Kaowlu Bible & Literacy

• Location: Côte d'Ivoire
• New Testament Completion Date: 1991
• Bible Completion Target Date: 2041

The Kaowlu people reside in Côte d'Ivoire, Africa, and number approximately 25,000. An estimated 15% of the population profess Christianity (2% claim to be evangelical), while 75% of the Kaowlu practice ethnic religions and 10% practice Islam.

A missionary with the French Bible Mission introduced evangelical Christianity to the country in the 1960s. Baptist Mid-Missions personnel entered Côte d'Ivoire in the mid-1970s and started a Kaowlu New Testament project in 1975, under the supervision of the late BMM missionary Gordon Wimer. Bibles International helped complete the project in 1991 and celebrated with a dedication service on February 23, 1992. Around 300 people, including various dignitaries, attended the dedication in the village of Pehe. After the program concluded with a reading from the Kaowlu New Testament and a clear gospel presentation, 10 people indicated a desire to trust Christ as Savior.

Years of civil war and continued conflict in the early 2000s disrupted life in Côte d'Ivoire, especially in the area of education. This caused a low literacy rate of 25% for adults and even lower rates for children. After nearly a dozen tumultuous years of fighting, churches regrouped and restarted the Bibles International literacy program. A positive response to a survey in 2013 regarding a possible translation project led BI to adopt the Kaowlu Bible and Literacy project in February 2015.

During the first of three phases, BI revised the 1998 literacy primer and reprinted it in early 2020. The second phase is focusing on a revision of the 1991 New Testament translation. The third phase will be translation of the first Old Testament in the Kaowlu language. It is encouraging to see some of the original Kaowlu New Testament translators working again on producing Scriptures for their people.

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