A very special event took place last November – something we have been working towards with others for a few years. Ghanaian Christians organized a fundraising event in support of translating the Bible into all Ghana’s languages. To date, almost all the money for Bible translation in Ghana has come from Christians in the West. The Ghanaians we work with and others want to change that. If they do, Ghana will become only the second county in Africa, after South Africa, to fund translation mostly or fully from within the country.

The event was special in several ways. The one that most impressed me was that it was organized by Ghanaian business people who are not dirrctly involved in translation. Two of Ghana’s leading Christian business people organized the event and invited their friends.

One hundred and fifty thousand dollars were raised in cash or pledges. That’s way beyond what has been raised in any year to date. It is not yet enough to cover all the translation projects in Ghana for one year, however. To be effective this needs to be a start, not a one-time thing, and it needs to grow.

It has been amazing to see the impact of simple activities like getting out basic information about translation and working with Christian leaders who influence others. The Spirit blessed those efforts in amazing ways.

Now our Ghanaian colleagues are involved in follow-up; another simple, if time-consuming, activity. I’m asking God to multiply their efforts.