Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car - and how it applies to Bible translation and Scripture engagement

Image by Juanita Mulder from Pixabay

In the TV show 'Top Gear' one of my favourite parts of each episode was the 'star in reasonably-priced car' where the Stig would race round the track and a star (e.g. Tom Cruise - good name for a car prog) would try to beat his time (and all the other stars who had recently raced).

In Bible translation, according to Hill, Gutt, Unger, Floyd & Hill,* we are often driving the equivalent of a Land Cruiser, rather than a reasonably-priced car. That is, we want to do a full Bible translation (BT) and produce a print Bible, with all the extras, a full audio recording, and several videos (perhaps of the gospels). This is all very well, but what might actually be needed is the reasonably-priced car. 

The authors then go onto explain two approaches to Bible translation and Scripture engagement (SE).

1. This approach encourages communities to consider producing products that meet their needs in the short term. This will allow them to focus on SE, rather than a full-blown BT project. The project might begin with oral stories, that are chosen by the community to meet their felt needs. Even better, to my mind, the community uses an asset-based community development approach to develop holistically (often called holistic mission or integral mission), with SE as one part of this. Translation will be needed too, of course, as oral stories need to be crafted, recorded, consultant-checked and tested in the same way drafts of Scripture are produced. The stories will usually be crafted, i.e., they might contain some background information within them that the audience need (that wouldn't be put into a print Bible, except in introductions, footnotes, pictures, and the glossary). The book calls these 'Scripture-based products'. Language development, including literacy, will be part of the holistic development.
2. Approach two, according to the book, is the traditional Bible translation project, that works its way through books of the Bible and translates some or all of them (e.g., a mini Bible or New Testament). The translation will not be adjusted as much for the audience, as in this approach the need for background information will be met in another way (via teaching, courses, films, or by using introductions, footnotes, etc.). Folk will learn about the Bible, so that when they read it they will understand it and it will be relevant to their lives without it having to be adapted by 'crafting' information into the narrative. This approach tends to involve a lot of linguistic research, as well as literacy. Most of the linguistic work is done at the beginning and the BT work cannot begin until it has been completed, as an orthography needs to be developed for the print translation. Typically this preparation takes 4-6 years, including language acquisition by any expats involved.
3. Approach three, they say, is simply a hybrid of approaches one and two. This means meeting immediate needs but also thinking about the long-term need of a print Bible, with all that is involved in that (linguistics, anthropology, etc., etc.). Sometimes this requires two teams to work in parallel, one on approach 1 activities, and the other on approach two ones.

Deciding which approach to use can be tricky, but the temptation for both expat SIL members and local partners is to think bigger is better. If anyone has tried to run a Land Cruiser, however, they will know that costs are high (even higher for a Land Rover, potentially). It is therefore worth thinking about what is needed in the short term, and what might (maybe) be needed in the long term. The community might choose to have a reasonably-priced car!

*Bible Translation Basics