Scripture Engagement

Any translation goes through several stages before it is published: Drafting Team check Exegetical check Test & Review Lastly a consultant meets with the team and discusses any translation issues, making suggestion for changes before it is published. I'm now going to unpack why each stage is needed and what happens during each stage. Draft: the translator studies the passage, preferably in the original language, but if not, s/he compares several different versions in several different languages, and makes an oral draft (or sometimes they listen to several different audio versions instead). They do this by closing all their books, if they have any open, then speaking the passage into a recording device (like a smartphone). At least 2-3 verses are drafted at a time, then the translator listens to their recording, and checks they haven't left anything out. They might then keyboard it into their computer, using a program called ' Paratext '. Why do we dr...

We often talk about holistic mission. What does that mean? It's about mission to the whole person not just their 'soul' (inner being). There's nothing unspiritual about meeting someone's basic needs for food, clothing and so on. In fact we encouraged to do so. ...learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. Isaiah 1:17 ESV http://bible.com/59/isa.1.17.ESV We also have Jesus' example to follow: Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Luke 8:35 ESV http://bible.com/59/luk.8.35.ESV Both his physical and spiritual needs had been met by Jesus. Lastly, you might ask how this works in  mission. Those working within a community are often told of needs within that community. How can these be met? Well, those with medic...

In Wycliffe/SIL we talk a lot about how Bible translation can contribute towards language development. For minority languages this is true. That is not the main motivation behind our involvement in BT ministry though. Most of us want to see lives and communities impacted by the gospel. So we have a scripture engagement end in sight - changed lives! We have overlapping SE and LD goals that we can neatly label holistic mission, especially when literacy is part of the programme. Isn't it time we acknowledged holistic mission as our main raison d'être? This might help many of our partners see that we share a common vision. Here's a visual journey through my thinking: