Spoken Worldwide Launches 20 Oral Bible Translation Projects

Ministry expects first four New Testament projects to be completed in 2026.

In July 2021, Spoken Worldwide announced it had launched a three-year program with the Seed Company to provide 20 Bible translation projects for language groups whose primary means of communication is oral, not written.

Photo by Nicholas Githiri / Pexels / Creative Commons

As of March 2024, all of the 20 languages have been chosen and the translation projects started, according to Ed Weaver, president and CEO of Spoken Worldwide.

Weaver told MinistryWatch a number of the projects are taking place in countries that are hostile to the Gospel and thus cannot be revealed, but he named several others including Nigeria, Ghana, South Sudan, Zambia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

To determine which languages it chose for oral translations, Spoken used The All Access List from Every Tribe Every Nation—a list of those without a Bible of any kind in their heart language.

Weaver said he expects that the New Testament equivalent of the first four translations will be completed by 2026.

Depending on the All Access List goals, some of the translations will be full Bibles while others will be portions. “Lord willing, we will seek separate funding to ultimately provide full Bibles for each language,” Weaver said.

When translations are completed, Spoken Worldwide will be part of the distribution effort, but will also share its resources with others.

“Our distribution will be through scripture engagement strategies on the ground, relationally in the community via MicroSD cards with the recordings loaded, MegaVoice or Proclaimer devices or WhatsApp, etc. We will provide recordings to various platforms, whether they be radio ministries, social media ministries, and other mass distribution via phone apps,” Weaver said.

The translation costs vary depending on each project, Weaver said, but he did not provide any specifics about the cost of any of the translation projects.

Although a joint project with the Seed Company, Spoken was primarily responsible for raising the funds needed for the projects, Weaver said. “To date, 100% of the funding has been raised each year.”

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National organizations and other stakeholders on the ground in the countries are completing the translations, Weaver said. The process is not without challenges, however.

Weaver noted that the outbreak of civil war in some of the project countries has displaced some of the translation teams. Despite that, the teams have “persevered because providing oral scripture to their people is so important for them to complete.”

In a September 18 social media post, Spoken reported that the Kabwa Oral Bible Translation team in Tanzania had been busy receiving training, additional recording tools, and has completed translations of Ruth, Jonah, and Zephaniah. It is now translating Genesis.

When asked about using technology to possibly accelerate the process, he said, “We are beginning to experience with Voice [application programming interfaces] in various languages to help with exegetical research. We are praying that this use of [artificial intelligence] will prove to be an accelerant to completion as well as allowing those with lower levels of literacy to assist greatly in the process.”

The Kabwa Oral Bible Translation team in Tanzania has already translated the books of Ruth, Jonah, and Zephaniah, and is now translating Genesis / Photo via social media

As far as future goals for more translations, Weaver said Spoken hopes to launch “an average of another 20 oral language projects each year for the next three years.”

In the MinistyWatch database, Spoken Worldwide earns a one-star financial efficiency rating, a C transparency grade, and a donor confidence score of 78 out of 100. It had total revenue of nearly $3.5 million in 2022, the last year for which MinistryWatch has financials.

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