others. The Siphuthi team in Lesotho have adopted this method for women by starting “Women on Fire” groups for women dealing with domestic abuse and gender-based violence.

"These listening groups will be good for us, especially the women. They often say, "We can't read, the Bible isn't for us, only the men". But now the Bible is for them too!" - Koti team

“The story of the temptation of Jesus was used in an illustrative way so that people could understand, because it was the ideal way to make people perceive and contextualise the subject.”
- Holo team

“I have been in the church for 7 years. I was not listening to anything that was said; I remained without believing that there will be hell and paradise after death, but after listening to the book of Luke 16 that talks about ‘the parable of the rich man and Lazarus ’, my spiritual life has now changed.” - Celia, 26 years (Marrevoni)

Farming God’s Way is another popular method of Scripture Engagement. Many in South Africa, Lesotho and Mozambique have benefited from this programme, with many more in Angola and Mozambique asking for it. The biggest story is that of the Marenje, who completed the training in Nov 2025. The farms are now thriving, with participants sharing the training with others and aiming to take the training to other groups in Mozambique. The facilitator, Pastor Dickson from Malawi, said,

“I am so thrilled and so energised to have done the follow-up in Mozambique and all went so well… I got so much encouraged by the hunger and passion… we are committed to walk with the farmers the next four years to make sure they all know more about Farming God's Way and to identify and walk alongside the leaders to become good trainers of Farming God’s Way within the region.”

In general, Scripture Engagement across southern Africa includes:

• Audio Bibles
• Bible apps
• Printed Scripture booklets
• Translation team branding, websites and awareness
• Building partnerships and community ownership
• Increasing language status
• Listening groups
• Farming God’s Way
• LUMO Gospel films
• Radio programmes and TV appearances
• Dedications and Run for the Bibleless events
• Christian counselling
• Scripture-based songs
• Resource development (storybooks, picture books, songbooks, and other resources)