The country's location makes Ethiopia the ideal place to work on Bible translations for surrounding countries. Tefera Endalew, the director of Wycliffe Ethiopia, can enthusiastically share how God is using his country to get the Bible into surrounding countries. He did so at a pastors' meeting in Driebergen, which the mission consultant was able to attend.
In aviation, they also use the word: a hub. Schiphol Amsterdam is such a hub. Many people who land in Amsterdam do not come to the Netherlands, but fly from there to another destination. Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is also such a hub. From all over the world, people fly to Addis Ababa, to continue from there to destinations in Asia or Africa or even further afield.
In terms of Bible translation work, Addis Ababa is also a 'hub'. The country is centrally located between Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. For centuries, Christianity has been the main religion in Ethiopia. The countries around it are mostly Muslim countries. And there is so much unrest in those countries that people flee from them.
Tefera Endalew knows first-hand what it means to have to flee. He grew up in southern Ethiopia, among the Me'en. He and his family faced persecution because of their Christian faith. An appeal to leading people in Addis Ababa changed that and since then Tefera has dedicated his life to serving Christians. He and others arranged for a translation of the Bible into Me'en and this meant a huge change among the entire population.
He personally experienced that changing power of the Bible in the language you grew up in. It motivated him to make a lasting commitment to Bible translation work. He enables people who have fled from Eritrea and Somalia to Addis Ababa to work on Bible translation. For some language groups, only just two handfuls of Christians are known, but Tefera knows: once the Bible becomes available in their language, we will see a big change. Refugee camps along the Sudan border are also working on Bible translations, led by Wycliffe Ethiopia.
In this way, the country acts as a veritable translation hub for the Bible. What happens after the Bible is finished and becomes known in a new language Tefera describes as 'the book of Acts in our own time'.
