A Chuwabu leader in Mozambique sought out publishers of a grammar booklet his son had given him. “Who was it that made this book, which mentions things we use in Chuwabu?” the leader asked the translator. “I will pay you any price! I didn’t know that in this small book one can find such interesting things.”
The translators were elated. They’d hoped the booklet in Chuwabu would draw interest in their translation of mother-tongue Scripture. Now this important leader of a religion generally antagonistic toward Christianity was intrigued.
“Please inform us about any material you produce in Chuwabu,” the leader continued. “We want to study that God in our own language!”
Translators eagerly agreed. Mark’s Gospel and Genesis are in process.
Photo courtesy of The Seed Company Field Sources
This is one of many stories published in the February 2013 issue of SeedLinks, a quarterly publication of our partner The Seed Company. View the whole issue by going to www.seedlinks.org and clicking on the “View the online edition” link.
Praise the Lord!
[...] They are very often very interested in having their language written. They are proud when their “second class” language is raised to the status of other languages by having an alphabet, a dictionary and written documents. For this reason, Bible translators often have very good relationships with traditional community leaders even when the community is apathetic toward or even opposed to the Gospel message. This leads to some odd juxtapositions. Some Bible translators have found that they were treated like royal guests at the court of the Paramount chief. Clerics of other religions many show up to support for Bible translation. One Bible translator noticed that young men would memorize their holy book and recite it publicly. So he proposed to the religious leaders that the same be done for the newly translated Gospel of Mark. They agreed! Young men memorized the book and recited it publicly with their religious leaders watching and approving. In Mozambique, a cleric of another religion offered to promote Bible study because of a booklet describing the grammar in his language. You can read the full story here. [...]