If you are having difficulty reading the headline, likely you are not from Afghanistan. Afghan Persian, or Dari, is also commonly referred to as Farsi. There are many historical and political reasons for the naming variants, but Dari is spoken by over 70% of Afghans as a first or second language. Dari can also be understood widely outside of Afghanistan. The language is intelligible to some in portions of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and in many parts of Iran.

The post announcing that we had begun the Dari translation of the Travel Guide to the Bible (which is how the title of this article translates) first appeared in late October. A few days ago, three and one-half months later, we received the first portion of the translation. This is incredibly exciting and we are so thankful for the meticulous work of the translators. But there is still a great deal of work to do.

Design and layout of a book using Persian orthography is no simple task. So, after the translation itself has been field-tested, the entire book will need a series of careful line edits to ensure that the text that came from the translators is the text that makes it onto the published page.

As we mentioned at the announcement of the project, this one has clearly come to us by God’s providence. We have already seen God assemble what we believe to be exceptionally skilled translators. And we have already begun to receive funds to pay for the project. Translating the Travel Guide to the Bible in the Dari and Pashto languages, designing the books for print and electronic distribution, and printing the first 100 books in each language will cost approximately $12,000 USD. Thank you to those who have given.

Please pray with us as we seek to complete this venture. And pray that many Dari and Pashto speakers will be reached with the message of Jesus as a result.