Ever since those self-absorbed, name-promoting tower builders of Babel in Genesis 11, communication has been difficult for the people groups of the world. That passage makes clear that rather than fulfilling their God-appointed calling of dispersing, spreading, and filling the earth with God’s name, His glory, His image (Gen.1:26-28, Gen. 9:1,7), the people of Babel wanted to gather together and make a name for themselves. The result was that God caused His sovereign will to be fulfilled by spreading the people abroad, and He did this through confusing their language, so that rather than one global language, there became many languages for many people groups, as we find today.

With that as the backdrop, the following chart communicates the major trade languages in Africa. What is not communicated are the thousands of individual tribal languages and dialects spreading across the continent, making Africa home of 1/3 of the world’s languages. According to Harvard University, at least 75 of these languages have over one million speakers. And as I travel to many of these people groups, if I offer a few words of greeting in their “mother tongue” (not the trade language), the hearts of the participants are truly blessed.

I long for the day when we will join together with “ransomed people for God from every tribe and languages and people and nation” and lift our voices together in unison saying, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:9,13)