Why Bible Translation

Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his (own) language, that goes to his heart.”

There are still up to 2,000 language groups waiting for God’s Word, that’s nearly 1.5 billion people – which is more than the amount of people on our very own continent of Africa.

God’s Word is living and active and is a powerful tool for us to connect with God. It is absolutely crucial that each person does not just understand the language of the Bible, but are also able to connect with it on a heart level. Then, every tribe, tongue, nation and language might have the opportunity to know the one true God.

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Stories & News

Discover what is happening in the world of Wycliffe and Bible translation.

Have a look at the current situation in Bible Translation - Statistics

Language Groups

View Our Language Group MAP

CD Cluster

These four language groups live in a volatile region where the dominant religion is not Christian. Translated Scriptures will help to make the God of the Bible known in an environment where it is very challenging and dangerous to preach the Gospel. God has been faithful and has allowed Scripture production to proceed well despite the challenges.

Hambukushu

A cross border group of about 60,000 people that reside in northern Namibia and Botswana. After years of making plans and dreaming about what a Bible translation could look like, the team published their first 43 oral and written passages in early 2020. They went on to complete a written translation of Genesis, which is now being distributed.

Himba

Deep in the heart of the Namibian desert live these nomadic cattle herders, a people group of about 50,000 people. They were unable to connect with God through the written text of the neighbouring Herero people. However, since 2015 many Bible passages have been orally translated into Himba and they are now in their third translation phase!

Huila Cluster

This cluster project is made up of the semi-nomadic Angolan communities of Handa, Cilenge, and Northwest !Xung speakers. They completed 59 stories and 12 songs across the three language groups in phase 1. Now, having completed their Render training, they are ready to start phase 2 as separate projects each based in their home communities.

Kaaps

Kaaps is spoken mainly by the Coloured community in the Cape Flats in South Africa. The Kaaps culture is vibrant and colourful, known for their unique cultural music and creative verbal art. After centuries of discrimination, they are embracing their identity afresh, and the translation of God’s Word into Kaaps is a powerful message of validation.

Kamukuio Cluster

The Kamukuio translation serves 3 language groups, all accessible from Kamukuio town in the southwest of Angola. Although the Kwandu and Humbe have been exposed to the Gospel, the Kuvale people had almost no believers or churches. Praise God for the many narratives now translated, which are being distributed in the communities.

Makhuwa

Spread across the northern provinces of Mozambique is the eMakhuwa language group, covering about 1/3 of the population. With translation well underway, the project coordinator reported that “many people walk long distances just to go and listen to the stories”. This cluster is now unbundling and continuing as 3 separate projects.

Marenje

The Marenje live in a tropical and mountainous region of Mozambique, just across the border from Malawi. In the churches, Scripture has to be translated into Marenje for them to understand it, so local church leaders have been asking for a Bible translation into this language. They are doing well and have already completed the books of Mark and Luke!

SA Sign Language

There are approximately 600,000 individuals in South Africa who use South African Sign Language (SASL) as their first language. More than 70% of these individuals are profoundly Deaf. To make the Bible available, a team of Deaf translators are working to translate the written English Bible into SASL in video format – a Visual Bible for the Deaf.

Sepulana

Mapulaneng is the "Place of the Mapulana people." This language community of 800,000 have lobbied to have Sepulana as an official language of Mpumalanga for years. Sepulana is one of 20 South African languages without a Bible translation, but this is in the process of changing, as the team is now busy with a translation of the whole New Testament!

Siphuthi

Tucked in the mountains of Lesotho are the Siphuthi speaking people. They have maintained their language and culture, and desperately needed a Bible translation. Despite being told it was not possible to translate God’s Word in Siphuthi, they successfully translated 47 stories in phase 1 and have now launched phase 2!