Sara Madjingay Bible & Literacy

• Location: Chad
• New Testament Completion Date: 1986
• Target Dedication Date: 2025

The Sara Madjingay (Sar) people reside in the southwestern region of Chad and the population is about 183,000. Although 70% of the population profess Christianity, animism and Muslim beliefs remain a strong influence among the people. Six Chadian tribes utilize the Sara Madjingay dialect as their main language. Due to literacy development within the churches, along with their use of the Sara Madjingay literacy primers and Old Testament storybooks, the churches may have a higher literacy rate than that of the general population.

Chadian believers received their first New Testament in 1972 from Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries. That same year, the Chadian government attempted to force all citizens to undergo pagan tribal initiation rites in the name of nationalism. When the believers refused to comply, 13 Sara Madjingay pastors from the original translation team, along with other faithful believers, were tortured and killed. Their steadfast faith in God's Word gave them the courage to defend it to their deaths.

After years of wear and tear from constant use and damage from mildew, not a single copy remained of the 1972 New Testament. As a result, Bibles International completed and dedicated the second Sara Madjingay New Testament in 1986. Following its dedication, missionaries and Bible school students traveled into the bush to share the Scriptures with Chadians. One reported that 90 people accepted the Lord as Savior after only two days of preaching. Another believer testified, "When I heard it, even when no one explained it, I understood what was written in the Word of God." Every copy of the second edition found its way into the hands of the Sara Madjingay people. Over 100 pastors teach from the Sara Madjingay New Testament, and evangelists preach from it in their itinerant ministries.

In August 1994, Bibles International adopted the Sara Madjingay Old Testament translation project and dedicated the completed translation on November 29, 2025. Believers receiving the Word have said, “French speaks to my brain, but Sara Madjingay speaks to my heart.” They also thank everyone who has had a part in the project: “We want to thank you because you have done a lot—giving gifts, money, praying—for the completion of the Bible in Sara Madjingay.” Now, the Sara Madjingay will focus on Scripture engagement.

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