The Lavar people group was once nomadic. A decade ago, they settled near Khust, Ukraine. But the cultural gaps were huge, and the people were marginalized for their occultism, drunkenness, theft, and godless lifestyle.
As only God is able, He planted the seeds of faith in the hearts of a few Lavar people. Eager to know more, to grow in their faith, and to share the gospel with others, they asked for the training and technology to begin translating God’s Word in the Lavarian language.
Caring Christians answered their prayers, equipping them with Wycliffe Associates’ specialized Bible Translation Recording Kit, or BTRK, which allows them to work with their spoken language, recording the Scriptures in Lavarian for the very first time.
That was two years ago and the impact has been huge, transforming lives and even the community itself!
Literacy rates have increased by 20%. Churches are flourishing as membership grows and believers mature in their faith. They credit all improvements to the gospel, saying it has brought light to their people.
Having the Bible in the Lavarian language means they can preach, study, and share the gospel in the language of the people. It means they can understand biblical terms and concepts, and it is enriching and influencing the spiritual growth of the community and culture. In addition, the cultural gap between the Lavar people and Ukrainians is being bridged as they see the changes happening because of their new Christian faith.
“Now we believe that our people have a good future,” said Zabar, one of the national Bible translators. “We see that both people and God believe in us.”
Believers can rejoice that the BTRK translation tool and resources—a $2,000 investment—has brought transformation to an entire region, an entire people group! Where once Jesus’ name and the promises of God were utterly unknown, God’s Word is being heard and shared.
But there are so many other people groups who are longing to know what God’s Word says . . . like the Lavar, they need it because they can’t read, or can’t read well enough to understand, or maybe their language is spoken only.
That’s the miracle of the BTRK—a portable system that contains the hardware and software believers need to translate God’s Word into spoken form and share it with their countrymen. And when that happens, when people can hear and understand Scripture, the life-transforming Spirit of the living God sweeps through that entire language group!
How wonderful to see God using BTRKs to reach the unreached, His beloved children. How exciting to know that people like the Lavar, when equipped with this technology, will hear their voice, in their language, sharing Scripture for the very first time!
“Faith comes from hearing” as Romans 10:17 declares! Let us unite in prayer that other unreached people groups will soon have the tools and training—BTRKs—to hear God’s Word in their own heart language, for the first time ever.
