Eikon Bible

• Location: Asia
• Target Completion Date: 2040

The Eikon (ay'-kon) speakers (a pseudonym), number approximately 195,000, with a 40-50% literacy rate. Predominantly animist, the Eikon worship local deities with each village and clan claiming its own diety. Throughout the valley in which these people dwell, there are more than 300 dieties, giving it the name of "the valley of gods." Additionally, the village priest confirms all important decisions such as buying, selling, or traveling.

Although the Christian influence arrived in this valley slightly more than 40 years ago, only about 50 families practice Christianity among the Eikon-speaking people, and church planting is just beginning. A national missionary, though not an Eikon, began to evangelize years ago. When Bibles International learned of his work and adopted the Eikon New Testament Translation project in March 2004, this well trained Christian brother and his wife became the translators. In addition to translation, they also worked on grammar, orthography, and a dictionary in the development of Eikon. They also produced Eikon evangelism booklets to prepare the hearts of the people for receiving the Scriptures.

With the 2017 printing of 4,000 copies of the Eikon New Testament and the dedication held in October 2017, there was great rejoicing among the believers in these young churches. The three-hour service testified not only of the faithfulness of the dedicated believers who labored and waited for over 20 years, but also the graciousness and goodness of God in providing His people access to the Scriptures in a language they could finally read and understand for themselves. After a period of several years, during which the translator’s family dealt with cancer, the work began again in 2023, focusing on literacy and Old Testament translation.

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