Merry Christmas to the Isenye and Ngoreme people of Tanzania!

Isenye translators holding the book of Matthew

We're so thankful that the Isenye people of Tanzania now have the book of Matthew in their own language.

AND...

Ngoreme translator holding the book of Luke

The Ngoreme people have the book of Luke in their own language!

Ben had the privilege of typesetting both of those books and overseeing their publication. It was a special project for him because exactly one year ago, he typeset the Christmas stories in these languages. He typeset the Christmas story from Matthew in Isenye, and he typeset the Christmas story from Luke in Ngoreme. People loved reading and hearing about the birth of Jesus in their own language.

Since then, more and more people are learning how to read, and people are excited to have more Scripture published in their language. So it was a huge blessing for Ben to be able to typeset these complete books of the Bible in these languages. Now the books have been printed and delivered just in time for Christmas this year. Now the Isenye people and the Ngoreme people can read the rest of the story about Jesus. He's not only God who took on flesh and was born as a baby. He's also the King and Savior who died on the cross and rose again from the dead to rescue us from our sins and reconcile us to a right relationship with God.

Please pray that the Isenye and Ngoreme people will be transformed when they read God's Word in their own language.

For those of you who are partnering with us in this ministry, God is using you to bring his Word to the people of Tanzania. Thank you for your partnership in the gospel. We appreciate you!

If you'd like to join our team as a prayer and financial partner, check out our Wycliffe web page here:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/2ebefb

Merry Christmas!!

Love,

Ben and Jeannette

Simbiti Genesis

Hi everybody, I want to introduce you to a friend of ours from Tanzania. His name is Waynse. Waynse is from the Simbiti people group. Here's a picture of our family with Waynse and his wife Lucy. 

Waynse is a pastor and he also worked with us on the Simbiti translation of the Bible. After Waynse finished translating the New Testament, he also translated the book of Genesis. I had the great privilege of typesetting the book of Genesis in the Simbiti language. Now the books have been printed and delivered and here’s pastor Waynse holding his very own copy of the book of Genesis in his language, the Simbiti language. 

Pastor Waynse is so excited to have the book of Genesis in Simbiti because now he can preach from the book of Genesis and people will be able to understand him. Not only that, people can follow along in their own copies now that it's been printed. Just the other day, Pastor Waynse told me a great story about how God is using his Word among the Simbiti people. Pastor Waynse was preaching at a funeral, and he read portions of the book of Genesis in the Simbiti language. There was a man in the crowd who doesn't attend church, but when he heard God's Word in his own language, he was so overwhelmed with gratitude and joy that he decided on the spot that he would start attending that church, because he wanted to hear more of God's Word in his own language.  That's the power of having God's Word in the heart language of the people. And think about this, if you are partnering with us in this ministry, then God is using you to bring his Word to the Simbiti people of Tanzania. Thank you for your support, your prayers, and your partnership. 

If you would like to join our team as a prayer and financial partner, check out our Wycliffe web page here. 

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/2ebefb

Thanks again!

The Jita New Testament has been sent to the printer!

Hi friends,

We have big news about the Jita translation project. The Jita New Testament has been sent off to the printer. Finally, after more than 10 years in the making, we sent it off. It's a weird feeling, honestly. We've been working on this thing basically every day for over 10 years. So to send it off was bittersweet. On the one hand, we want this thing printed so that Jita people can read it and enjoy it. But on the other hand, we're asking ourselves, did we do enough? Is it ready? Should we check it over one last time? 

It's been a good process for us to surrender this project to God. Because think about it, this is God's Word, this is God's translation project, these are God's people, and we are God's servants. So we can trust that the Jita New Testament is in God's sovereign hands, and we know that he will use his Word to transform people's lives. 

Please keep praying with us. Pray that the books would be printed accurately and beautifully. Pray that the books would be shipped safely and arrive safely in Tanzania. And pray that God would be preparing people's hearts even now to receive his Word. Thank you again for your partnership with us in bringing the New Testament to the Jita people. We couldn't have done this without you. 

Thank you!!

In the beginning...Kabhumba!

 Hi friends,

I have some good news for you! I finished typesetting the book of Acts in the Bende language of Tanzania. The books were printed and delivered, and people are so excited to have another portion of Scripture in their own language. 

As I was typesetting the book, I noticed the word for "God" in the Bende language. I love finding out how other languages translate the word "God" because it's such an important concept. For example, the Jita word for God is Nyamuwanga, and it's related to the word for life, so it brings the idea that God is the living God and the one who gives life.

But in the Bende language, the word for God is...Kabhumba. That's so cool!! I'm excited for the day when they translate the book of Genesis,

"In the beginning, Kabhumba created the heavens and the earth."

Thankfully, they now have the book of Acts so they can enjoy Acts 10:39-40 about the death and resurrection of Jesus,

"They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, but Kabhumba raised him from the dead on the third day."

I'm so thankful that the Bende people now have access to another portion of God's Word in their language. And think about this: if you're partnering with us, you have a part in bringing God's Word to the Bende people. Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry!

{If you would like to join our team as a prayer and financial partner, check out our Wycliffe web page here:  https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/2EBEFB}

Celebrate the Ikoma New Testament!

 

Praise the Lord for the arrival of the New Testament in the Ikoma language of Tanzania! Ikoma is one of the language groups that Ben worked with in Tanzania. Here's Ben with the Ikoma translators: Muya and Mussa.

