Getting the Bible used isn’t always simple

One size doesn’t fit all!

 

Bible translation can take a lot of time, effort and investment. Therefore it’s important to stop and look at the long- term effects of this work, asking questions about which approaches bear the most fruit.

 

Below you will find three examples from different parts of the world. We hope that they will help you to understand the complexity of the multilingual context in which most minority groups now live and the need for flexible approaches to reach them.

 

The Dega people of Ghana

 

BACKGROUND:

  • About half of the 55,000 Dega live outside their homeland in northern Ghana.
  • In the recent past the Dega were so embarrassed of their ethnic identity that when they were outside their area they would not admit to being Dega.
  • Christianity came to the area in 1934, but the church remained small and under the domination of those who spoke Twi, the language of wider communication.

ACCESS TO THE BIBLE:

  • Wycliffe members began involvement in the Dega community in 1979 with work in translation, literacy, numeracy, micro-enterprise, small development projects, and gender issues. They have also held seminars on developing indigenous Christian music, as well as Gospel and cultural issues such as widowhood rights, witchcraft, ancestors, and so forth.
  • 2000 copies of the Deg New Testament were printed in 1991. 13 years later 400 copies were still in stock.
  • A variety of training has been offered in Deg, especially for church leaders: a Bible correspondence course, courses on key terms, reading Deg publicly, and so forth.
  • Faith Comes By Hearing has formed 113 listening groups that involve 3,380 people.
  • Ninety percent of the funding for these activities comes from outside the community.
  • Wycliffe members are still active in the community in Scripture Use, Old Testament translation, literacy, and community development.

THE SITUATION TODAY:

  • The number of churches among the Dega has more than doubled, from 40 in 1981 to 90 in 2004.
  • Dega’s self-esteem is improving. They are especially proud to hear their language on the radio.
  • The literacy program continues, with women filling key roles as teachers and supervisors. People want to become literate as they see that their friends who have become literate are able to improve their lifestyle.
  • Oral recordings of Scripture are widely appreciated, and help new literates learn to read better.
  • More parents are sending their children to school.
  • Little is communicated by written communication, however, and distribution of Deg materials remains a challenge.
  • Where church congregations are all Dega, and where leadership favors it, Deg Scripture is used in churches, and these churches are growing. The translation is bringing the churches into dialogue with each other and a new level of unity among Christians is developing. Dega are assuming leadership roles in their churches, as fluency in Twi is no longer required.
  • Many traditional beliefs that made Dega poor and fearful have been challenged and discarded, for example, oppressive widowhood rites, curses on young people building in the homeland, curses on people who planted fruit trees, worship of divinities, witchcraft accusations, and other taboos. This has opened the way for development.
  • Deg hymns touch people’s hearts.
  • People are thankful for the Deg Scriptures, like this mother who said, “In my former Church where Asante Twi* was used, my children always asked me questions when we went home. Now they do not ask me questions because when they hear God’s word in Deg, they understand everything.”
��������� *the local trade language          

 

The Sabaot people of Kenya

BACKGROUND:

  • The Sabaot now number approximately 200,000.
  • Although Christianity was introduced in 1922 people were resistant to it.
  • Other people groups settled on what was traditionally Sabaot land and dominated the Sabaot.
  • Developing their language was appealing to the Sabaot as it improved their status and gave them pride in their identity.

ACCESS TO THE BIBLE:

  • Wycliffe members began involvement among the Sabaot in 1981 and later the project came under the leadership of Bible Translation and Literacy (BTL).
  • In cooperation with other agencies, the project did Scripture Use activities, the Jesus film, Faith Comes by Hearing, radio programs, ethnic music, Sunday School materials, Bible studies, bilingual education in primary schools, and adult education.
  • 5000 copies of the New Testament were published in 1997. These were sold out, and The Bible League did a reprint of 10,000 copies that are being distributed.
  • Between 20,000 and 30,000 people did a one-day course in transitional literacy that helped them start reading in the language.
  • An Old Testament translation program is underway.

