In 2024 there is a reality that approximately 3.2 billion of the world’s population have zero or very little access to the Gospel. Of this group 1.5 billion people have no access to scripture in their heart language.

As we look at this reality, along with God's heart for the lost and how He leads His church to respond, we believe He is commissioning us to take our place, in reaching the lost, even to the ends of the earth.  With this in mind, we have established a partnership with OMT Himalayas.  OMT stands for Oral Mother Tongue, and it’s a movement that is committed to orally translating the entire Bible into every mother tongue across the world. In Asia, the continent with the most unreached people groups, we felt led to OMT Himalayas – a region that still has 250 languages without the Bible.

The OMT team includes long-term missionaries on the ground, who are reaching and connecting with unreached groups.  As they build relationships, they look to invest in the discipleship of a few individuals, who can be raised up as leaders. These individuals are also trained  how to translate a trade language Bible orally into the heart language of a people group, in order  to ensure that an entire unreached group has access to the Scriptures. This process of translation recognises that people from within an unreached group are the experts of culture and word usage, but working in conjunction with a wider body of theologians, translators and the church at large means that the translation is accurate.

In addition, the heart of OMT isn’t simply about translating an entire Bible in a way that is accessible (orally), but it is about seeing the transformation of a people group, as they encounter Jesus and are discipled through the living Word of God.  As Verso, we are adopting a people called the Koch – Rajbanshi tribe, based in the tropical plains of South- East Nepal. There are approximately 133,000 people within this tribe in Nepal, and there is a remnant of believers, who are ready to make Jesus known.As the believers take steps of obedience to God,  it will be our privilege to empower the discipleship of many more people, as they receive the gift of Scripture in a language that they can understand.

We will be GIVING FINANCIALLY to cover the cost of the discipleship process of leaders, as well as the entire Bible translation process.

In addition, we will be contending in PRAYER  with and for the Koch – Rajbanshi people to encounter Jesus.  We will also SEND  teams out to SERVE and ENCOURAGE the long-term missionaries, as well as being part of distributing portions of the Bible, as it's translated.  

Completion of an oral translation takes approximately 2 years and costs around  £8,500.

The Bible repeatedly shows us that God calls His people to care for His creation, feed the hungry, stand up for those who are vulnerable, and to love refugees.
The crisis fund helps us respond to crisis events worldwide by working with our networks to get resources to where they need it on the ground.

Contact our Compassion, Justice and Missions Pastor Clare Mulrooney, to find out more.