Post-Panama News

In a minority language group where people are not well acquainted with Jesus,a woman was hired to translate one of the gospels. Although she was fluent in Russian (the language from which she was translating),she discovered that the words in her own language were “so beautiful—brighter,more touching,deeper than Russian.” No matter how often she read the book,it still spoke to her:“I start crying when I read about Jesus being lonely and praying during the night before His crucifixion. When I read those words in my language I can’t stop crying. The words are so alive,they pierce my soul.” When she read it to others,they also wept.

In another language group in the area,a mother tongue translator needed to find out if a new translation of Mark’s Gospel communicated clearly,so she read it to a group of teachers. Because she was concentrating very hard,she did not look up until she heard a noise that sounded like laughter. Was something wrong with the text? Did her listeners think it inappropriate to read in the local language when they were all educated in Russian?

Then she realized that it was not laughter but crying! She looked up to see a school principal with his head bowed and a pool of tears on the desk in front of him. The story in Mark 12 about the poor widow giving her offering had touched him deeply. When he heard it in his own language,he realized that Jesus’ words carried a challenge—it is not enough just to hear the words;we must live accordingly.

If these people speak and teach in the language of wider communication,why do they still respond in this way to their mother tongue? A translator in West Asia put it this way:“We can understand the Bible with our mind in the national language,but it’s the mother tongue that plants the Word in our hearts.” After giving 18 years of his life to translating the New Testament into his own language,this man turned his attention to the Old Testament. Now the full Bible is being typeset by a partner organization and is expected to be dedicated in 2012.

I’m sure you can sense the tension here. Some—maybe most—of the people in these language groups are proficient in a language of wider communication. But the translation in that language doesn’t always resonate at the deepest level of their beings—the place where hurts are healed,decisions are made,and lives are changed. And for some in the community,it may not resonate at all.

How do we tell which groups need their own Scripture translation? How do we know when we should invest the tremendous amount of resources it takes to translate,publish and distribute a translation? How do we avoid investing in translations for people that are truly multilingual to the point that they would not benefit from another translation? These are important questions as we seek to complete Vision 2025.

Surveys give us guidance,as do anecdotal stories like the ones I’ve shared. The urgency and commitment expressed by mother tongue speakers is another important indicator,and there are others.

I want to invite you to pray with me that God’s direction will be clear in every situation. Pray that God would give discernment as leaders,survey teams,and translators determine which language truly speaks to the hearts of each group of people.

Scripture tells us,“…the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword,cutting between soul and spirit,between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (Hebrews 4:12,NLT)

That’s the central issue,isn’t it? What will it take to make sure that any specific group—and eventually all the groups—can interact with God’s Word in the language and form that is as sharp and powerful as God intended it to be?