High up in the mountains of southern China, in a village church with peeling, sun-faded walls and plastic flowers on the altar, a community of people are celebrating. They’re giving thanks for something they thought they’d never have: the Bible in their language.

“It’s a miracle,” said 75-year-old Zhang Xiuzhu, who has been a Christian for nearly 40 years. “I was fearful that I would never have a Bible in my own language but I hoped that, before I died, I would have the chance to see it.”

Xiuzhu is a member of the Black Yi community, one of China’s 55 recognised ethnic minorities. Christianity has been in her community since 1904, and the New Testament was translated into their language in 1948. But they had to wait until the end of 2016 – through the Cultural Revolution and then a long process of approval – for their first ever full Bible.

This was one of 61 communities to receive scripture in their language in 2016, thanks to Bible Societies’ work. Of these, 17 communities received their first full Bible and six had their first New Testament.

But what happens if you can’t read? Or, if you come from a culture with an oral tradition, rather than a written one?

Mali is one of more than 1,000 languages in which there are now audio Bibles. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Bible Society and Faith Comes By Hearing are working together to bring the Bible to life for people who don’t read.

Ndeere, a woman living in Mali, has been listening to an audio Bible. She said, “Romans 12:20 says if you do good to your enemy it is as though you are placing burning coals on their head.

“I heard this passage and then I applied it to the case of a woman who lives in the same courtyard as me who doesn’t like me at all. She used to say to her friends that she didn’t even want to see me.

“It is our custom that if women are heading out to work in the fields, the younger women carry the baskets of the older ones. But this woman, such a nasty person as she is, nobody would carry her basket for her.

“When I heard the part in Romans on the audio player I started to carry her basket each time we went to the fields. Some of my friends told me not to do that. But I carried on. At last the nasty lady said to me that she was afraid of me because I respect her so much. And in the end she stopped hating me.

“What is more,” Ndeere added, “I have to say that listening to the Bible has made me more patient. There was a time when, if someone would criticise me I wouldn’t feel at ease unless I attacked them back. Now, everyone is surprised at the change in my behaviour.

Richard Margetts works for Wycliffe in Mali, promoting scripture engagement. Here solar-powered audio players and phone apps are being used to pass the Bible on orally.

He said, “As well as giving access to non- readers, audio scriptures have other advantages over the printed page.

“It can be a lot easier to listen to large portions of scriptures, rather than read them, especially for hesitant readers.

“Most of the world’s population rely on, or prefer, oral communication. So it makes sense to find ways of communicating the scriptures orally.”

Five hundred years on from the Reformation more people can access the Bible than ever before. But the work begun all those years ago is far from over.