The Institute for Bible Translation has published a beautifully illustrated selection of four parables from the Gospel of Luke in the Dungan language. The selection includes the Parables of the Good Samaritan (10:30-35), the Wedding Feast (14:16-23), the Prodigal Son (15:11-32), and the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:10-14), and comes with an audio recording of the text on CD.

The Dungan language is closely related to Mandarin Chinese, with influence from Arabic, Persian, Russian, Kyrgyz and other languages. About 110,000 Dungans live in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with up to 10 million more in China. Bible translation into the Dungan dialect spoken in Central Asia was started more than 15 years ago and has so far produced translations of Mark (2002), the 4 Gospels and Acts (2006), the Pentateuch (2012), Proverbs (2014), and Bible Stories (2015).

This book of four key parables of Jesus was first compiled for publication in the Agul language of Dagestan. The oral style of the parables springs from the Near Eastern wisdom tradition and is typically well-received in other traditional cultures. Now the concept behind the book is being fruitfully replicated  in other minority languages of Russia and the CIS.  The next languages this book will be published in are Dargi, Kumyk and Nogai.