Ninety-three-year-old U Lung had prayed for this day. For years and years he longed to have the Bible in Khu, his native language (name changed for security purposes). He had begun to think it might not happen in his lifetime. But God answers prayer, and on this day his people were gathering to dedicate their very own Khu New Testament.
U Lung was not about to miss out on the celebration. He walked for an entire day to catch a boat and then a bus, traveling for three days to Yangon, the site of the dedication ceremony! For him, the long journey was well worth the trouble, because he wanted to let the translators know what their efforts meant to him—that he had prayed for them and that he was elated his people would now be able to read God’s Word in the language of their heart.
The local people responsible for translating the Khu New Testament shared the elderly man’s enthusiasm. In fact, it was their hunger and passion for the Scriptures that led to an amazingly fast and efficient translation.
The team initially participated in a two-week translation training workshop, made possible through the support of friends like you. By the end of the training, they had completed much of the New Testament, so we scheduled a second workshop for them to come back and complete the text. To our amazement, when the team arrived at the second workshop, we discovered they had finished the New Testament translation back in their village! Eager to dive into the Old Testament, they used this second workshop to translate about 80 percent of that text, which they’re sure to finish soon.
For U Lung and his people (whose language is not even recognized by their government) to have the New Testament in their heart language is indeed an answer to prayer. And it is culture-changing, because they are beginning to see themselves through God’s eyes and not the eyes of those who have marginalized them. Now they know they have value to God because, as they say, “He speaks our language.”
