Word Alive Magazine Spring 2012

Strides in Mozambique

Scriptures come to the Meetto people after a century delay and the help of a Wycliffe Canada couple.

In the early 20th century, Roman Catholic Fathers crossed paths with the one million-plus Meetto and began to translate the Bible into Imeetto, the name of the language of Meetto people. These early efforts at translation included the Gospel of Mark. It was drafted but never distributed.

One of the Catholic Fathers, who was living out his final years in Holland, had the only copy of the book of Mark in Imeetto. When he was almost 90, he decided to take the book to the library for archiving. Eventually, the translated Gospel made its way around the world until it came to Wycliffe Canada's John Iseminger in Mozambique. “We immediately recognized it as the Gospel of Mark in Imeetto, and realized that this was the fabled translation the padres had done,” said John. The Mark draft became the foundation for a fresh effort in Meetto Bible translation.

© 2011 Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada Inc.
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