I was at a meeting recently where one of my colleagues was supposed to be chairing a discussion on, 'How we can integrate Scripture Engagement into language projects.' He said it was the wrong question, because all projects are scripture engagement projects. The impact we are looking for is changed lives! In some regions of Asia the above cycle shows how we work in practice. Language development and study of the culture leads to making films and publications in the language and about the culture. This helps us learn enough about the culture to do scripture engagement research. The goal of this research is to find out what activities and products might be appropriate. We then get stuck into these scripture engagement activities and distribute the products which hopefully leads to impact in peoples' lives. Once lives begin to be changed there will be a greater need for the translation of scripture portions, which will lead to a need for further research and further scripture engagement activities and products, and so on. This could create a snowball effect where a group of believers want the Bible so badly they translate it and distribute it like crazy, with input from consultants and help from other experienced advisers who keep them on the right track.
* LD - Language Development (a study of the language's features that might result in a dictionary, grammar, primer, and other helpful materials); Anthro - anthropology
The flow chart has now become a cyclical process!
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