On March 5, 2023, Brother David Splane, a member of the Governing Body, released the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in South African Sign Language (known as SASL in South Africa) and the book of Matthew in Ndonga. Brother Splane released the Bibles during a special program held at the South Africa branch. Many congregations tied in to the program remotely. The combined audience was over 130,000. Immediately following the release, digital copies of the translations were made available for download.

Translation into SASL began in 2007 at the branch office located near Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2022, the translation team moved to a remote translation office in Durban. Commenting on the recent SASL Bible release, Brother Ayanda Mdabe, a deaf elder, said: “With this translation, the power and truthfulness of God’s Word is felt even more than before. Viewing the Bible in SASL helps me better understand Jesus’ personality as well as Bible principles. This, in turn, molds my thinking.”

Ndonga is spoken mainly in Namibia, and the Ndonga remote translation office is located in Ondangwa. a One of the translators commented: “The release of this Bible reminds me that Jehovah loves people and wants them to come to an accurate knowledge of him.”

We rejoice with our brothers and sisters who will benefit from the new releases. These accurate translations will help them continue to treasure Jehovah’s commandments.—Proverbs 2:1.