THE SITUATION TODAY:

  • The church has grown tremendously over the last 25 years among the Sabaot.
  • About 25-30% of Sabaot Christians use the Sabaot Scriptures at home and/or in church.
  • However, in many churches, Swahili and English Scriptures dominate even if the congregation is predominantly Sabaot. Scriptures are read in Swahili, and translated orally into Sabaot.
  • The pilot mother-tongue education program has experienced success, but regularly faces challenges of funding and staffing, as well as the attitude of some parents who do not see the benefits of mother-tongue education.
  • Feelings toward mother tongue are positive, but economic realities favor languages of wider communication. People like their language and mother-tongue Scripture, but few have invested the time and energy needed to learn to read it.
  • Many of those who learned to read Sabaot in the past have lost reading fluency. Very few people are writing the language.
  • Radio programs with Sabaot Scripture are very popular.

 

The K’iche’ people of Guatemala

 

BACKGROUND:

  • Protestant missionaries arrived among the 2 million K’iche’ in 1920 and began their ministries using the Spanish Bible.
  • As a result of the colonial period, the K’iche’ have felt ashamed of their ethnic identity.

ACCESS TO THE BIBLE:

  • The K’iche’ New Testament was first published in 1946, with revisions in 1974 and 1998, and the full Bible in 1996. Over the years, 45,000 New Testaments or Bibles were published, and 43,500 copies distributed.
  • More recently, Faith Comes by Hearing (FCBH) audio Scripture has been available and is broadcast on the radio.
  • Wycliffe members worked among the K’iche’ from 1964 – 1990, conducting a full literacy, translation, and Scripture Use program in cooperation with the churches, missions and government.
  • The bilingual education program functioned in over 100 schools in the early 1980s. Funding for all these programs came from outside the community.

THE SITUATION TODAY:

  • Ninety percent of the K’iche’ are now Christian, and the church is vibrant and growing.
  • The K’iche’ are no longer ashamed of their ethnic identity.
  • People like and understand Scriptures in K’iche’ better than in Spanish, but Protestants don’t use them. In their churches, preaching is often done in mother-tongue, but Scripture reading and singing are always done in Spanish.
  • Catholics use the K’iche’ Scriptures more than Protestants.
  • Little Bible reading takes place outside of church. Understanding Christianity seems less important than living a Christian lifestyle.
  • Linguists, translators and literacy specialists estimate that relatively few people regularly use the printed K’iche’ Scriptures in public.
  • There are not enough K’iche’ materials to maintain the bilingual education program beyond the first grade, and at any rate, parents want their children to learn Spanish. People who read Spanish can learn to read K’iche’ easily but they simply aren’t interested.
  • The few who do read K’iche’ use their skills to record the Jesus film, cassettes and so forth. These oral K’iche’ products are very popular and allow people who do not understand Spanish well to understand Scripture.

 

So what does this mean?

 

God told the Church to take the gospel to all peoples and all nations – but he never promised that it would be easy!

 

What it means to those involved in Bible translation:

 

As the world becomes and ever more complicated and multi-cultural place, the situations in which we do Bible translation also require more flexible approaches. We will need to continually seek God’s wisdom in how to work in each context, whom to partner with, and which strategies to focus on.

 

What this means to church leaders:

 

The area where you minister is probably also becoming increasingly multi-cultural and multi-lingual. If you aren’t already, you may well soon find yourself asking how to deal with worship, preaching and Bible teaching in the most effective ways when not all of your congregation comes from the UK or speaks English as their first language. People’s understanding of what the Bible has to say is drastically affected by issues of culture and language. We hope that this brief snapshot of the complexity we are facing overseas will encourage you to wrestle with similar issues you are dealing with here at home.

 

"God told the Church to take the gospel to all peoples and all nations – but he never promised that it would be easy! "

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