| Would you--could you--cross this bridge?
Take a good look at the bridge in the picture above. It looks sturdy and structurally sound. But would you cross it? Or rather, could you cross it? If you look closely, you will notice a couple problems. Though the bridge itself looks good, it doesn't actually connect to any land on either side. It's a good bridge--but you can't cross it.
Bible translation is like a bridge. It must be built. It must be built correctly. And it must be built now. But, even if it is built well and in a timely fashion, it cannot serve its purpose if it is not connected to two sides of land. The first side of land is what we call research, linguistics and language survey. In other words, before you build a bridge of translating the Bible, you need to first make sure that the language you are targeting is currently in use and that there is a need for translation. With that determined, you can start building, i.e. translating. But connecting to the other side is just as important. The greatest tragedy is when hundreds of thousands of dollars, and years of our lives, are spent translating a Bible which is never used.
Unfortunately, this happens more than you think--Bibles are translated but end up just sitting on shelves or in libraries, rarely by actual people. This is why we must make sure that our Bible translations "connect" to the other side--that is, that they will be used by our intended audience. This is what we call "Scripture use" or "Scripture engagement".
|
| | | Last month I (pictured above with my colleague from India) attended a training course and a conference in the Netherlands with a focus on Scripture engagement . We asked ourselves, "What can we do to ensure that the Roma Bible translations we are making will be used?" At this conference we had great discussion times, in the classroom as well as standing around on coffee breaks, sitting across from others at meals, or in the evenings in each other's rooms. All this has helped stimulate our planning and thinking of how we can get these Bible translations used.
Ideas abound, and so do challenges:
- Everyone--Gypsies included--uses Facebook, so begin posting draft translations of verses on Facebook.
- Many Roma don't read, so my colleague is arranging the manufacture of solar-powered audio Bibles and looking for openly licensed Bibles and Bible teaching materials to load on these devices.
- Roma by-and-large live difficult lives where they feel oppressed by the majority culture around them, so how can we bring to their attention Scripture passages that speak about this--like the Psalms of lament ("How long, oh Lord!")?
- And the most important part of any strategy for Scripture engagement is the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of Roma men, women boys and girls. That is why your part in this work, praying to the Lord of the harvest to do just that, is so vital. Thank you, thank you for your prayers.
In Christ, Todd & Pam Price
|
| Donations can be sent to:
Pioneers, 10123 William Carey Dr., Orlando, FL 32832
Or made online at:
http://www.pioneers.org/give
To give for our missionary support, please designate for account 110250 "Todd & Pamala Price".
To give for Roma Bible translation projects, please designate for account 150786 "Roma Bible Society".
|
|
|
