Sudan (MNN) — The Lord is moving among one of Sudan’s unreached people groups, or UPGs.
With a less than two-percent Christian population, UPGs have no access to the Gospel. Sudan’s 100+ languages reflect diverse people groups and tribes, and 130 of the country’s 162 people groups are unreached.
“A couple of years ago, one of the tribal people groups was listed as ‘no believers.’ When I was in Sudan, there were at least six, and now there’s more than 20 of them,” unfoldingWord CEO David Reeves says, leaving the group unnamed for security purposes.
These new believers are working with unfoldingWord to change their label from ‘unreached’ to ‘reached.’ “They’re involved in translating our Bible story sets into their mother tongue,” Reeves says.
(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)
Church planting partners often tell unfoldingWord, “the national language is inadequate to communicate the love of Jesus to (unreached) people; I need a village language or tribal language,” he continues.
“We (unfoldingWord) come alongside church planting networks [to] equip them, so they have the tools, the technology, the exegetical resources, and methodologies. We do that in a way that [uses Bible translation] for theological formation in those communities.”
As described here, unfoldingWord is training Sudanese believers in the basics of sound Bible translation. Once trained, believers can help 130 unreached people groups translate the Bible accurately for themselves.
The Sudanese Arabic project equips “indigenous church planters in Sudan working throughout refugee camps in South Sudan, the border of Chad, all the way across Sudan, [to translate] the Bible into the language of the heart, the soul,” Reeves says.
Find your place in the story
Sudan is 92-percent Muslim and remains one of the world’s most difficult places to follow Christ. Several people receiving training from unfoldingWord have had their houses burned down in the past by Muslim radicals. Pray for the safety of Sudanese believers.
“If you have any background in theological education, particularly Bible translation, there are certain needs we have listed” on the website, Reeves says.
Or you can give to help unfoldingWord equip and train local leaders and pastors in Sudan to translate God’s Word accurately and reliably into their heart languages. A generous donor is matching every gift to the Sudanese Arabic project. Give safely online here.
“It’s a matching grant, so everything, dollar for dollar, truly gets doubled,” Reeves says.
“It’s a profound opportunity (in Sudan) and privilege for us to partner with our brothers on the ground in this context.”
Header image is a representative photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
