Found in Translation

“I stayed up all night reading my new Bible because reading it in my own language was just so sweet I couldn’t stop.” Jaspa (said the day after we handed out portions of completed scriptures)

Church Development is incomplete without Scriptures translated into the heart language. Imagine trying to relate with the heavenly Father or trying to honor Him with your life without hearing from Him. Or, at best, hearing from Him in a language that is not yours. It would be akin to parents trying to relate with their children without talking to them or trying to raise them using another language, one that they do not understand very well. That would not end well.

Thus we spend the majority of our time these days involved in translation of the Scriptures into the Dinangat language. I’ve realized that most of our updates have been about many other things (good things for sure), but we’ve said very little about translation.

The goal is to have a completed New Testament and portions of the OT that we have taught. Our desire is to produce an accurate, clear, and natural translation.

Who is doing the translation?

It is absolutely an entire team process, not just we missionaries either. There are many Dinangat believers who have helped somehow along the way. That being said, Ralf and Jeremiah are the 2 main translations who carry the bulk of the work. And can I just say that they are doing a superb job!

I (Gary) spend a considerable amount of my time these days assisting Ralf and Jeremiah. I do comprehension testing with Dinangat speakers, back to English translations for the consultant, as well as content checking against the ESV and NASB versions of the bible.

Why is it taking so long?

One verse goes through a 27-step process before it can be handed to the church. Yes, 27! Some of those steps are easier than others, but still it’s a big process. I’d explain all that to you, but it would probably get lost in translation.

There are 1200 verses in the OT we are translating and 7956 in the NT; so, if you multiply that times 27 you’ll see why it is such a long process.

What is the progress so far?

Because of the many steps involved and the fact that each verse is at a different stage, it is difficult to tell. Currently we as a team are in the middle of 12 books somewhere along the 27-step shuffle. Quite a dance, eh? We do know that almost 30% of the NT is completely finished; most of which is already in the believers’ hands.

If we were to do a rough estimation of all the other verses in progress, combined with the fully completed verses, we’d say that we are at about 40 – 42% complete.

How will it continue?

The Markleys will be moving back into the tribe this July and will work on it then, and the Schlegels will continue working on it full-time while they are out in town next school year. We Smith’s will be doing Dorm Parenting but still want to help out in any way we are able. We will then reassess after the school year.

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We’re privileged to be able to offer you an excellent devotional eBook about prayer – free!

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You can get your free copy of The Focus of Prayer at: go.ntm.org/prayerbook

 

Oh no that is not good!

Read about an unfortunate, albeit great opportunity for discipleship from our coworker’s recent update about pornography coming into our little remote neck of the woods.

Read it here: http://eepurl.com/bYGgRX