Digital Bible on Phone - Too Happy to Hide It

From Bob Creason, President/CEO, Wycliffe USA

Moise Yonta joyfully read aloud a Scripture portion on his smartphone, punctuating the phrases with vigorous gestures. This was God’s Word in his mother tongue—the Ngiemboon language of Cameroon—and he was seeing it on his phone for the first time! As he came to the end of the selection, he jumped up and delightedly shook hands with a colleague. With a huge grin, he exclaimed, “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

It was indeed wonderful!  Moise, who works with the Cameroonian Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL), was the coordinator for the Ngiemboon translation project.  Since the New Testament was dedicated in 2007, he’s used both the printed and audio version, but gaining access to the digital version took his experience to a whole new level!

He says, “I was so happy that I couldn’t hide it! Immediately I applied the lesson we learnt by selecting a verse and sending it to my dear wife, and she was happy to receive it.” 

  

Matthew 1 in the Ngiemboon
language of Cameroon 

Now when Moise travels, he carries the Scriptures with him on his phone. His special joy is helping others access God’s Word the same way.  He encourages them to get the written Scriptures from YouVersion and the audio version from Faith Comes By Hearing.  At the request of his pastor and church elders, he is preparing a training course for his church on how to use cell phones for evangelization, and CABTAL would like him to present the same course to other churches as well.

Moise is one of more than 650 million cell phone subscribers in Africa, where cell phone service is far more available than landlines. As I’ve traveled, I’ve often found better service in Africa than I get in my own home in Orlando, Florida. I have no doubt that God is behind the development of digital technology, and while cell phones are used worldwide for communications, financial transactions, healthcare, and much more, I believe that God also intended this technology to support the distribution of His Word.

Some of you have heard about the Every Tribe Every Nation (ETEN) alliance. ETEN brings together a group of philanthropic investors/donors and three Bible agencies—the American Bible Society (representing the United Bible Societies), Biblica, and Wycliffe USA (representing SIL and The Seed Company).  The initiative was launched by Mart Green, a long-time friend of Wycliffe who is passionate about Scripture engagement. ETEN’s vision is to eradicate Bible poverty worldwide in this generation. 

The primary focus of ETEN is the development of the Digital Bible Library (DBL), which was officially launched in December 2012. As of August 2013, the DBL holds 535 texts—including the Ngiemboon Bible that Moise reads— all standardized for easy downloading and secured against improper use or corruption. Wycliffe/TSC and SIL have contributed more than 290 texts so far and many more are on the way.

In addition to overseeing the progress of the DBL, the investors/donors also provide financial support to accelerate the completion of translations and add texts to the library. Last year Wycliffe (along with The Seed Company and SIL) was pleased to receive major funding designated for the completion of translation projects in difficult-to-fund and sensitive areas of the world. 

If you haven’t already downloaded the YouVersion application to your phone, I’d encourage you to try it.  Among the hundreds of versions, I’m sure you’ll find one that speaks to you, and—like Moise—you’ll be able to take your Bible with you wherever you go. Then when you have a moment, you can grab it, soak up the Word, and grow!

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