Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church has added Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) to our world mission focus. Lutheran Bible Translators’ mission is to make God’s Word accessible to those who do not yet have it in the language of their hearts. Our COS mission is in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain District which is partnering with LBT for the next five years to achieve the goal of completing and placing the Old Testament into the hands of the Bandi people in Liberia. 2022 was the 500-year anniversary of Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible, the perfect timing to support the efforts of LBT.
LBT understands that when we hear God’s Word through our own language – not the language of foreigners, colonizers, or overlords – then we understand how much God loves and desires us. Over 1 billion people worldwide do not have the full Bible in a language that touches them deeply. An estimated 165 million do not have a single verse of Scripture.
Christ Our Savior’s goal is to raise the funds to translate 600 verses of the Old Testament for the Bandi. While the New Testament is available in Bandi, the people cannot understand the New Testament fully without the books of the Old Testament in their language. LBT is working with the Bible Society in Liberia which serves the 131,000 Bandi people. The Bandi church will continue to grow as more people have access to the complete story of God’s Word.
The LBT Fundraiser team schedules multiple events each year to raise translation funds. In 2023 bingo nights, a silent auction and two bake sales were highly successful, raising thousands of dollars for the Bandi translation. More fundraisers are being planned in 2024.
Learn more about Lutheran Bible Translators at Lutheran Bible Translators.