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What to do now
This was on the bottom of the Leaflet sent out to churches, not sure how to translate that for the blog!
• If anyone in your church has raised this question – make sure you give them a copy.
• Give a copy to your church leader, mission secretary and church treasurer to prepare them to answer others.
• Suggest your children’s and youth leaders use the leaflet for a discussion session.
• Make it available to church members so they can support the church’s mission policy
InFocus, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Horsleys Green, High Wycombe, Bucks HP14 3XL
01494 682251
infocus_uk@wycliffe.org
www.infocusinfo.org
A Ugandan lay reader said:
“LORD, we want to thank you for what our language is. LORD, thank you for all this development you have done to our language. We were being laughed at that our language cannot be written down. But LORD you have now enabled the writing system of our language to be in place. You have enabled many books to be printed in our language. LORD, we must thank you for what you are doing for us…
May Your name be exalted high! Amen.”
Why others support the Bible’s way
• Each language reflects the characteristics of its background culture. Having its own language is what identifies a distinct people group. Although very different from ours, every language has a structure and grammar of its own. Treating their language as inferior demeans a people’s whole culture.
• However well we learn another language, nothing speaks more clearly to our hearts than what we hear in our mother tongue. We grasp it better and feel it more.
• It has been proved that children who learn to read their mother tongue first can learn the trade language more easily. Most governments in the world now encourage mother tongue education in the early years.
‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his (own) language that goes to his heart.’
-Nelson Mandela
• Most missionaries have learned from experience that only Scriptures in the language of the people will make a lasting impact. There has never been a strong indigenous church without the translation of the written Scriptures used by local leaders.
• The mostly widely used language on the internet is not in fact English but Chinese! So should we teach everyone Chinese instead of English? Even if people wanted to learn a language as different as English (or Chinese) it would take many more years to reach a sufficient standard than native English speakers imagine.
TOMORROW – What to do now.
Why the Bible shows a better way
• It was God’s idea to have many different languages rather than one common tongue. The outcome of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) was a curse on human pride but it was also a blessing. Despite God’s instruction to ‘fill the earth and subdue it’ (Genesis1:28), the people had not wanted to be ‘scattered over the face of the earth’ (Genesis 11:4). Out of their rebellion God brought about his design, for mankind’s use of multiple languages.
The outcome of Babel was a blessing as well as a curse!
• On the day of Pentecost God wanted people of many languages to hear ‘the wonderful works of God’. Yet he did not enable them all to understand Aramaic but miraculously enabled Aramaic speakers to communicate to 15 people groups in their mother tongues (Acts 2:5-12). Wanting to touch their hearts, v 37, he used the best way to do that, their own native language, v 6.
• The Bible has several examples of using local languages when clarity of understanding is important. Sennacherib’s Assyrian commander insisted on using Hebrew to address the besieged people of Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:26-28). The decree of King Xerxes was distributed to 127 provinces using ‘their own script and language’ (Esther 8:9). Paul chose their native Aramaic for his defence to the people of Jerusalem (Acts 21:37-40).
• Despite the enthusiasm of our Welsh friends, we shall not all speak one language in Heaven! Those ‘from every people and language’ will cry out God’s praise together (Revelation 7:9).
TOMORROW – Why others support the Bible’s Way
The chruch relatoins team i work with, InFocus has produced a series of Info sheets to aid the churches who supprot Bible Translation. The latest one is all about why we don’t teach everyone english.
This will be my first Blogging series. It will be a mini series of 4 posts.
Why not teach them all to read English?
Almost everyone promoting Wycliffe’s policy of translating the Bible into minority languages hears this idea suggested:
“Surely it would be better to spend your time teaching them all to read English!”
Why some think this might work
• No need for the time-consuming linguistics training and the years spent in language-learning and translation. Time saved is money saved. Less money is needed for training people both here and overseas.
• Since so much good written material is available in English, progress in evangelism, Bible use and church growth would start earlier and be much quicker.
• As converts become proficient in English the vast electronic resources on the internet open up to them.
• Communicating with other people groups and churches is so much easier when one common language is shared.
TOMORROW – Why the bible shows a better way.
Stories show our emotions, our commitments and our passions in a way that simple facts never can.
The latest issue of Wycliffe UK’s Magazine ‘Words for life’ is all about story telling. Your story, our story even Jesus’ story. You can check it out here
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