A talk with God

“Reading the Bible in my own language is like talking to God face to face.” These were the words of Mr Peter Kameya Chavaya, an elderly Mbunda speaking man who for many years did not have a chance to read the Bible in his own language. The closest language he could read was Lozi but still with difficulties in understanding certain words.

When the Mbunda Bible translation was finished and published, Mr Kameya could not wait to get his copy of the Bible. During his visit to our bookshop at the Bible House in Lusaka, the old man could not hide his joy as he held his Bible in his hands and praised God in his language that he had been allowed an opportunity in his lifetime to read the Bible in his mother tongue language after a long wait. He said that would die a happy man having seen and read the Bible in his mother tongue language. Mr. Kameya thanked God for helping the Bible Society of Zambia to successfully accomplish such great work.

Mbunda is a Bantu language spoken by a group of people in western Zambia as well as parts of Angola and Namibia. For many years the Mbunda people did not have the Bible of their own. They depended on other translations such as Lozi and Chokwe.

The Bible has also been received well among the Mbunda population in Angola and Namibia.

By: BSZ
Translation Department