Meet the Maale Narrators & Translators from Ethiopia
ABOUT THE MAALE PEOPLE
The Maale people are oral learners whose occupation generally includes farming, cattle herding and beekeeping. The Maale language is a minority language spoken by about 160,000 in the South Omo region of Ethiopia.
While the Maale Bible translation and written Bible were a blessing, the literacy rate among the Maale is relatively low. Thus, many community members cannot read the Bible in their home language, forcing them to rely on someone to read from the Amharic Bible and translate it orally into Maale. Because of the complexity of the Maale language, this can be a difficult task.
TAMANE LALE, TWFTW EVANGELISM ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR
Tamene Lale, from TWFTW Bible Translators, was one of a team of three translators who completed the written translation. The full written Bible was published in 2017. He currently serves as Project Coordinator and Scripture and Evangelism Engagement Director of Ethiopia. Tamene was our host while during our visit to the South Omo region and it was such a joy to hear about his years-long journey to bring the Maale people a Bible in their home language.
He counted it a great privilege to be able to record the audio Bible so that more would have access to the Word of God. There were four narrators (pictured above) who spent months away from home in our Uganda studio to record the narration. When we visited the region they only had the New Testament in audio. We were able to provide the full audio Bible and they heard the Old Testament for the first time.
Some of the narrators had not yet heard the result of their hard work. It was a great joy to share it with them and see the smiles across their faces. Tamane shares, “I am happy because the Maale are now able to listen and understand very well.”
Below you see him with fellow translator and narrator, Aseffa, when they were working on the translation and a recent photo from our trip. Praise God for their commitment.
THE IMPACT OF THE AUDIO BIBLE
The audio Bible is used by many listening groups throughout the region, where they play the scripture twice and then discuss it. Some of the participants shared:
“I am using what I learn to preach to non-believers.”
“Hearing the Bible stories helped me to understand how to live with others.”
“When I read, things are not as clear. I can understand better.
“I am very happy to have the full message to share.”
The full audio Bible is now available on YouVersion. Listen now.
