Dieudonné Somé has been one of our champions in West Africa. We first met in his hometown of Banfora in 2015 when I was in Burkina Faso as part of a story-development team with StoryRunners. Dieudonné is a pastor and passionate evangelist who travels and speaks frequently in neighboring Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Côte d’Ivoire. He is a Dyula (Jula) speaker but is passable in multiple languages in both the Gur and Mande language families.  

Because of his heart for unreached people groups, he is always looking for opportunities to share Simple Truths for New Believers in new places. He has become convinced that using the “little book” is one of the best ways to explain the gospel to people who have never heard it.

The simplest project he spoke to us about was to replenish the books that are being used among the Nuni and Sissala churches. At his initiative, we launched a new translation and distribution project for the Sissala-speaking people in 2014. We did the same for the Nuna people, who speak Nuni, another of the Gur language family. Several hundred books were printed and distributed. And now, as more people have come to Jesus among the Sissala and Nuni and other workers have discovered the books, we have exhausted our supply. So, Dieudonné has asked us to help him print more books. Five hundred (500) books in Nuni. One thousand (1,000) books in Sissala.

Sissala is spoken in Ghana and along its border with Burkina Faso. It is one of the Gur languages. Although there are at least three dialects of spoken Sissala, literate speakers can access the print form across dialects. The most reliable statistics estimate 180,000+ speakers in Ghana and just over 33,000 in Burkina Faso. Nuni is another language in the Gur family. There are estimated to be 150,000+ Nuni speakers in Ghana and Burkina Faso.

If you follow missions, you will find that many of the Gur people are listed as reached on websites such as the Joshua Project or Operation World, or People Groups. All are reliable sites, but there is more to the story than statistics can tell.

The Sissala have been familiar with the gospel for some time, and the Jesus Film is now available in their language, but many believers have had little to no exposure to discipleship opportunities. Some of this is related to the instability of the Sahel Region in West Africa (eight coups since 2020). Since Ghana is one of the most stable governments in the region, the Sissala region has seen an influx of refugees from Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire. Dieudonné shared the French and English versions of Simple Truths with church leaders there some time ago. But the influx of refugees and immigrants into Ghana has led to an aggressive Muslim effort to reduce the Christian influence in the country. One of the ways pastors in Ghana hope to counter these influences is by focusing on discipleship in their churches.

That is why the NEW part of the effort that we are being asked to respond to is to help translate Simple Truths for the New Believer into two NEW languages: Ashanti (Twi) and Farefare (Farafara). Farefare is spoken by four people groups (the Farefare, Ninkare, Namnam, and Nankansi), which total just under one million speakers in Ghana and Burkina Faso. The Ashanti (Asante) people live in southern Ghana and adjacent areas of Togo and Côte d’Ivoire. Both Canada and the United Kingdom are now home to large populations of Ashanti immigrants. Twi is spoken by nearly six million people worldwide.

A project like this one requires five things: a competent translator, a trustworthy printer, an effective distribution network, the funds to support the project, and someone who can help train the end-users on the most effective way to use the books to disciple new believers. We THOUGHT that we had all of those pieces in place back in January of 2014. As it turned out, we did not.

Please pray as we continue to look for competent translators for both the Ashanti (Twi) and the Farefare books. Pray for partners who can meet our partnership criteria. And pray for stamina for Dieudonné, who has been faithful despite the many challenges he has faced.