A Bible in their Own Language

"We have good reason to be encouraged because of what God is doing in the world, but that must be balanced by the solemn reality that so much remains to be done and that forces opposed to us are formidable. The finish of world evangelization is in sight, but there are huge barriers to jump and strongholds to break down before the end when Jesus returns. Isaiah 54:3 foretold the massive spiritual harvest with a promise:

"For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,

Your descendants will possess the nations (peoples) and will settle the desolate cities."

According to Patrick Johnstone, author of a really encouraging and challenging book which I highly recommend entitled: The Church is Bigger Than You Think, there are three major challenges we face if we are to complete the Great Commission. These are geographic (reaching every inhabited part of the world...I've talked about this in connection with the 10/40 Window where most of the work still needs to be done), ethnic (reaching every people) and urban (reaching the cities...which I just spoke about a few weeks ago). 

I'd like to focus, for the next few blogs, on the ethnic challenge of reaching every people group. Just as a reminder, a people group, referred to as "nation" in the Bible, is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.

To reach every people group, there are various important ministries that must be strengthened for this discipling to be effective and lasting. Today I am going to focus on Bible translation, what it looks like and some of the agencies that are doing this today.

First, each of us needs to consider what the Bible means to us. The Bible is God's letter to us, the expression of His love, His desires, His guidance (see Psalm 119). It is our guidebook on the path of life and it tells us of all God's promises to us. How would we be able to live a life for God without it?

That is the reality for 350 million people who do not have the Bible in their language. But, instead of looking at that number with discouragement, there is much to be encouraged about in the area of Bible translation!

To give you an idea of the rapid progress of Bible translation: in the year 1600 the Bible was translated into 36 languages; 1700 - 52; 1800 - 67; 1900 - 537 and by the year 2,000 it had been translated into 2,800 languages! Praise God for what has been done in this last century.

"We can only praise God for the remarkable ministry of the Bible societies around the world who have multiplied over and over the number of languages that now have Scriptures. More recently God raised up Wycliffe Bible Translators with the specific vision to provide a New Testament for every language without the Scriptures. WBT is now one of the largest cross-cultural mission agencies in the world. These numbers are from their website: 

- More than 1,500 languages have access to the New Testament and some portions of Scripture in their language.
- More than 650 languages have the complete translated Bible.
- About 7,000 languages are known to be in use today.
- At least 1.5 billion people do not have the full Bible in their first language. More than 110 million do not have a single verse of Scripture.
- More than 2,500 languages across 170 countries have active translation and linguistic development work happening right now.
- Approximately 1,600 languages still need a Bible translation project to begin. Of the world's 6,912 languages, an estimated 2,251 may still require New Testament translation work. The majority of these languages are in the African Sahel and Horn of Africa, the Iranic peoples, Central Asia, the Caucasus, China and India.

In order to grasp what receiving the Bible in their own language can mean for a people group, I strongly recommend the book And the Word Came with Power about missionary Joanne Shetler who translated the Bible for the Balango people of the Philippines. Our children and I were so encouraged by this true story!

You can also view the video EE-Taow  It is an incredible video about how God called an entire tribe to Himself after they received the Bible in their language and heard the Gospel message.

Also, you can be directly involved in Bible translation through the Bibleless People's Prayer Project .

As parents, this is a ministry we can pray about for our children. What better way to live your life than to dedicate it to bringing God's Word to a group of people who have never heard of Jesus' love for them or been able to read about it for themselves?

I have listed below the websites of other organizations, besides Wycliffe,  concerned with Bible translation:

The Seed Company  I blogged about their program for children here Help your kids learn about Bible translation

SIL International

And if you live in or near Orlando, FL or are planning a trip there in the future, you might want to check out:

Wordspring  WordSpring Discovery Center in Orlando, Florida is the place to discover the amazing story of the Bible. Encounter people, languages, and cultures you’ve never seen before. It’s about the art and science of translation. It’s about how God’s Word carries hope around the world to people in their own language. It’s an interactive cultural adventure! Discover how the Bible was preserved and shared throughout history.

But, what if the people group can't read? The world illiteracy rate, according to UN studies, is between 16%-27%. How will those people hear about Jesus?

Over the next couple days I will blog about two really neat ministries in the mission field: the Jesus film and storying.