Imagine learning about Jesus’s death and resurrection—not through reading words on a page but by looking at pictures. That is how Watjanga Muharukula, a member of the Ovaherero people group, learned Christ’s story.

“As I was growing up, my mother showed me pictures of what Christianity was,” says Watjanga. “She would draw for me the pictures of things like the cross, baptism, and heaven.”

Watjanga’s people, the Ovaherero of Namibia, have an oral culture, primarily communicating through spoken poetry, song, dance, and storytelling. Although a translation of the Bible exists in their native Otjiherero language, written Scripture is inaccessible to them, as most of them are illiterate.

How will the Ovaherero people learn about Jesus if they cannot read the Bible? They need God’s Word in the language of their heart.

An Oral Bible for an Oral Culture

Bible Society of Namibia—through the gifts and prayers of American Bible Society partners like you—is working to engage 250,000 Ovaherero people with the transformative power of God’s Word. A local translation team is using a new computer software to orally tell the Bible in the Otjiherero language. A unique voice recording feature enables translators to bring the Bible alive through the power of storytelling with all its nuances—including voice inflections, rhythm, and repetition. The community can then access these recordings on their cell phones and other devices—providing them with consistent access to the stories of Scripture.

Will you join us in praying for the completion of this oral Bible so that the Ovaherero people of Namibia can learn about the one true God through his Word?

Pray for:

  • The Ovaherero People. Ask God to transform the hearts and minds of Ovaherero people as they hear and repeat stories from the oral Bible.
  • The Oral Bible Translation Team. Ask God to give the translation team wisdom and endurance for this task. Pray that the team will easily learn the new translation software and that no technological problems will delay this oral Bible translation.
  • Churches and Community Leaders. Pray that God would bless every effort by church and community leaders to share God’s Word with the Ovaherero people in Namibia.