Yao
The Yao language also called Kiyao or Chiyao is spoken mainly in Malawi (where it is called chiYawo and Yawo), and in Mozambique (where it is called Yaawo, Ciyaawo and Ciyao).
Gospel of Matthew
The first part of the Bible Scriptures in Kiyao was the Gospel of Matthew. It was translated by Rev. Chauncy Maples (1852-1895) of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) in 1879. It was entitled: “Anjili ja Ambuje wetu na Mkulamya Isa Masiya kwa Mattayo. Malowe ga Kiyao.” It was published in 1880, by the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) and printed for them by R. Clay, sons and Taylor in London.
Chauncy Maples
Chauncy Maples was born in London in 1852. In 1876, he sailed for Africa to join the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa at Zanzibar. In 1876, he was ordained priest and started to work amongst the Maasai and the Yao people. In 1879 he translated the Gospel of Matthew into kiYao. In 1886, he went to Nyasaland as Archdeacon of Likoma. In 1893, he started a new mission station amongst the Yao people in Portuguese Mozambique. In 1895, he was made Bishop of Likoma, but drowned in an accident on Lake Nyasa (Malawi) later that year. In 1897, his sister Ellen Maples published a tribute to him called “The Life of Bishop Maples”.
Digital Edition
This first Kiyao Gospel of Matthew was digitised with the help of MissionAssist in 2025. The digital edition was created from an original copy in the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) collection at Cambridge University in England.
