Remember when you first learned what God gave up to reach you? About Jesus and his sacrifice? You wanted to find out everything about him that you could. And it was all right there at your fingertips:
Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, his Parable of the Talents, his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave sight to the blind, healed the sick, walked on water, even raised his friend Lazarus from the dead! And the things that Jesus said:
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men…
Blessed are the pure in heart…
Love your enemies…
My God, why have you forsaken me?…
It is finished…
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Just think how those words have changed your life…
And all because you could read or listen to them. The Bible has been translated into more than 400 versions in English. The Doondo people (pronounced doe-WAHN-doe) don’t have even one version in their language. In the Republic of the Congo, they can’t read in the language of their heart the things Jesus wants them to know:
Love your neighbor as yourself…
If anyone strikes you on one cheek…
If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders off, will he not leave the 99 to seek the one?…
Come to me, and I will give you rest…
I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
We can make that right. Together, you and us.
We have friends who are already working with Doondo speakers to help them get their first Scripture ever, in print and audio, as oral Bible stories, and on the YouVersion Bible App. For almost three years now, through #BibleForEveryone,* we’ve been helping Bible translators fund high-impact projects that can be completed quickly. Their plan is to have the New Testament translated into most of the world’s languages by 2033. But for today, right now…
Let’s share the blessings we already enjoy with our brothers and sisters in the Republic of the Congo.
Notes
* All contributions received through the #BibleForEveryone campaign will be used exclusively for the purpose of Bible translation. Life.Church is contributing $1 million over the four-year period from 2017-2020. During each calendar year, Life.Church is contributing $250,000, spread across different, high-impact translation projects. As each project is completed, any remaining funds are then applied toward the next translation project, as selected by YouVersion and its partners. (See original blog post for full details.)