Scripture Engagement

The primary goal of Scripture Engagement is to reach and engage every language group in Ethiopia and beyond with the Word of God through various media

We are committed to serving language communities not only by translating and providing Bibles but also by helping them use these translated Bibles effectively. We aim to see lives transformed through Scripture Engagement programs.

Ethiopia is home to more than 80 languages, and most of them have at least a portion of the Scripture available. However, a concerning trend is that in many areas, the translated Scriptures are not being actively utilized. Unfortunately, many translated Bibles remain unused and simply sit on shelves. There are several reasons why Scriptures in minority languages are not being actively engaged with. Some of the reasons are:

Illiteracy

The literacy rate in most language groups is very low.

Orthography

Orthographic difficulties may hinder reading. The church Pastors may not be comfortable reading the Scriptures in the newly developed writing system, and hence tend to avoid struggling with it.

Multilingualism

A local church may hinder the use of one language in a local church, especially among city churches or mixed community churches and so on.

Of all these reasons, however, illiteracy is the main one. Most of the ethnic minority communities are oral cultures and many language groups prefer to learn orally. Hence, Scripture Engagement is a bridge-building program geared towards helping language communities to use their Bibles, and engage with it by implementing different platforms and methods such as Oral Storytelling, Bible listening groups, audio Bibles, Scripture in video formats, and different Bible study methods. In all this, we try to guide different age groups and peoples with different needs to engage with the Scriptures so that lives may be transformed. Some of our activities are listed Scripture Engagement ministries are listed below:

Training

Church Pastors

Since the church needs to take the lead role to make Scripture Engagement a sustainable program, we train local church Pastors on how to use mother tongue Scriptures, how to prepare messages from it, how to lead small Bible study groups, how to tell Bible stories, and how to tell Bible stories orally and much more.

Sunday School Teachers

We train local Sunday school teachers on how to engage with the children by using mother-tongue Scriptures.

Translators

We train local Bible translators in Scripture Engagement so that they know the fundamentals of Scripture Engagement and encourage them to use translated materials among their language communities.

Scripture Engagement Programs

Trauma Healing

As a country, and as a region in general, we have been going through a number of traumatic situations. War, ethnic conflicts, poverty, HIV, Covid-19, famine, and drought. These, and other social problems, are the causes of trauma for both children and their parents. We give Bible based trauma healing trainings to help trainees deal with their issues, and show them the path to healing.

Oral
Bible Story Telling

We are serving language communities by showing them how to craft and tell Bible stories orally, and we have seen God transforming lives through this program.

Audio Bible and Scripture In Video

As the Scripture says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) Therefore we use various audio devices that have the complete Bible on SD cards. This is another approach we used to reach language groups. We present the Scriptures in audio formats through Proclaimers, Mega Voice, and SD cards. The churches use these materials in small Bible listening groups. They come together at least once a week as a group to listen and reflect on the
portion of the Scripture they heard. Everyone will have the chance to interact and reflect on the Word without a language barrier or the need for reading ability. We take this program to prisons, churches, women’s Bible study groups, and so on. The program is usually designed to go through the whole NT in one year.

Deaf Scripture Engagement

We are privileged to serve the deaf community with different ministries here in Addis Ababa and out of Addis as well.