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There is no Panic Button!

We often think we can leave Scripture engagement until our product is finished in its entirety. We translate the whole Bible or New Testament, then about six months before it is published we hit a large panic button, which connects us to the Scripture engagement department. 'Please come and make sure our Bible is used!'

It's as if we still think there is a cavalry that might come over the hill any minute armed with magic Scripture engagement advice and techniques to rescue us!

Instead it's better to plan SE into the project from the beginning:

  • Make sure you are engaging with the whole community, or at least key members of it (church leaders, linguists, journalists, good speakers, elders, elder women, parents, the youth, children... )
  • Try to use participatory methods if possible. You can use appreciate enquiry ('What do you like about your community?') and also find out what the needs are. Involve a wide spectrum of community members
  • Include arts in your analysis too - what arts do they have and how do they use them? What art forms are used for happy occasions e.g. singing, dancing, make-up, special clothing? This can also include oral speech forms such as proverbs, poetry, epics, short stories... These art forms are their communication genres.
  • Use all of the above as you, together with key leaders, plan your project (just act as a catalyst in this process). Make sure SE is at the centre of all you do, and not an after-thought. If you use what they already have (as communication genres) then the message you're communicating will come across
  • Whatever you do, celebrate it well. E.g. if you do come out with a collection of proverbs, whether oral or audio or in print, celebrate it with an event that everyone will remember, with lots of food for all who come along!
  • Think about long term training and distribution. Who will train future workers? Who will distribute products? How can they ensure this work is sustainable i.e. it will go on long term?
So, to summarise, we've looked at panic, participation, arts, and ways to encourage longevity. They might not alliterate but they are, nevertheless, very important things to remember and get stuck into!
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Comments

  1. Wayne and Sally Dye22 October 2019 at 10:50

    Well said, David! It is sometimes possible to partially make up for what was lost, but much more effective and with less work in the long run to do it the way you have listed from the very beginning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dawut23 October 2019 at 00:00

    True, but not ideal, and the 'sometimes' needs emphasising.

    ReplyDelete

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