OUR PROJECTS

AVATIME Name of Language- Avatime Ethnologue Code: [avn] Population: 24,000 (2003). Alternative Name: Afatime, Sia, Sideme, Si-ya Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Kwa Dialects: None known. Reportedly similar to Nyangbo [nyb] and Tafi [tcd]. Location: Volta region: center at Amedzofe. Avatime, also known as Afatime, Sideme, or Sia, is a Kwa language of the Avatime (self designation: Kedone (m.sg.)) people of eastern Ghana. The Avatime live primarily in the seven towns and villages of Amedzofe, Vane, Gbadzeme, Dzokpe, Biakpe, Dzogbefeme, and Fume. GILLBT Contact Persons 1. Project Cordinators Divine Mununkum Phone: 0243538317/0203467290 Email address: mununkum2020@yahoo.coma 2. Kwabina Adjei 3. Committee Chairperson A brief history of the Avatime Literacy and Bible Translation Project Before the 1980’s precisely, since 1973, Lynne Brydon, a British anthropologist stayed at Amedzofe and researched the history of the people of Avatime. She returned home to Britain, having learnt the Avatime language fluently, and urged the British SIL group to take up the translation of the New Testament in the Avatime language. Dr. J. A. Ring of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, U.S.A conducted a language survey in 1987on behalf of the Ghana Institute of Linguistics Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT). The survey covered the language cluster of the central Volta Region consisting of Avatime, Logba, Tafi and Nyagbo traditional areas. Their Ewe comprehension was high above 85% according to the survey. Ten years later, Ring revisited these communities and discovered that their understanding of the Ewe language had dropped considerably.

ANUFO Name of Language: Anufor Ethnologue Code:[cko] Population: 66,000 in Ghana (2003). Population total all countries: 151,900 Alternative Names: Chakosi, Chokosi, Kyokosi, Tchokossi, Tiokossi Classification: : Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Kwa, Nyo, Potou-Tano, Tano, Central, Bia, Northern Location: North East Region: Wawjayga area Scriptures Published; New Testament- 2006 Old Testament- Ongoing GILLBT Contact Persons 1. Project Cordinator: Rev. James Azumah Phone: 0245833696/ 0273565687 Email Address: azumahpastor@yahoo.com Anufo Language Project An Opportunity to Make an Impact for the Gospel The Anufo people live in the Chereponi District, an area of approximately 1,110 square kilometres in the north-eastern corner of Northern Region. There are 181 villages with an estimated population of 65,000 in Ghana, 55,000 in Togo, and 12,000 in Benin. The Anufo people, who are also known as Chakosi, Chokosi and Tchokossi, are mainly subsistence farmers and traders; a few are government workers. The illiteracy rate is at approximately 80%. Islam is the dominant religion, practised by about 60% of the population, then African Traditional Religion by about 35%, and Christianity by 5%. History The development of the Anufo language was begun in the 1960s by a missionary with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. In 1981, GILLBT started language development. In 1983 a committee was formed to oversee development of the language.

AHANTA Name of Language: Ahanta Ethnologue Code: [aha] Population: 142,000 (2003). Alternative Names: Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Kwa, Nyo, Potou-Tano, Tano, Central, Bia, Southern Location: Western region: Takoradi to Princes Town. Southwest coast Scriptures Published New Testament- 2009 Old Testament Ongoing GILLBT Contact Persons: 1. Project Coordinator- David Kwofie Phone: 0207598992 Email address: bura1945@yahoo.com 2. Mathar Emina Phone: 0207166986 email address: 3. Committee Chairperson- Nana Agyeman 1X Phone: 0271105265 Bringing the Scriptures to Life in Ahanta Bringing the Scriptures to life in a language that has never expressed the Scriptures before is an exciting and multifaceted mission. This is the mission of the Ahanta language project team. The team is seeking to realize their vision—God’s Word reach­ing into Ahanta hearts and lives—through a va­ri­ety of cre­ative strate­gies. Their var­ied ap­proach is ef­fec­tively prepar­ing the hearts of the Ahanta peo­ple for the Word of God. As the team trans­lates the New Tes­ta­ment, they are also lay­ing the ground­work for its use through lit­er­acy, Scrip­ture use train­ing, and ra­dio broad­casts of the trans­lated Scriptures. Trans­la­tion is at the heart of the Ahanta team’s mission. Translation of the Scriptures is their first priority. The team participates in translation workshops to continue developing their skills and growing in their understanding of the Scriptures. Meanwhile, the team has also translated pamphlets to generate in­terest in both literacy and the Gospel. Some of these pam­phlets, with titles like Smoking or Health and Exclusive Breastfeeding, deal with issues of health that are important to the local popu­la­tion. Oth­ers, like The Birth of Christ, share the good news of Christ and build foun­da­tions of familiarity and understanding for the Scriptures being translated.