The culmination of 39 years of dreams and hard work to give the Kuria people the Word of God in their own language
TARANGANYA, Kenya —"Few things in Christian circles elicit as much joy as when we perceive God speaking to us in our first language," said one observer, speaking about the launch of the Igikuria New Testament here on Kenya's border with Tanzania in February. The launch ceremony involved Bible Society representatives from both countries, since both have sizeable Abakuria communities, the Tanzanian team arriving on the scene in a pick-up truck with music blaring.
As presentations were made to those involved in the project, and copies were made available to the people – some of whom bought as many as five copies, many were overheard to express their delight: "I intend to share these books with someone else: since God has blessed us; we should bless others," said one. "Finally! God has spoken in Igikuria!" said another.
Church leaders examine their copies of the newly-launched Igikuria New Testament
Background:
Translation work into Igikuria commenced in 1958 but
various technical problems (orthography etc.) meant that Gospel Portions
were not drafted until the 1970s. In 1983/84 the New Testament project
was formally revived, and saw the involvement of UBS Translation Consultant
(TC) Dr Aloo Mojola and former UBS- TC Dr Musimbi Kanyoro. In 1987 John's
Gospel was also made available on audio-cassette. Dr Sterk took over as
TC in 1992.
Estimated number of speakers: 635,000.
