After many years of waiting, a group of excited Agaw people gathered in Ethiopia to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event — the launch of the New Testament in their heart language.

Many of the 300,000 Agaw people group have come to know Jesus Christ, but they had NEVER had the Word of God in Xamtanga, the language that speaks to their hearts. Instead, they struggled to understand Scripture in other languages.

Praise God that 1,000 New Testaments in their native language were distributed at the launch, with more to follow. Liq Hirawaian Haile, a church leader in the region, explained how it felt like the end of a spiritual drought:

“God has visited our land because after years of waiting for rain, we have had a heavy shower this very day. Now we know God speaks our language and that is why our joy is so high. It is now in a language that has become a bridge between us and Heaven, and we are able to interact with God from the bottom of our heart.”

Another leader, Bishop Branabas, said, “Now we can teach our youth and help them to grow as people of strong morals, defenders of their faith and values, by reading the Word of God in their mother tongue.”

As he received his very own copy, one young boy declared, “I will never depart from God’s Word!”

We are so grateful to our financial partners for supporting translation efforts of Scripture into more heart languages in Ethiopia and around the world.