Where We Serve / South Gumuz Bible Translation
South Gumuz Bible Translation
The South Gumuz eagerly use the New Testament—help complete the Old Testament and the full Bible.
Bible Translation
Country
- Ethiopia
Region
- East Africa
Language Population
165,380
The Full Bible is Essential for the South Gumuz
The South Gumuz New Testament is in use. The Old Testament is still in progress. Together, the full Bible gives churches access to the whole story of God’s promises and redemption. It also supports respectful conversations with Muslim neighbors through shared biblical history.
This project focuses on the South Gumuz people in the Kamashi Zone, where Christianity thrives amid smaller Muslim and traditional African faith communities. Church and community leaders have established a translation office, formed a strong team, and secured resources to advance this work.
The completed Bible will strengthen worship, enhance ministry, and provide spiritual nourishment for generations to come.
Empower Local Leaders to Bring God’s Word
Every community deserves the opportunity to read the Bible in a language they understand best, led by local voices they trust. Your prayers and financial support empower leaders in Ethiopia to complete the translation of the South Gumuz Bible, transforming lives and deepening faith in their community.
Program Goals
- Draft and review Old Testament books
- Continue training for translators and reviewers
- Record selected Old Testament books
- Support Scripture engagement through audio and song
- Maintain strong involvement from churches and language committeesÂ
Program Plan
Step 1
Complete and Review Drafts
- Continue drafting and team checking across the Old Testament.
- Ongoing work includes Psalms and several minor prophets, along with review preparation and consultant support as scheduled.Â
Step 2
Promote Scripture Engagement
- Support Scripture engagement through planned music workshops and community gatherings.
- These efforts focus on creating culturally appropriate Scripture songs and preparing audio materials for church use.
Step 3
Record and Distribute Resources
- Plan audio recording for selected Old Testament books, beginning with Genesis and Exodus.
- Coordinate studio time and prepare for printing and distribution once review stages are complete.
Meet the Local Team
Team Members
• 1 Program Manager
• 1 Project Coordinator
• 15 members of the review committee
• 6 translation committee members
• 5 translators
Partner Organizations
Honoring the Language
The language has both ejective consonants and implosives. Ejective consonants are usually voiceless consonants that are pronounced with a glottalic egressive airstream. Implosives are a group of stop consonants (and possibly also some affricates) with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism.
Tones are high and low, with downsteps.
The tap [ɾ] mainly occurs in morpheme-internal positions, and not in word-initial position. It also occurs as an allophone of /ɗ/ in intervocalic and word-final positions.
A trill [r] may occur from ideophones or as a result of loanwords from Amharic.
Program Progress
Bring God’s Word to the South Gumuz Community
God speaks every language. Your gift helps translate God’s Word into the South Gumuz language.