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Jules Vasquez Reporting

Myrna Manzanres - National Kriol Council
"From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, welcome to this historic launching of the Bible in Kriol, our Bible, all of us who speak Kriol."

And in the church built by slaves two centuries ago, the kriol language came home in grand style, in the written and spoken word, Belize's own Kriol Bible:

Rt. Rev'd Phillip Wright - Anglican Bishop
"What a remarkable demonstration of the goodness and grace of God, that the language of the slaves who built this place of worship, will now find expression in a way like never before. A language that was once used to exclude and distinguish one group from another is now going to be used to unite our people in wonderful and unique ways."

The event was part press conference, part church service, part community celebration for a book that has been a tedious decade in the making:

Yvette Hererra - Lead Translator
"It has always irritated me when people say 'You haven't finished that as yet? If they would only know the harassment that one goes through. Sometime one phrase would take an hour or hour and a half to come up with how you say certain things in creole. The thing that we had the most difficult is the opposition that has come up against from different Pastors, Ministers, people who felt that it did not inspire. We got beat down bad."

And if you're wondering how it sounds delivered with authority - here's John chapter one, verses 1-14:

Rev'd David Goff - Superintendent, Wesley Circuit, Methodist Mission
"Yes, the word mi deh right deh long with God from the beginging, that da the same word weh make everything, and God neva make nothing without we. He mi love we till nomo nomo, and he show we a kindess weh we neva deserve, and eh make we si the real truth bout God. Dis da the word ah di Laad."

Silvaana Udz - Secretary, Belize Kriol Project
"Reverend you brought tears to my eyes. The word of God so powerful when you feel it people, did you feel that? Did you feel the word of the Lord? That is what happens when you use your language that your grandmother speaks at home."

And that, advocates say is the importance of this bible:

Rt. Rev'd Phillip Wright
"Throughout history there's been shown when a people can hear the word of God in their mother tongue, once again we will hear Jesus speak the good news in the language of the people. The language that resonates with their hearts, their experiences of God and their truer self, much as it was in the first century of the Common Era. When we hear it, it will evoke I am sure, a mix of emotions from unease to maybe humor to even delight."

And delight is just what Laruen Burgess took in reading the voices of Mary and Saphirra:

Lauren Burgess - Voice of Sapphira and Mary in Bible Recording
"Today is a day of history; my name is going in the archive because my voice is right on top of the DVD. Yes I played Sapphira and Mary. I don't know why they gave me Sapphira because I will not tell a lie for any man; don't let any ghost fool you. If he stole the money, then he stole the money. I won't die like Sapheria did to tell a lie. He will die alone, not him and me."

Even the head of state Governor General Sir Colville Young gave his endorsement:

Sir Colville Young - Governor General of Belize
"Kriol is the common language of the people of Belize, and the Word of God should be in their language, Kriol."

And so today in the cathedral of John the Baptist even the hymns were in kriol, and perhaps, they sang it best.

The printed New Testament bible costs 20 dollars and the CD costs five dollars. But you can get the audio version for free at a website called Bible-dot-Is and the text version can be found at scriptureearth.org.