Children in the heart of Nigeria happily greet visitors to their town. They speak Mwaghavul with each other but also learn Hausa and English, Nigeria’s official language, at school. Like many Nigerian Christians, Mwaghavul speakers are enthusiastic about hearing God’s word in their own language. Their New Testament is on its third print run and the translation team is currently working toward their goal of completing the Old Testament in 2014. Nigerian Bishop Ndukuba says that when you speak to people in a language they have learned, “It will come to the head,” he explains in an interview, “They will be trying to diagnose, understand and categorize what you are saying according to the rules of the language they have learned.” But when it is in the language of their heart, he says, “They will blow up! They will open up. They will cry, they will laugh, they will rejoice, they will sing! It means that God is part of their tribe, is one of them. When they talk to Him, He is not a stranger.” Go to wycliffe.net to listen to any chapter of the New Testament in Mwaghavul and for prayer requests from the translation team.

Photo: Phil Prior
Words: Elyse Patten