Principle 1: Don't Wait Until it's Over

If we wait until the book or entire NT/Bible is finished until we begin with Scripture Engagement activities we've left it too late. SE needs to begin right at the beginning of a project by studying the world view of the people group then beginning to:

Identify barriers
Find some bridges
Start looking for door-openers (things you might not expect people to be open too, but which seem to be very effective)

Only then should you choose which products to work on.

Here's another tip: you don't need to translate a whole book before producing some SE products. Just find out which portions are going to be useful and work on those. What if they want an entire Bible at a later point? Fantastic! By then they'll be a whole group of pastors and other trained believers to work on it. What we're aiming on now, at the start, is impact.

Oh, and don't forget to include some local arts in your planning.

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Scripture Engagement for Translation Advisors

What do translation advisors need to know about Scripture engagement (SE), and why? Let's look at the 'why' first: Translation advisors (TAs) are often involved in day-to-day exegesis. They help mother-tongue translators (MTTs) prepare drafts. The MTTs they work with might not know Hebrew or Greek. The TAs then take part in the team check of that draft, which involves other MTTs in the project as well as the TA. Sometimes they are also involved in the coordination of the translation programme. They are very busy people. So why do they need to know about SE? Because: The translation is ultimately for an audience that has felt needs that are not being addressed by the translation programme. Analysing and meeting (or helping to meet) the felt needs of the audience should be the first priority of any mission worker, including TAs. Only about 30% of completed translations are well used. The initial set up of the programme needs to take SE into consideration (it's no good wai...

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Scripture Engagement

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