The draft of the Loron New Testament is now in the hands of the typesetters in the USA. They will format and collate the other materials (maps, glossary, etc.) before sending the completed text to the printers.
Paul and Marina Briggs’ initial goal to raise funds to print 3,000 copies has been well and truly reached, and they are now looking at the possibility of being able to print 3,500, or maybe even 4,000 copies of the Loron New Testament.
It’s been over 50 years since the Bible translation project began. In the early 1970s, two Wycliffe Bible translators, one lady from the Netherland, and the other from Switzerland, began working among the Loron people. They worked diligently on phonemics and linguistics in the Loron language and produced preliminary drafts of several books, including Genesis, Mark and John. Praise the Lord for their pioneering spirit and for everything they accomplished in those early days of the work. Over the past twenty years, Paul and Marina have been working with a team of Loron believers, revising the existing translated portions and completing the remaining books. It thrills their hearts that the Loron New Testament is now complete.
In March, representatives from 18 Loron churches met together to bring their annual gifts for the Bible translation project. They raised an amazing amount.
When they read out the message that Paul and Marina had sent, that the Lord had brought in enough money to print at least 3,000 copies of the New Testament they were very happy. One of the believers sent them a note, “…Yesterday’s meeting went well. People came from different villages and churches. They were very happy to hear that the New Testament is almost finished. When they heard that you had raised more than 22 million francs to print it, the room was filled with joy! …They said: ‘Their people do not even know the Loron, but they gave money for the printing, anyway. It’s a miracle in our eyes!’”
Thank you for the part that you have played in praying for the project and contributing in a practical way to bring the Word of God to the Loron people!
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of Loron people work on the coffee and cocoa plantations in southern Ivory Coast. In the past, Loron young people used to spend a couple of years there to earn money, before returning to the Loron region in northern Ivory Coast to settle back into their community and start a family. In recent decades, however, more and more Loron people have been settling in the plantation regions.
Some of these Loron people recently sent a request to the Loron church for literacy teachers to visit their communities in the south to teach them how to read and write in their own language. Paul and Marina praise the Lord for this opportunity. Pray for the logistics of responding to this request, and for the Loron literacy coordinator, as he makes plans to spend time training those who could run literacy schools in the region.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support for the work among the Loron people!