Ellomwe is a language spoken by nearly 2.3 million people in Malawi. In 2019, overjoyed Ellomwe speakers marched around the town of Chiringa, carrying a giant replica of the new Bible to symbolize the arrival of God’s Word in their midst.
Just five years earlier, they had welcomed the first New Testament. The impact it has had was evident during the dedication ceremony of the full Bible, when young people proudly recited verses from the New Testament from memory.
“It was only when our New Testament was published that people realized their language can be written down and used in the media and in church activities,” said Hayes Metani, one of the translators. “Bible translation has done pioneering work among minority languages and peoples.”