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Years of mistreatment, spiritual bondage and economic decline have left their scars. Courageous openness to change is allowing hope to grow.
Thank you! This project has been fully funded for the year!
Funds to meet this year's goals
the Need
The Nirgam people live in rural communities and have suffered years of mistreatment as minority people. For a time, they were recognized nationally for their talent for using natural dyes from tree bark to make yarn and weave vibrant red and black cloth. Today, manufactured clothing has reduced the demand for their artistry and forced the Nirgam to abandon their traditional looms for farming or manual labour. Economic decline has led many to heavy drinking.
Although there are only a few churches in their region, the people are open to Christianity. Nirgam families who attend local churches struggle to connect with Scripture in the national language that is used in the services. They long to experience God’s Word in their own language.
The Project
Project team members, trained by our national partner in South Asia, have made a commitment to:
Translate the New Testament.
Develop mother-tongue literacy materials.
Help Nirgam believers craft Bible stories and make the stories and the translated Scripture accessible to those who want them.
Hold literacy classes in the community.
Translation Progress
Drafted
20
Community-Checked
20
Quality-Checked
19
New! (2024-2025)
Lessons that Stick
Sanjay enjoyed going to Sunday school to learn about Jesus.
This most recent lesson at Sunday school, though, was a bit challenging. The teacher spoke in Nirgam about Jesus dying on a cross for everybody’s sins. But what was sin?
The teacher explained sin was the wrong things people did, not just a long time ago but now as well. That made Sanjay sad; he couldn’t help thinking of some of the wrong things he had done just this week. When his teacher went on to explain how Jesus was restored to life after three days, Sanjay was very happy.
After the story, Sanjay’s teacher asked questions about what they had learned. Sanjay joined the class in giving the right answers. The teacher was very pleased and encouraged Sanjay and the class, this put a big smile on Sanjay’s face.
A little while later, Sanjay’s teacher came to visit his house. Sanjay listened as the teacher spoke with his parents and grandparents. Then they asked him what he had learned at Sunday school. Sanjay’s parents were impressed when Sanjay explained the Easter story, why Jesus died, and what it meant.
Please pray that as they hear more about Jesus in their own language, Sanjay’s family will choose to put their faith in the Lord.
Digging In
As project facilitators Kavan and Yami try to learn Nirgam, the mother-tongue translators, Ishaan and Akash, face different struggles. These men have spoken Nirgam all their lives but writing and reading their language is all new to them. Also, as they translate the Gospel of Mark, they are discovering that there are no words in their language for many of the key terms. Despite these difficulties, they are so excited to read their language and do the work of translation.
Seeing is Believing
Kavan facilitates the translation project in the Nirgam community in South Asia. A few months ago, he connected with a pastor in one of the Nirgam villages. He told the pastor, named Tej, about how mother-tongue Scripture was being made available to the Nirgam-speaking community and that it would be beneficial to begin using it in church services.
Pastor Tej wasn’t sure about using his mother tongue in the services he conducted—it was not the way he had been taught. Speaking to God in his mother tongue was a completely new idea to him. But he agreed to use the translated portions Kavan had provided.
He started by using only a few Nirgam verses throughout the service. The congregation, he noticed, was responding much more enthusiastically to the portions in Nirgam. He added more to his service. In time, he allowed translators from the project to teach a Nirgam memory verse and a Bible story to the children attending Sunday school. To his surprise, the children picked it up quickly.
The project facilitator recently returned to the village of Pastor Tej. When he arrived in the village, Pastor Tej was preaching and leading the services entirely in his heart language and the church was more alive than ever.
“Nirgam believers are very happy that we are working for their language and hoping to get
the Bible in their own language.”
Project Facilitator
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