As General Secretary of the Bible Society of Cameroon, Luc Gnowa has helped bring God’s Word to thousands of Cameroonians. But one Bible recipient stands out in Luc’s memory—a woman named Mama Catherine, who recently died at the age of 118.

Although Cameroonians have had access to the Bible in French and English, Mama Catherine didn’t hear the Scriptures in her native tongue of Lamso until she was nearly 90 years old.

“[She] said, ‘This is the first time in my life that I am hearing the Word of God,’ ” Luc says.

It’s for people like Mama Catherine, waiting for their first taste of God’s Word, that Luc and his team devote their lives to the task of Scripture translation in Cameroon.

“Translation is at the heart of our mission…both at the Bible Society of Cameroon and among our friends here at American Bible Society,” Luc says. “Translation is the surest, fastest way for people to hear God talking directly to them in the language of their hearts.”

But bringing God’s Word to Cameroon’s waiting language groups is no small task. There are 268 language groups in Cameroon and several of the Bible Society’s translation projects have endured attacks from the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.

“The easy places have already been reached; now we must get to the hard and difficult ones,” Luc says.

As American Bible Society’s financial partners support Bible translation projects in the hard places of Cameroon, Luc exhorts his partners to draw strength and hope from God’s Word.

“The Bible, I believe, is what makes Christians strong,” Luc says. “It is the ultimate source of faith and hope, tolerance and peace.”