The Bible in My Language…I’ve Never Heard of That!

A Year of Bible Study and a Surprise

I have been meeting with Pape* for over a year now to study the Bible in English. While Pape has a very good level in English, his mother tongue–or first language–is Soninke. The Soninke people group are primarily located in Mali but are represented across West Africa, including some 400,000 people here in the region where we work, according to Joshua Project.

For Christmas I wanted to get Pape some Scripture in Soninke. I started asking around for where I might be able to find this and was connected with another missionary (who I will call Bill*) who has been working amongst the Soninke people for the last 30 years. While Bill lives in another city in our region, he is currently in Dakar along with some of his Soninke colleagues to do a final reading and revision of the Soninke New Testament translation.

A Life-Changing Encounter

Bill invited me to come over and meet him and some of his colleagues and I asked to bring Pape along. As we were driving over, I told Pape about the translation work being done. He told me that he had never seen or heard of a Bible in Soninke and was very interested to see what this meeting would be like.

Bill and his team warmly welcomed us and told us about the work they were doing. We spent about 75 minutes together talking and looking through the printed Scripture resources they had. Pape was able to meet Bill as well as three Soninke men working on the translation, one of whom is a follower of Jesus. As far as I know, this is the first Soninke believer that Pape has ever met! Pape chose several of the Soninke resources, including the Gospel of Matthew, to take home. They also shared with him several online resources in Soninke, including the Jesus Film.

It was a truly incredible experience! The whole time we were there you could see the joy on Pape’s face as he interacted with other Soninke men and looked through several Bible texts written in his own language. After we left, he just kept telling me, “A Bible in Soninke; I’ve never heard of that!” and told me he is going to show it to some of his family and friends. Bill also invited Pape to come back over the following two weeks to join them as they read the whole New Testament out loud in Soninke and make their final verifications.

Reflections and Prayer Requests

Growing up as an English speaker, I have never had an experience like this before. The Bible is, and always has been, so easily accessible to me. Seeing the joy it brought Pape to read God’s Word in his own language for the first time is not something I will ever forget. Please join me in praying for the following things:

1. That as Pape reads God’s Word and watches the Jesus Film in his own language, that God would reveal Himself to Pape in a way that He has never experienced.
2. That Pape would share these Scripture resources with his family and friends and that other Soninke people could experience God’s Word in their own language for the first time.
3. For an ongoing relationship between Pape and the Soninke believer. Please pray for a friendship to form and for Pape to see that following Jesus is not just for Toubabs (the Wolof word used here in Dakar for white people).
4. That Pape might go back and spend more time with the translation team, listening to the reading of God’s Word.
5. Ultimately, that God’s Spirit would work through His Word, drawing Pape into a relationship with Himself.
6. Please pray also for the two Soninke men who are not yet followers of Jesus but are working on the Bible translation. Pray that their eyes would be opened to who Jesus is and that they would choose to follow Him.

*pseudonym used

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