NGWO
Ngwo villages are situated on the mountain slopes in the North West Region of Cameroon. Accessibility is very difficult during certain times of the year. Due to its isolation, the region has not been served well by the national educational program. This has resulted in low literacy rates in the official languages.
Likewise, the area is not a priority for the national church, and church leaders assigned to this region usually cannot speak the local language. This disconnect hinders understanding of the gospel message. The Ngwo community needs God’s Word in their mother tongue so they can truly understand God’s love for them and make a meaningful decision to follow Jesus.
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The Ngwo translation team is working hard. They provide local churches with translation of the Scriptures used in the weekly liturgy. The Ngwo people have gratefully received the publication of the Gospels of Mark and Luke. Bible story tellers report changes in peoples' thinking and behaviour as a result of understanding and obeying God's message to them.
Recently, the crisis in the English-speaking region of Cameroon has greatly impacted the Ngwo project. Some have been killed and many are either hiding in the bush or have fled to larger towns.
Our Local Partner
CABTAL (Cameroon Association of Bible Translation and Literacy) began in the early 1980s. An indigenous visionary organization, its goal is to see communities and individuals transformed through God’s Word in their own language and using their language for sustainable development. Its mission is to empower churches, communities and individuals to carry out Bible translation and language-based community development through linguistic research, functional literacy and Scripture engagement. There is a growing demand from indigenous Cameroonian communities for both literacy and mother-tongue Scripture.
Ngwo volunteers and family members recount their ordeal of escaping their crisis-stricken community. They were welcomed at the CABTAL Training Centre and given temporary accommodation.
One of the church leaders of the Ngwo Translation Project found an escape route from the community.