The Beembe Bible

Many years of hard work went into completing the Beemble Bible, and supporters of Bible Society in England and Wales were behind the translators all the way. Dr Christian Ntondele, who was recently appointed to lead the national team in Brazzaville, previously led translation efforts and personally worked on the Beemble Bible.

‘Publication is an opportunity to thank people who have supported this work over the years,’ said Dr Ntondele, whose name means ‘thank you’. ‘We decided to push translation work further because our dream is to make the Bible available in all our mother languages.’

Congo’s six million people speak dozens of languages between them. Preachers might follow the Bible in French, the country’s official language, and improvise translation into Beembe. Dr Ntondele quoted a Beembe Christian, Hélène, complaining that this practice is inadequate. It keeps believers distant from the word of God and detracts from the worship experience.

The Beembe Bible will sit beside the first Bible in Lari, another Congolese language, which was completed in 2021. It’s a major achievement for a team determined to bring people closer to God through a deeper understanding of Scripture.

‘We published the Beembe New Testament in 2013,’ Dr Ntondele said. ‘And then we finished the Lari Old Testament to complete the Lari Bible. The Beembe Old Testament was a struggle. We had to create a script for the language. I remember one time I went to Mouyondzi and I collapsed. I was unconscious and when I woke up, I was on the ground. The project took longer than expected but it was a good experience. It went well. And now Beembe speakers can fully understand the Bible and know the will of God for their lives.’

Thanks to you, the Beembe Bible has been published and printed, and it’s finding its way to the churches and into the homes and hearts of Beembe people.

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