Bibles for the Minorities

“The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue”.  William Townsend – founder, Wycliffe Bible Translators.

The Bible in Revelation Chapter 7 speaks of “a great multitude that none could count, from every nation, tribe and people standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

Whilst the China Government recognises 55 minorities (including the Dong we wrote about last month), there are estimated to be around 500 across China.  They speak close to 300 languages but only a few have a written system.  Over the years, many missionaries have served amongst the minorities, learning their ways and languages and often translating the scriptures in their languages.

J.O. Fraser is a great example.  Arriving in China in 1908 with the China Inland Mission (CIM – now OMF), he lived amongst the West Lisu people of Yunnan.  Like many of his predecessors, he learned the language and developed a writing system into which he translated the New Testament.  Over time, Lisu Bible teachers and evangelists were raised up.  Today, 30% of Lisu people are Christians and still use the official J.O. Fraser translation!

The gospel was first brought to the Miao people by a missionary, Samuel Pollard, in 1904.  The term “Miao” gained official status in 1949 and encompasses a group of linguistically related ethnic minorities in Southwest China.  At that time, as the Miao language did not have a written script, Pollard invented one and then taught the people how to read and write.  The Miao New Testament was first published in 1917.  A pastor, Wang Mingji said: “For thousands of years, we have been like the blind!” A revival broke out amongst one subgroup called the “Big Flowery Miao” with not just individual converts but households and entire villages!  The revival spread amongst other divisions of the Miao. The Pollard script is also still in use today.

After the Cultural Revolution, as churches reopened in the early 1980’s there was a dire need for Bibles. The Three Self Patriotic Movement (the official Government controlled church organisation) was early off the mark to print ethnic minority Bibles (in 1983, 15,000 Lisu Bibles, 10,000 Miao New Testaments and some Wa New Testaments.)  But it was only the establishment of the APC (Amity Printing Company) that significant numbers of Bibles in minority languages came on stream.
By the beginning of the twenty-first century, however, still only a handful of ethnic minorities had the Word of God in their heart language.  But slow and steady progress is being made.  The East Lisu New Testament was launched in 2009.  The full East Lisu Bible in 2016.  In the same year the Wa Bible was published.  The White Yi received the New Testament in 2015.  The Black Yi welcomed the Bible in their heart language in 2018.    

It is difficult to get accurate information about the progress of translation into other minority languages.  Many different organisations and agencies are involved and security is essential.  Please pray for this important work.

(Some information in this article from “Banned Book to Bestseller” by Cynthia Oh, published by William Carey Publishing).

Prayer points

Pray that those involved in translation into minority heart languages will be well supported, well financed and protected from any attempts to hinder their work.

Pray for those minorities who have already had the Bible completed in their own tongue.  Pray that as William Townsend said these scriptures will be the “greatest missionary”.

Pray that the printers will also have ongoing permission to publish and print as translations are completed.