Thanks to all who prayed for the final consultant check of 9 books of the Simbari Bible translation over the last 2 weeks. We completed the checking ahead of schedule even though we were working through some very difficult material. The books we checked were: John, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 2 Timothy, Philemon, Hebrews and James. These books were read verse-by-verse to 3 Simbari men who had never heard the material before. They had to tell back what they heard and answer some probing questions to confirm that the translation was communicating clearly. They listened in the Simbari language but then had to tell back what they had heard using the Pidgin language so the consultant could understand. This isn’t as easy as it sounds because the Simbari people often struggle with how to communicate their long words in the Pidgin language. The helpers did sometimes start slowing down as we got into the afternoon hours but thankfully they were able to keep going at a good pace. We were able to complete the final consultant checking on 2001 verses of the Simbari Bible. Thank you for praying! The consultant also gave us some good recommendations that David will be working through with the translation helpers. This check brings the Simbari New Testament to about 89% final checked!
In the upcoming months the translation consultant will begin pre-checking our back translation of the last 7 books of the Simbari New Testament. The plan is to do the final check of those remaining 729 verses in February. It was such a blessing to hear the Simbari men repeating the truths of God’s Word from all these books. What a joy it is that now the Simbaris will have access to the same Scriptures that God has used in our own lives. For example:
Colossians 3:1-2 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
