BUTEMBO, Dem. Rep. Congo — High up on one of the hills on which stands the town of Butembo, an estimated 6,700 people gathered on the last day of August this year to celebrate the arrival and dedication of the new translation of the Bible into modern Kinandi. 

A church member is pleased to receive copies of the long-awaited Kinandi Bible

After an extended time of waiting – the Bibles could not be delivered because of the fighting in former Zaïre and further insecurity in the border region – the Kinandi Bibles finally had arrived and were to be made available on this very day.

Even though this was not an interconfessional project, many representatives from different churches and denominations came to the launch and welcomed the new Bible. A representative from the Roman Catholic diocese expressed his hope that future translation work would be interconfessional and would receive support from all the churches.
 
Three thousand copies of the Bible were sold on the day of the launch, and many people were concerned that the 6,000-plus print-run would hardly be sufficient to meet the demand. “We hope that the Kinandi Bible will be read and will transform the lives of the Nandi people,” was a phrase used by several of the platform speakers.

Situated in the east of the country, in the northernmost corner of the province of Kivu, and about 350kms (212 miles) north of Goma, not far from the Uganda border, Butembo is a central focus for the Nandi people, who number about one million. Years ago the Nandi people were introduced to the Gospel by a sermon based on Psalm 1:1-3 which made a distinct impression upon them. Then, with the advent of the first missionaries to live among them, they began to understand the truth of the Word of God, and the first Bible Portion in their language was published in 1932.

In 1962 the first New Testament in Kinandi appeared, and this was followed by the whole Bible in 1980, which had been translated by Baptist missionary Paul Hurlburt. In this new edition the Kinandi Bible has been greatly revised with the late Paul Hurlburt Jr coordinating the project.

The Reverend Siwaku, one of the translators, gave a summary of the team’s work and spoke of the commitment of the different translators who worked on the project over the years – the main ones being Musangi Paluku, Bakwage Muhindo and Kambale Magulu. He also praised the efforts of the UBS Translation Consultants involved in the project, the last being Dr Timothy Wilt.

The honour of presenting the new Bible was given to John Byron Hurlburt on behalf of his late brother Paul. The project was sponsored by the Communauté des Eglises Baptistes and also received financial support from the UBS which also printed the Bibles.