The Bible Society in Botswana recently completed the Shekgalagari New Testament in collaboration with Lutheran Bible Translators, finishing the first translation of the Scriptures in Shekgalagari [spoken by more than 78,000 Bakgalagari people].
Ofentse Collen Maruping, General Secretary and CEO of the Bible Society in Botswana, is excited about this new translation:
“Our hope for the speakers of Shekgalagari is that this newly published New Testament allows them to connect with God’s Word in a way that opens hearts and minds to the gospel. We have already been greatly encouraged by the response to this New Testament and are looking forward to its distribution to Shekgalagari-speaking areas.”
Read the full story, which provides additional context for this accomplishment and adds that in addition to printed Bibles, the group also began distributing audio Bibles and a smartphone app—significant factors in increasing Scripture engagement.
To fully understand God’s Word, some people need to hear Scripture instead of reading it. “The majority of the world is like me in that we are oral learners,” says Darrell Templeton [of MegaVoice, a company that produces audio Bible equipment].
“There’s something about hearing the Word that differs from reading.”
Templeton recently met an Algerian doctor during an overseas trip, and the two started a conversation. Templeton asked the doctor what language he spoke growing up, and when he answered, “Kabyle,” Templeton handed him an audio Bible.
“I had recently gotten the Kabyle New Testament recording [so] I asked him, ‘Would you please listen to this and tell me [if] it is Kabyle, and if it’s a good accent? Is it acceptable?’” Templeton says.
When the doctor put some headphones on and pressed play, everything changed. “When he started listening to it, it was like someone shot him. I mean, he just crumpled to the floor and began sobbing. It was several minutes before he could talk,” Templeton says.
“This doctor spoke eight languages fluently, but for the first time in his life, he heard God’s Word in his heart language.”
Stories like these happen repeatedly as believers introduce people to Scripture in their heart language for the first time.
“The challenge is to get all these languages recorded because most of these remaining languages are small minority languages and don’t even have an orthography. So, for most of these people, it will have to be an audio Bible.”
Since Vietnam became a Communist country, the Christians have lived under some of the most extreme persecution, but today, that is all changing. In the last couple of years, Vietnamese Christians have seen more religious freedom than at any time in recent history.
In March of this year, BTJ hosted a Business as Mission Conference in Vietnam where more than 250 Christian businessmen and women from around the country squeezed into a meeting room at a hotel in downtown Ho Chi Minh [City] to learn how to use their businesses to grow the kingdom.
“The church is growing,” said Pastor David, a local Vietnamese pastor who oversees a network of about 10,000 believers. “We are seeing God move in Vietnam like never before.”
After the BTJ business conference, Pastor David invited Chinese underground pastors to speak at several house churches throughout the city. “We have a lot in common with our brothers and sisters in Vietnam,” said one Chinese pastor. “We have been through periods of similar persecution.”
However, the Chinese believers were surprised at the freedom the Vietnamese enjoy today. Pastor David, who [was] on the run from the government only 15 years ago, is now openly preaching, planting churches, baptizing new believers, and even launching registered Bible schools to train pastors for ministry in remote minority areas.
Editor’s note: BTJ’s headline asserted “massive church growth,” so we had to check it out. By some estimates, the number of Protestant believers in Vietnam has increased by 600 percent over the past ten years, primarily (perhaps almost entirely?) among ethnic minorities. Overall, 8% of the nation identifies as Christian, primarily Catholic.
Yet some populations have very few believers, and the struggle for religious liberty is not over. See reports about recent challenges (Morning Star News).
By the end of 2023, more than 114 million people were forcibly displaced globally—a record number propelled by the war in Ukraine and other conflicts around the world. For millions of refugees who are forcibly displaced each year due to conflict, violence and persecution, fleeing is the first step in a long and difficult journey to finding safety.
With a record number of people forced to flee their homes, the international community must work together to give refugees more hope and more opportunities while they are away from home. The most effective way to support refugees is by including them in the communities where they have found safety—this means ensuring they can apply for jobs, enroll in schools and access services like housing and healthcare. Inclusion paves the way for long-term solutions for refugees and displaced people, allowing them to thrive in a new country or preparing them for a safe return to their home countries.
