It was an ordinary day in May. People were going about their everyday business, living their lives, and then it struck – a landslide. A wall of mud and earth swept over Mulitaka in the Enga Province in Papua New Guinea (PNG), leaving devastation in its wake, with hundreds killed.
As the Enga people know full well, death can come at any time. Two months later, the Enga New Testament was launched. It was a day of much rejoicing, as Enga is PNG’s most spoken local language.
Yet it was also a day marked by the tragedy of those people who died before having the opportunity to encounter Jesus through His word. On average, worldwide, two people die every second. As 1 in 5 people still do not have the Bible in their language, it means that every 2.5 seconds a person dies without having access to the Bible in the language that they understand best. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Reaching a tipping point
Wycliffe is about to release its annual State of the Bible 2024 report and it makes for fantastic reading.
For the first time, Bibles and New Testaments are being launched at a rate of two a week! In the past year, 20 people groups have got the Bible in their language and 88 the New Testament.
Over a third of languages now have the Bible or the New Testament. This means that for the first time, the number of people with access to the Bible in their own language has broken through the 6 billion barrier.
Work is taking place in more than 4,000 languages. That’s a staggering concept to get your head around, but it’s an exciting one. This is the beginning of an incredible adventure for them to gain access to God’s word.
And I’ve saved the most exciting part to the end. We have reached a tipping point! Over half of all languages now have at least some Scripture (see also page 12). Perhaps that Scripture is: ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen. 1:1). That’s because in some languages it works best to have books from the Old Testament first. Or perhaps the Scripture could be: ‘What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?’ (Mark 8:37). The Mark Road initiative in Nigeria is seeking to start Bible translation in 40 new language communities, beginning with the Gospel of Mark.
It’s about transformation
These are all statistics. What matters most is hearing about the lives that have been changed. Lives like those of Emilia Issaka, who celebrated the launch of the New Testament in her language (Rangi) in Tanzania this summer. She says, ‘I feel very peaceful and happy to have the word of God in my language. I think a lot about what God has done for the Rangi people. It started to look like the work would not be finished after Maingu [one of the main translators] died and the work slowed down. But I thank God for those who fought and worked very hard to make sure the New Testament was completed in the Rangi language.’
This is just one story. Imagine how many stories we will hear when we join with ‘the great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.’ (Rev. 7:9) This is what we are working towards. It’s not about the translation. It’s about transformation in people’s lives. It’s about people encountering God’s word and coming to know Jesus.
Wycliffe’s vision is to create a world where everyone can meet with Jesus through the Bible. We don’t want anyone to die without having the chance to encounter God’s word in the language that they understand best.
