SHIPS, AEROPLANES, computers, cars, robots and houses did not just come into existence; man worked hard to make them. Similarly, the heavens, the earth, seas, rivers, lakes, animals, trees and all natural resources did not just come into existence; a Supreme Divine Being created them all. God is the creator of the planets and everything in them.
Man cannot pretend that there is no God. “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1: 19- 20, ESV)
One best way to experience, love and obey God in how He wants us to live in the world, is by reading or hearing the Bible preached to you in a language you understand. It is for this noble purpose that the Ghana Institute of Linguistic, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT), an NGO, is striving to complete the translation of the Bible into all Ghanaian languages. Currently, Bibles have been produced in 37 Ghanaian languages.
“Between GILLBT and Bible Society of Ghana, most of the country’s languages have a good number of Scriptures. Indeed, over 90% of the Ghanaian population has the Word of God in their mother tongue. We hope that in less than a decade, all the remaining languages of Ghana will have substantial Scriptures” the NGO has said in a correspondence.
Between 1996 and 2015, full Bibles were completed in local languages including Komkomba, Tampulma, Bimoba, Farefare, Chumburung, Sisaali Lelemi, Kasem, Gonja, Kusaal, Nafaanra and Deg. Meanwhile, Bibles in the Buli and Vagla languages are at their final stages of completion.
On Thursday, January 18, 2018, GILLBT opened and dedicated its permanent Kumasi Chapter office at Plot No. 6 Block P on the Kwabena Darko Avenue, Ahodwo in Kumasi at a well-attended religious ceremony. GILLBT’s permanent office will enable it raise the needed funds for Bible translation in Ghana and beyond.
Rev. Dr. Kwabena Darko who is GILLBT’s Kumasi Chapter Chairman, in his welcome address, expressed gratitude to God for the historic dedication and formal opening of the office. The history of the Kumasi Chapter of GILLBT, he said, underpins the biblical philosophy of humble beginnings which is expressed in Job 8:7, saying, “Though your beginning was insignificant, yet your end will increase greatly.”
Rev. Kwabena Darko, a former presidential candidate for the defunct National Independent Party (NIP) said, GILLBT was formed to ensure that all languages in Ghana without scriptures have Bible translation work done for them.
The acting Executive Director of GILLBT, Reverend Thomas Sayibu Imoro, in his address, thanked the Kumasi Chapter of GILLBT Advisory Council for mobilizing a solid infrastructure for Bible translation in Ghana and the entire African continent.
He appealed to all the members to join hands in contributing resources for the completion of Bible Translation into the local languages of Ghana and other African countries.
Rev. Kofi Owusu Ansah, a government appointee at the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, who represented the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah and the Mayor of Kumasi, Osei Assibey Antwi, appealed to the ministers of the Gospel to use their offices to preach environmental redemption. He noted that Ghana’s environment is in a mess and needs pastors to use their pulpits to tell their members to change the habitual attitudes of urinating and littering anywhere.
“Our environment is in a mess and you all know it. We need to use our offices and platforms to bring this dynamics of environmental redemption through the gospel. We need to use the pulpits to tell our members that you do not just urinate anywhere,” he said.
Rev. Kofi Owusu Ansah, who is the head Pastor of Ash Town Baptist Church and a lecturer at the Baptist University in Kumasi said, “If we leave our surroundings in a mess, I do not think God will allow us to enjoy His presence. Jesus Himself tells us that if we give our worthy things to the swine it will destroy it and come back to attack us,” he stated.
In his view, it is high time pastors use their high offices to preach against the bad habits of the citizenry and build the pleasant environment we are all craving for.
GILLBT is a non-Governmental Organisation involved in literacy, education and development projects in minority language communities in Ghana as well as Bible translation work. It is one of the three main organisations involved in Bible translation in Ghana, alongside the Bible Society of Ghana and the International Bible Society.
Making God’s salvation plan through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross known to the world through the written Word is God’s heartbeat. The Creator of the cosmos is a God of words and books. This is why by His grace, the 66 holy books originally written in the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic languages have been composed into one superior book called the Holy Bible and translated into various languages of the world so man can know and hear God talk to them.
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi