A Bible-Based Singing Revival Has Begun
Something very special is happening in Ethiopia that we didn't plan and couldn't have orchestrated. Songs are spreading. Small groups of people are gathering with instruments and open Bibles, writing new songs from newly translated Scripture in their own heart languages.
Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) has spent years working toward something remarkable: a full Bible translation for the Zayse people of southern Ethiopia, who have never had Scripture in their own language. When the New Testament was completed, LBT invited United Adoration (UA) to come alongside and help the community write new Scripture songs from the newly translated text so they could teach the Bible through song in their communities.
Rob Veith, an ethnodoxologist who has spent decades working with communities around the world and who is now an Artist Missionary with UA, traveled with Dave Frincke (president of UA) to Arba Minch to spend five days with Zayse believers leading a songwriting retreat and field recording sessions. They helped people write Scripture songs from the newly translated text in their own language and their own musical style.
Word spread. Earlier this year, Rob returned to Arba Minch, this time to do the same work with the Darashe people. Denominational leaders from across the region showed up because they had heard what happened the first time.
Fifteen new songs were recorded that week. A song about repentance and reconciliation reduced everyone to tears. A song about Pentecost got everyone dancing.
At the end of the gathering, Rob invited the whole group into a Q & A discussion about what they wanted to do now that their time together had concluded. One of the participants said that there were 100 congregations in her region and wondered how this teaching could reach all of them.
Rob's answer was honest: it couldn't come from him. He couldn't spend a week with each of those 100 congregations. If this were going to be a movement of new songs from Scripture, it would need to be led by the people in that room. They asked him to share for whatever notes he could. He put together a two-page document outlining the basic flow of the workshop and the purpose of each component, then shared it with the Telegram group that had been created to distribute the completed song recordings.
For a few months, things went quiet.
Then, earlier this month, the photos started coming in. Dozens of them. Small groups sitting in circles in churches and outside, Bibles open in their laps, drums, guitars, and keyboards at the ready. People who had attended Rob's workshop were standing up, apparently teaching. The captions were written in Dirashe. Rob couldn't read them. But he didn't need to.
One of the local leaders sent a message to put words to what everyone was watching: "A Bible-based singing revival has begun."
In 2027, United Adoration will return for a Training of the Trainers, gathering key leaders from multiple language groups to help sustain and multiply what the Spirit has started. New sounds of worship are rising from every nation, culture, and language!
The Rev. Dave Frincke and Rob Veith, Ethnodoxologist & Artist Missionary
The Rev. Dave Frincke is the President of United Adoration. Rob Veith is an ethnodoxologist and Artist Missionary with United Adoration, spearheading UA's work in Ethiopia.
To learn more about their work in Ethiopia and how you can partner with them, please contact Rob at rob_veith@unitedadoration.com or Dave at dave@unitedadoration.com
