Bible Translation in Nigeria

Hello!  Today I met a man named Basuna Magaji.  He shared with us about his life in Nigeria and his work as a national Bible Translator for the last 14 years.  He is from Agwara, Nigeria and his mother tongue is Cishingini (ca-sheen-ga-nee), which just so happens to be the language of the Bible he is translating.  There are over 500 languages in Nigeria.

Basuna saw that people around him had Bibles in their own language and that they could read and write in their own language.  He wanted that for himself and his people.  He was invited to help with the translation in 1998 and accepted.  First they translated the book of Luke, and then the Jesus Film was made in Cishingini.  When the Cishingini people saw it many accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.....many of these people were Muslim.  Soon people wanted to learn to write in their own language, so some of the Muslims went into the villages and started helping people learn to write.  Through learning to write, even more have accepted Jesus because they are getting God's word through  education.

Basuna  and his translation partner have been in Dallas working with another translator since February and will be here until May (God willing - they hope to be done at the end of April).  Basuna's wife and 3 young children are still in Nigeria.  His translation partner returned to Nigeria last week as he didn't like being separated from his family.  Please pray for Basuna as he is separated from his family for many months, living in another culture, and for the PROTECTION of his family in Nigeria where there has been unrest, suicide bombers, and fighting near his family.  Please pray for the completion of this translation, editing, publishing, printing, distribution, and the hearts of those that will receive it.

Click this link for further specifics on praying for the completion of the translation.  It goes to the Wycliffe Associates website.

Please just take a moment to pray, now.  Thank you!