On January 7, 2024, Brother Jules Bazié, a member of the Côte d’Ivoire Branch Committee, released The Bible—The Good News According to Matthew in Yacouba during a special program held in Man, Côte d’Ivoire. In total, 302 attended the program in person and 257 tied in via videoconference. Digital and audio editions of the release were immediately made available. A printed edition will be made available in the near future.

Approximately 1.5 million Yacouba-speaking people live in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Liberia. Some 254 brothers and sisters currently serve in four Yacouba-speaking congregations and six groups throughout Côte d’Ivoire.

A complete Yacouba-language translation of the Bible does not exist. There are two translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Yacouba. However, neither uses God’s personal name, Jehovah, and both contain language that is difficult to understand. As a result, the modern, descriptive language used in The Bible—The Good News According to Matthew has already made an impact. One brother noted: “It was often necessary to read certain verses in these other translations very slowly, sometimes more than once, in order to make sense of what we were reading. But now we have the wonderful opportunity to enjoy reading and clearly understanding the book of Matthew!”

All thanks go to Jehovah for providing our Yacouba-speaking brothers and sisters with this wonderful gift, which will help them and many others to ‘seek first the Kingdom.’—Matthew 6:33.