From the New to the Full

'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path'

Psalm 119: 105 in Dagbani

In 1974, the Dagomba people held the New Testament in their hands for the first time and read the Word of God in their own language, Dagbani. In 2007, 33 years later, another momentous event took place when the Dagombas held the full Dagbani Bible in their hands for the first time. It was indeed a wonderful celebration on 2nd June this year. We wish you could have been there to witness the joy and enthusiasm with which the Dagomba Christians cheered and danced when the full Bible in Dagbani was presented to the people.

The eldest translator, Rev. Wumbee, told his story. When he was asked to help with the translation and he agreed, some people declared him insane. ‘Don’t you know’, they said, ‘that most translators will never read their own translation? That most of them will die before holding the Bible in their hands?’ But there he stood, proudly holding that precious life changing Word of God in his hands. He will never be able to see the full impact of his work, but many generations after him will enjoy its fruits.

One of our church leaders commented that he himself had struggled to understand the Old Testament in a foreign language (English), but that his children can now read and understand the Word of God without any problem because it has been translated in their mother tongue, the language of their hearts.

PRAYER AND PRAISE

• Praise and rejoice with us that we now have the full Bible in the Dagbani language. It is such an answer to prayer.




• Pray that this Word will have a dramatic impact on the lives of the Dagomba people.




• Pray for wisdom for the pastors and church leaders as they use the Dagbani Bible in their preaching and teaching.




• There is now a great responsiblity for church leaders to provide good Old Testament Bible teaching. Please pray for good understanding and Bible teaching of the Old Testament in the Dagomba churches.




• Pray for opportunities to develop Bible study teaching aids in the Dagbani language.