Translation is one (big) step toward a mature church. And as a support missionary, I serve in missionary kid education as their parents work toward seeing those mature churches established. Here is a brief update from NTM PNG Communications about translation in PNG.
According to Jason Stuart, our Translation Consultant Coordinator, we have been involved in Scripture translation for 68 language groups in Papua New Guinea. As a mission we have completed 33 New Testaments and currently have 32 active translation projects. Over 80% of the translations we have produced are being used regularly in local churches.
Wondering how you can pray for translation projects throughout Papua New Guinea? Pray that Bible translators are able to spend a lot of quality time with mother tongue speakers in the context of the local church. While 20 of our active translation projects are being done by missionaries living in Papua New Guinea, 12 of them are being done by missionaries living overseas and travelling itinerantly to PNG to complete the translation. Pray that our translators remain humble and teachable and are able to make good use of their time focusing on the task of translation. Pray for wisdom in how to involve Papua New Guinean citizens even more in this task.
Pray for more translation consultants to be raised up to be part of the process of ensuring that all our translations are accurate, understandable, and clear. Praise the Lord with us, that this year the Hewa New Testament and the Sorimi New Testament will be complete!
Pray for the Dinangat, Iski and Wusuraambya New Testaments as the teams work diligently to finish them in the next few years.
