Augusta and Julia work in a small village in Angola, growing corn, beans, sugarcane, and pumpkins. Like more than 40 percent of the Angola population, these women live in poverty, working long, hard days to make ends meet for their families. Augusta has three young children, while Julia has seven children and nine grandchildren.

Both women were raised as Christians. But they had been longing for a Bible in their heart language of Umbundu — a Bantu language spoken by about six million people across Angola. Thankfully, they are now two of the many happy recipients of the recently translated Umbundu New Testament.

“There is so much in the Bible that feeds my soul. In the Bible we have everything. The New Testament in Umbundu brings great joy to me,” Augusta says. “For me the Bible is like a ‘dad.’ Without the Bible you do not walk well,” Julia shares. “Now we can read the Bible in our heart language of Umbundu. This Bible adds so much to our lives.”

This newly translated Bible brings hope and spiritual growth to the Umbundu speakers in Angola, like Julia and Augusta.

As Beatriz Ferreira Pinto Hupa, General Secretary of the Angola Bible Society, says, “It was urgent to get this translation finished because people were waiting almost 20 years. It will help people to better understand the Bible.”

We are grateful for American Bible Society’s financial partners who help place God’s Word into hands and hearts in Angola and throughout Central Africa.