Sideros Bible & Literacy

• Location: Asia
• Pseudonym: Sideros (pronounced see-day’-ross)
• New Testament Completion Date: 2010
• Bible Completion Target Date: 2030

The Sideros people of Asia live in the southern part of their state and number around 10,000 individuals. Historically nomadic headhunters, the isolated Sideros people lived in ignorance of the outside world. Although they were exposed to the gospel around 1917, longstanding animist traditions prevented the Sideros from readily accepting the new faith, so the Good News spread slowly. By God's grace, today 98% of the hill people in their state profess Christianity, with about 60 churches in their Baptist church association. The literacy rate among the Sideros is 65%.

Although the Sideros received a New Testament translation in 1975 and a complete Bible in 1992, the translators of those manuscripts used the English Bible as their source and had difficulty understanding some of the English passages. The Sideros needed a Bible translated from the original Hebrew and Greek texts.

As a result, the Baptist church association among the Sideros people requested the assistance of Bibles International with a new translation in 1994. After signing an agreement in 1995 to translate the New Testament, several national translators began to work with consultants on this project. Fifteen years later, they completed the New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs, and the dedication service was held on November 19, 2010.

To provide some background for the New Testament and increase literacy among the Sideros, the translation team developed and printed Old Testament Storybooks 1-4. Then, when the New Testament translation was completed, BI and the Baptist church association signed an agreement in 2011 to begin translating the Old Testament. Bibles International produced the Sideros Writers' Handbook in 2019. In 2021, the Sideros published the book of 1 Samuel. Translation work continues as the Sideros await the entire Bible in their language.