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The Quran teacher held up the New Testament.

“This is our language,” she exclaimed. “This is the way we speak.”

At a weekly Bible study with other North African women, this devoutly Muslim woman was delighted to see a Christian New Testament written in the Arabic dialect she speaks every day.

A TMS Global cross-cultural worker attending the study had spent more than a decade helping make that translation possible. We are withholding his name for security reasons.

The Language of Home

Across North Africa, millions of people speak Arabic dialects that differ from the formal Arabic traditionally used in religious texts. Some cannot read classical Arabic. Others understand it but find that Scripture speaks to them more deeply in their mother tongue.

The TMS Global worker once listened to two North Africans discussing whether translating the Bible into local dialects was necessary.

One argued that Scripture was already available in classical Arabic. The other disagreed. He could read classical Arabic, but the Bible in his own dialect spoke to him much more personally.

An estimated three million people speak the dialect used in the new translation.

The project began with a European woman working alongside North African women to translate the New Testament from a European language into their local Arabic dialect. The TMS Global worker worked with native speakers to review and refine the text.

He also checked the translation verse by verse against the original Greek, making sure it accurately communicated the meaning of Scripture.

The process took approximately 12 to 13 years, much of it carried out alongside other ministry responsibilities.

More than 2,000 copies were printed, and most have been distributed through ministry partners in North Africa and Europe.

Reaching Readers

One place the translation is being used is a weekly Bible study for immigrant women.

The study grew out of relationships formed through language classes offered by another ministry. The instructor invited the TMS Global worker and his wife to participate.

Most of the women come from Muslim backgrounds, and some bring their husbands or children. They read Scripture together and discuss questions about Christianity.

One woman asked how Jesus could be both God and man.

The worker answered using illustrations he had learned from a North African Christian. His years of working with local believers have given him ways to explain Christian beliefs that connect with the questions people are asking.

For the worker, the Quran teacher’s excitement was one of the most encouraging responses he’d experienced in more than a decade of translation work.

Strengthening Local Christians

The worker also hopes it will strengthen North African Christians and their fellowships. Even if that were its primary result, he believes the years invested in the project would have been worthwhile.

The New Testament is also available through the YouVersion Bible app. And a partner organization has completed an audio recording of the entire text, making it accessible to people who cannot read or prefer listening.

Meanwhile, the worker has begun concentrating on the Old Testament, reviewing a translation prepared by a North African woman against the original Hebrew and consulting native speakers about the wording.

The Work Continues

The New Testament is now available in the language people speak at home. And at a weekly Bible study, a woman who teaches the Quran recognized it as her own.

Is God calling you to share His word among the least reached people on earth? Scripture translation is just one of many ways you can serve God across cultures. Click here and a member of our mobilization team will contact you about opportunities to serve through TMS Global.