It's true!
Nearly 400 new churches have been planted in the Konkomba areas of Ghana and Togo since the Bible was printed! It was translated by a team of Konkomba people, supervised by Mary Steele MBE, who works with our Ghanaian partner organisation GILLBT.
This remarkable spiritual response resulted from the use of the Scriptures in print and on cassette, the Jesus Film and the literacy programme.
Like other oral societies, the normal way Konkombas acquire new information is through listening. So when an audio version of the New Testament was produced and distributed by Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH), it was natural for them to listen. They identified so closely with characters in the recordings that they responded as if Jesus was speaking directly to them.
As they listen, some people want to learn to read. Others who can already read in English or Twi follow along in the Konkomba Bible and gradually pick it up. Reading while listening reinforces the literacy skills of those who have attended the literacy classes.
Under the direction of Winston Binabiba, FCBH groups have
been set up, where people meet to listen, ask questions, discuss and discover the truth for themselves.
In the first four years:
• 2,325 communities set up listening groups
• 96,915 people joined them
• 6,375 of these believed
• 2,931 people bought Bibles!
As a result, many Konkombas have broken with traditions like ritual dances, sacrifices and consulting fetish priests. God has protected them and they have found peace and joy. The recordings take them by surprise.
"Jesus is Konkomba!”
"God can speak to us directly; he doesn’t need a translator!”
"The pastor wasn’t making it up—it’s in the Konkomba Bible!”
Konkombas who cannot read tend to suspect that people who can read have made it up or left something out, in order to manipulate them. This distrust stops them from acting on what they have heard, even if it seems true. Sometimes, no matter what the leader says, illiterate people discount it as being made up.
Many church leaders were educated in English or the trade
language, Twi. They had to translate Scripture into Konkomba off-the-cuff, increasing distrust in the messenger and the message.
However, the Scripture recordings separate the message from the messenger. Now people can hear the message directly, without a messenger. They begin to accept it as from God.
Not all leaders use the Konkomba Bible in public because they feel more confident using English, and anyway English has more prestige. They may, however, read the Konkomba in private to help them understand the English! So some people think Christians have rejected their own culture to follow a foreign God.
In one village, two leaders were involved in sexual sin
and drunkenness but they avoided mentioning biblical
teaching that would expose their faults. The people did
not know any better. However, the audio Scriptures
exposed the deception.
A young woman in another village said, “When the pastor told us we should not commit adultery, fornicate or be drunk, I did not believe him. Then I heard it on the cassette. So it was true! This stopped me from doing it.”
Konkombas identify so closely with characters in the recordings, that they respond as if Jesus is speaking directly to them. They realise it is not Jesus’ voice, but behind the voice they hear another voice that speaks directly to their hearts. That voice convicts them of sin, gives them hope and answers their prayers. Now they know that Jesus is “one of us.” God is God of the Konkombas too!
Groups of people listen together, some believe, and the groups grow into churches. The word gets around. When people meet for funerals and other big events, they have time to listen to the recordings and hear testimonies. People who come from other villages ask for cassettes too.
The response to God's word among the Konkombas is amazing, but thousands have still not heard. Winston's dream is a church in every Konkomba community. He wants to set up an income generating project so he can recruit more staff to achieve this. “This is God’s time for the Konkomba people!”
Mary Steele says. “The Bible, the Jesus Film and the audio New Testament are available, literacy is continuing and people are responsive. It’s harvest time! Let’s go all out to reap it.”
