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How CABTAL Completed Nine New Testaments in Violence-Torn Regions

“We were recording the Easter story in the Lus language when we heard that soldiers were coming,” recalls Jesse Ganglah, Cluster Facilitator serving with the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL). “At that moment, everybody was fleeing from the village because irate soldiers could not have time to distinguish separatists from civilians.”

“Everyone stood a risk of being gunned down. I saw people with their mattresses, mats, stuff and children fleeing into the bushes and across to Nigeria. They forgot their computer but one translator braved the odds to go back for it.” 

This is one of many stories of how Bible translators in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest and southwest have coped with a fierce socio-political crisis that almost halted translation work. In spite of all the odds, they have completed nine New Testaments in the last two years. 

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Voices from Cameroon: video interviews

English subtitles available / other translations coming soon!

1-Emmanuel Keyeh, CABTAL Director

2-Magerate Ndenge, Mankon Translator

3-Protus Effange, Bakwere Translator

4-Clare Ngum, Mankon Translator

5-Jesse Ganglah, Mfumte Team Facilitator

6-Thaddeus Ngande, Farmer in Magba, Cameroon

7-Nde Siphra, Ngwo Translator

About this report

Isaac Genna Forchie, a CABTAL staff member and a native of the Bamenda region of northwest Cameroon, travelled to some of the areas impacted by the crisis to gather first-hand stories from translation teams.