12 Prayers, 12 Weeks

Your prayers make a difference around the world, so we want to start by saying THANK YOU for joining us in '12 Prayers' this year. As we begin to prepare for the Advent season, we are so aware that all the busyness can swamp us and keep our eyes off Jesus. It is our hope that 12 Prayers will help us focus on the reason for Christmas - the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour of the world! Each week will focus on a project supported by Bible Society NI this year. Thank you for changing lives for another year!

Signing God's Word in Nigeria

This is a group of Nigerian people who are excited to receive memory sticks with Bible stories in Nigerian Sign Language that they can watch. See the video at the end for a flavour...

Until very recently, a language group of one million people in Nigeria had no access to the Bible in their mother tongue - Nigerian Sign Language (NSL).

Now, 110 Bible stories in have been translated and recorded into NSL as part of an ongoing project to translate the Bible into their language. A Deaf Bible Translation Centre was officially opened by the Bible Society of Nigeria on September 30, showing to all that this focus is a long-term one.

This remarkable progress has been achieved through a partnership between the Bible Society, Deaf Opportunity Out Reach (DOOR) International, Christian Mission for the Deaf and the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria.

Five translators were recruited and trained in Sign Language translation, video production and editing. The first fruits of this work - 32 Bible stories - were made available to the Deaf community in late 2014. It is a real blessing to see this ministry progress from the first steps to a dedicated centre. From this point forward, the Bible Society are taking full responsibility for the ongoing translation work.

Praying for the NSL team and work

Pray that evangelism among the Deaf would become more prominent among the Christians in Nigeria, particularly as the NSL resources are being shared.

Pray for the team who are continuing to translate the Bible into Nigerian Sign Language, that they would be encouraged by the progress. They hope to have 240 Bible stories or portions completed in the next 2 years - that would be about 18% of the Bible.

Ask God to use the Deaf Bible Centre for His glory to establish a strong and growing Christian community among those who cannot hear.

Pray for guidance for the future as there are other Sign Languages spoken in Nigeria that need their own translation also .

Week 1: 3 October 2017

Your support in 2017 has Changed Lives...

Okhaide Monite (right) has been so impacted by God's Word in Nigerian Sign Language.

Okhaide (pictured above) is 35. He lost his hearing at the age of five, and is so delighted to finally have the Scriptures available in his language. He shared with a smile, "I can now understand God better because this is in my heart language. It will help strengthen my relationship with Him" .

We usually assume that deaf people are able to read printed text, however this is rarely true.

"This Bible has brought us a big relief," noted John Ayanwole, another Deaf Chrstian. "Most of us can't read or understand the Bible in written form because it's not our mother tongue - Nigerian Sign Language is."

Okhaide and John are among 8.5 million people in Nigeria who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, according to a recent survey. 3.5 million of them are under the age of 15.

A Flavour of Nigerian Sign Language...

Click the image to experience the NSL recordings - anyone can access this on Youtube. God is good!

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