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Forced eviction and resettlement and loss of home, livelihood, and dignity—all led to squalor, despair, and addiction. Gaba people are being equipped to make a difference in their community through medical aid, oral Bible stories, and Scripture in the mother-tongue.
the Need
One of the first inhabitants of their country’s protected forests, the Gaba people have made their living for generations collecting and selling forest products and plants. However, recent conservation efforts resulted in the eviction of the Gaba people from much of their homeland. Life in resettlement camps or towns offers few opportunities; sadly, many people struggle with poverty, addiction, and confidence. Those who farm have difficulty making ends meet.
Few Christians exist in the isolated community. Those who have chosen to attend church struggle to understand the Bible in the trade language, so they want to be trained to produce Scripture in their language. South Asian pastors have expressed an urgent need for the Bible in the Gaba language so that the Gaba people might receive the life-giving message of the gospel.
The Project
Project team members trained by our national partner in South Asia have made a commitment to:
Develop an alphabet.
Translate the New Testament and make it available in print, audio, and digital formats.
Publish mother-tongue literacy manuals.
Provide essential mother-tongue materials such as a health awareness booklet.
BIble Translation Progress
Drafted
17
Community-Checked
9
Quality-Checked
7
New! (2024-2025)
One Step at A Time
Soban and Sheena wanted to connect with more Gaba villages. Many people did not yet know that the Bible was coming in their language.
Despite the increasing need to keep their project activities quiet, they managed to organize a meeting this past August in a new Gaba village to discuss how Bible Translation might help that community. They weren’t sure if anyone would come, given the risk associated with meeting with Christians. To their delight, four people from the local community attended as well as a representative from the local government and the project’s mother-tongue translator.
During the meeting, Soban and Sheena were excited to practice using the Gaba language, and they learned much from the interactions. At the end of the meeting, the people were happy for Soban and Sheena to lead them in prayer.
Although it feels like a small step forward, many long journeys, especially under the weight of opposition, are accomplished one small step at a time.
God at Work
When the project team did a scouting trip in the area, they met Vinod in a village deep in the jungle. They had travelled for so many miles looking for people to work with the translation project, they thought they had reached the end of the earth. Although the team didn’t obtain helpers, they were thrilled to meet Vinod, a young man who faithfully serves the Lord. God had miraculously healed Vinod of an illness, and now he excitedly shares what God has done in his life to those who want to listen. Many people come to Vinod’s home for prayer and are experiencing God’s transforming work in their lives.
Translation Builds Understanding
Checking the book of Titus in a remote Gaba community was not going as well as Yash the project leader hoped. The translators would read a passage from the Gaba Scripture then ask the prescribed questions to check that the translation was natural and easy to understand. Repeatedly, they were met with silence or blank expressions. Surely the translation wasn’t that confusing. Or if it was, they needed to know where they’d gone wrong. Finally, one man spoke up. “Sir, we are uneducated, and we don’t have much Bible knowledge. So, we cannot answer if you ask something.” Suddenly, Yash understood. “Brother,” he explained gently, “We are not checking your Bible knowledge. We only want to check whether our translation is clear or not” The community members agreed to try again. “We started to meet them regularly and read scripture portions for them. They started to respond to us,” reports Yash. This testing revealed that some words the team had chosen, such as the way they translated “eternal life,” proved difficult for the people to understand. The team collaborated with the community to find more accurate words. “After learning concepts of the Bible in their own language they were happy and surprised to know it,” says Yash. Praise God for the process of community checking, which allowed the Gaba team to build trust with local people while creating a clear translation of God’s Word.
"For my whole life the Gaba language was just spoken. Now, at age 40, I am reading my language for the first time. . . . I believe we will soon be fluent in reading the Gaba materials.”
Mahendra, man from the Gaba community
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