Onesimus Nesib Remembered

Celebrating Bible Translation in Ethiopia

Written by Dr. Chris Pluger, Translation Consultant, Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, June 21 is celebrated as Onesimus Nesib Day. Onesimus Nesib was a freed slave from the Oromo tribe, who in 1899 completed the first modern-day translation of the Bible into an Ethiopian language. 

Christians from the Borana tribe in Southern Ethiopia gathered to celebrate this momentous historical event with prayer, songs, and Bible reading. Thomas Abdisa, the Scripture Engagement worker for the Borana language and a graduate of Mekane Yesus Seminary’s Bible Translation program, organized the event. (Thomas can be seen wearing a blue and white striped shirt holding a Bible on the left side of the photo above.)

More than a hundred years later, Onesimus’ great work is still bearing fruit, as his spiritual grandchildren work to translate Scripture into other Ethiopian languages, and millions of people gather to hear God’s Word in the language they understand best.

Chris and Janine Pluger live in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they are helping to build Bible Translation capacity in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) and beyond. 

Chris is working as a Translation Consultant with multiple Bible translation projects, helping improve translations and ensure accuracy to the original Greek and Hebrew source texts. He also teaches and helps design courses for the education of future Bible translators. Janine supports local translation teams as Ethiopia Programs Data Coordinator, focusing on long-range planning and goal-setting.

Chris and Janine previously spent five years in Zambia with the Nsenga Bible Translation Project, which dedicated their New Testament in 2016.