The idea that God could speak to people in Mugalo* didn’t seem reasonable to a local church in Southeast Asia. Some people considered it too “coarse” and questioned whether God could use it to communicate with people. But as a result of interactions with SIL staff in the area, the local church decided to try using this local language to see if it communicated better.

One particular church in the heart of the region had a passion for including their neighbors in their church activities.  What they didn’t have, however, was an understanding of the value of using the local language in worship and ministry. About two million people speak Mugalo as their native language, and at least as many non-native speakers use Mugalo for regional trade and communication. They couldn’t see how this “coarse” language could be used by God. After all, everyone they knew sought progress and development through learning the national language as well as international languages like English and Korean.

But through conversations with SIL workers who regularly joined them for worship, church leaders began to see the value of local language use in pursuing the church’s vision.

As that church and then others throughout the region began to experiment with using Mugalo in various parts of their worship and ministry, the people began to realize its potential. At the same time, churches in the area began to work with the national network of Christian organizations that stressed the power of the local language. Possibilities were expanding.

Eventually, several local leaders came together to plan how best to use the local language for ministry, both for those attending church and those in the community who did not.

“Possibilities were expanding.”

The church in a nearby area had an idea. They produced a Christmas play in Mugalo. This proved so popular that, in a few years, several churches in the area came together and developed an expanded Christmas program to perform publicly at one of the city’s shopping malls.

In a public demonstration of unity, a group of local churches produced and performed their Christmas program at the mall several days in a row. People stopped to listen, noticing that it was being done in Mugalo rather than in the national language. Church members in the audience were able to strike up conversations with the observers. 

As more ministry ideas surfaced, local Christians within the community became aware of how difficult it is to develop high-quality materials  in the Mugalo language without the Scriptures. A vision for Bible translation took root in these local churches. Over time, a strong, increasingly localized language project emerged. 

To date, several portions of Scripture have been translated. Local-language translators have produced a full Sunday school curriculum based on Jonah, including a comic film, as well as short YouTube videos and Bible verse memes. An apprenticeship program has also been developed, which takes local speakers through the process from helping with translation to becoming senior translators. Some continue to become certified as facilitators able to train others.

Today the project is jointly managed with over 50 percent of the local supervision coming from a church-based non-profit organization.