For CBS, publishing in the languages of the heart of Indigenous communities and the diaspora church is a high priority. One’s own language is the way God speaks most clearly and powerfully.
In 2021, the Punjabi Bible revision project digitally published the Gospels, plus Acts and Romans, and made them available on the YouVersion app. This project is a complete revision of an older and outdated translation.
Meeting with Punjabi church leaders in Calgary, project leader Michael reported weeping as he listened to what people were sharing. One man nearly blind from diabetes has the Bible in audio on his phone so he can still listen. A woman shared that during regular reading of the Bible with her husband, God spoke to him about addictions in his life and he is finding healing.
In December, Punjabi churches began using the newly published printed Gospel of John to share during their outreach events. Now reports are coming in about how individuals are being affected because they received and read a Gospel of John in their own language.
Now, on to Corinthians and the rest of the New Testament!
10th
Punjabi is the world’s 10th most spoken language.
200M
Over 200 million people speak Punjabi.
2nd
Canada has the world’s second largest diaspora Punjabi community after the United Kingdom.
“In a small Bible school, a group of students were studying the Bible together. They read through the Lord’s prayer in the revised Common Language Punjabi Bible. One of the students commented that the way the text described God was very respectful and yet helped him understand and pray along in a natural way. They joined in praying for the ongoing work of the project.” ~ Project Manager, Punjabi Common Language Revision Project