On World Refugee Day [June 20], let’s commit to including refugees in our schools, workplaces, healthcare systems and beyond.
Osman Jama of the group Mission to North America’s Refugee and Immigrant Ministry was one of two speakers at a seminar held [June 11] at the Presbyterian Church in America’s 51st General Assembly.
The seminar featured Jama talking about his Islamic upbringing and how he came to Christ in 2007 while living in Minnesota.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Jama explained that while Christians in America “really do well studying,” they must be more active in evangelizing nonbelievers.
“We take our personal discipleship and personal growth very seriously, but we are also commissioned to go make disciples of all the nations, and in that, we are called not just to study but to go,” said Jama.
“The go part is also important. I think we do a really good job of sending others, but my personal belief is that everyone is called to evangelism, there are just different talents and callings. Some are called to the Middle East, some are called to Europe, but others are called to be here, to do evangelism with their neighbors, and to go across the street as much as across the country or across the continent.”
[SIL Associate Area Director] Serge Razafinjatoniary talks about the impact that Bible translation work has had on the Tsimihety community in Madagascar. After local churches in the area received drafts of the Bible and dispersed them into the community for testing, something incredible and unexpected happened: 17 new churches were formed!
He tells the story in a short video, also below (1.5 minutes). See also a related story we shared in our May 15 news briefs, A Miracle in Madagascar. What would it take for those of us with more Scripture access to regain some of the enthusiasm of those receiving it for the first time?
Source: International Christian Concern, June 14, 2024
Türkiye’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, recently ruled that the government’s expulsion of nine foreign Christian leaders based on secret service reports does not violate their freedom of religion. Six of the court’s 13 judges dissented.
Although the nine believers had legally obtained residency permits, their perceived missionary activities prompted Türkiye’s Directorate of Immigration Management to apply N-82 codes against the Christians. The codes designate foreigners as “risks to national security” and prevent them from obtaining prior authorization to enter Türkiye.
The decision is the latest development that points to Türkiye’s efforts to curb the growth of Christianity within its boundaries. An estimated 8,000 Protestant Christians make up more than 170 communities throughout Türkiye. For years, Christians in Türkiye have endured persecution, including forced deportations.
A former Satanist and self-proclaimed witch is opening up about her conversion to Christianity, saying she bought a Bible at a low moment in her life to disprove God but ended up embracing Christ and getting baptized. KM Tepe shared her testimony with author and Biola University apologetics professor Sean McDowell during an episode of The Sean McDowell Show, saying she began dabbling in the occult in college after growing up in a Christian home.
“We called ourselves a coven,” she said. “It was like four of us, and we did a lot of rituals, spellwork, and tarot cards.”
Eventually, she found a copy of the Satanic Bible and “read through that thing in like a day.”
She joined The Satanic Temple and became a “full-fledged atheistic Satanist,” although “there was a point where I was a practicing witch and a Satanist at the same time.”
“I knew the names of demons. And I would call upon the names of demons.”
Her mom, a Christian, was devastated by her daughter’s turn.
“It was really hard on her because she knew if I would have stayed down that path, she knew what the outcome was,” Tepe said.
“When I came out as a witch to her, she was like, I want you out of the house. Like, I don’t want anything witchcraft [in the house],” she said. “At that point. I didn’t care because I was a very young adult and just didn’t care about anything.”
The turning point in Tepe’s life came when her mom developed dementia and later died. Her mom’s funeral was a Christian service.
“I was sitting there as a Satanist at my mom’s funeral,” she said.
She remembers being angry at God and telling Him, “If you love us so much, why would you take my mom the way that you did?”
“And I bought a Bible. I went to a used bookstore, and I bought a cheap Bible with the intention of reading it and highlighting every evil, malicious thing that God did to humanity,” Tepe said.
Does it make a difference to know Jesus speaks your language? JESUS: A Deaf Missions Film has debuted to rave reviews and will be released in theaters starting June 20 (Deaf Missions).