Hundreds of Ikoma people showed up to celebrate the arrival of the New Testament.

There were speeches, prayers, choirs, and traditional dances.

We rejoice that the Ikoma people can now read and enjoy God's Word in their own language.

Thank you again for partnering with us in bringing God's Word to the people of Tanzania! 

If you would like to join our team as a prayer and financial partner, visit our Wycliffe web page here: https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/2EBEFB

Photos by R.Meszaros, K.Grindall, A.Kamphuis

How to avoid culturally inappropriate illustrations when typesetting the Bible

 Hi friends,

The other day I was out running errands and I passed Jeannette's favorite coffee place. I thought, "I should get some coffee for my wife." So I pulled up to the drive-thru window, which was on my left side. I ordered the coffee, reached for my money, and started handing the money out the window with my left hand, which would be natural. But my brain temporarily forgot which country I was in. I quickly switched the money to my right hand, because in Tanzania, you never give anything with your left hand. The left hand is dirty (I won't explain why, just trust me). You only pass things with your right hand. It's extremely important to follow this cultural practice. So my brain temporarily forgot what country I was in. I switched the money to my right hand and very awkwardly reached all the way across to get the money out the window. I must have looked very silly. Well, eventually I got the coffee, brought it home to my wife, and she was very happy.

Now, why am I telling you this story? I'm currently typesetting the book of Acts in the Bende language of Tanzania. The translators wanted an illustration of someone being healed by the apostles in Acts 3. I found this illustration of Peter reaching down and touching a lame man.

However, this illustration would be offensive in Tanzania because Peter is reaching with his left hand. It's inappropriate, taboo, and therefore very distracting for our readers. 

Thankfully, in my typesetting software, I'm able to flip the illustration like this:

Now Peter is reaching down to the lame man with his right hand. Nothing offensive. No distractions. Now the readers can focus on the meaning of the story and the power of God's Word.

This is just a tiny glimpse into my role as a typesetter. My job is to make God's Word clear and attractive and accessible to all people.  

Thank you again for your support!

{If you haven't joined our team as a prayer and financial partner, we invite you to be a part of this amazing ministry. Check out our Wycliffe partnership page here: https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/2EBEFB}

Celebrate the Kabwa New Testament!

Our friends in Tanzania who speak the Kabwa language are celebrating the arrival of the New Testament!

The Kabwa translation team worked in the same office with Ben and the Jita team. Ben had the privilege of working alongside the Kabwa team on various projects.

The day of the New Testament dedication was a joyful day filled with singing, dancing, feasting, and reading God's Word in the Kabwa language. 

We pray that many Kabwa people will be transformed when they read the good news about Jesus.

Here's a cool video that captures the highlights of the dedication event:

Kabwa NT Dedication Event

photos by K.Grindall and A.Kamphuis and R.Meszaros

From Antioch to Ephesus and beyond

Hi friends,

I have a trivia question for you:

How many miles is it from Antioch to Ephesus?

Google maps says it's around 600 miles. But why is that important? It's important because I'm typesetting the book of Acts in the Bende language of Tanzania, and the Bende translators would like to include maps of Paul's missionary journeys. Here's a map I created of Paul's third missionary journey:

I inserted all of the appropriate Bende translations of the place names on the map. That all looks good. But then I came to the map scale down in the corner. The Bende people don't measure distances with miles...or kilometers. They measure distances with steps. The Bende word is Ntaabhulo. Therefore, I had to come up with a scale that roughly shows the distances in steps. Here's what I came up with:

The translators say it looks good!! Now I can create the other maps of Paul's missionary journeys as well as a map showing all the languages represented in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.

This whole experience gives me a new appreciation for how far Paul travelled in his missionary journeys.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to help make God's Word accessible to people in a language that they can understand. Now the Bende people can better understand God's Word!

Thank you again for your prayers and support.

{If you haven't joined our team as a prayer and financial partner, we invite you to be a part of this amazing ministry. Check out our Wycliffe partnership page here: https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/2EBEFB}

Typesetting all around Tanzania

Hi friends, 

I've been working on a lot of typesetting projects for language groups all over Tanzania. I thought it would be fun to give you a quick tour of Tanzania, and show you the different projects I've been working on.

 Let's begin in the town of Musoma. This is where we lived when we were in Tanzania. Musoma is in the northern part of Tanzania, on the shores of Lake Victoria. That's where we worked on translating the Bible into the Jita language. Then I also typeset the Jita New Testament. 

Then we go down to southern Tanzania, to the Manda people. There are 43,000 Manda speakers. I typeset the book of Ruth in the Manda language.

Now back to Musoma, to the Ngoreme and Isenye people. These are brand new translation projects that are just getting started. I typeset the Christmas story from the book of Matthew in Isenye and the Christmas story from the book of Luke in Ngoreme.

Right now, I'm working on a project for the Simbiti people, also around Musoma. I'm typesetting a booklet of Genesis, Ruth, and Jonah. 

Then over to western Tanzania, to the Bende people. There are 125,000 Bende people. I'm typesetting the book of Acts in the Bende language.

It's so fun to be involved with translation projects all over Tanzania. We love seeing people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation enjoying God's Word.

Thank you for partnering with us in bringing the gospel to the people of Tanzania!

{If you haven't joined our team as a prayer and financial partner, we invite you to be a part of this amazing ministry. Check out our Wycliffe partnership page here: https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/2EBEFB}