Category: Bible Translation

This is going to be one of less “wordy” blog posts because we have been busy packing! The kids have not been of much help to us as they seem to think the boxes are exciting new toys…but they sure are cute 😉 Although it’s been a lot of work getting everything in order, we are THRILLED about the journey that is before us! We leave for TX early Saturday morning, will have a couple days to get settled, and then Dave has orientation on January 4th. Linguistics here we come!

There are many “orality movements” in missions circle today which emphasize the oral transmission of Bible stories. We think all of that is great, but not to the exclusion of a translated copy of the Word of God. We believe that it is absolutely imperative that every language group should have the entire Bible in their own language for the following reasons:1. God Chose to Write his Message Down  God could have chosen any medium of communicating his message to the world but, even knowing oral societies exist, he still chose to write his message down. Therefore, Bible Translation honors…

We have asked this question ourselves! However, we have concluded that it would be best to translate the Bible into the language of the people because: 1. This Method of Transmitting the Bible has Failed in the Past When we visited Cameroon a number of years ago, we learned that missionaries arrived decades ago and evangelized much of Cameroon. However, they only translated the Bible into three of the 270+ languages with the hopes that the remainder of the languages would learn these three languages. In reality they did not. Thus the people groups that have the Bible have healthier…

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38 Just in Cameroon alone there are around 270 people groups that do not have the Bible in their own language. Our colleagues at World Team narrowed down these 270 languages to the top 10 most needy people groups in Cameroon for us to consider translating for….

It was through studying the many men who died in their commitment to translate the Bible into English that led us to go into Bible translation ourselves. We are debtors to men like Tyndale who made it his goal to translate Bible from Greek and Hebrew into English…a commitment which cost him his life. To listen to or read John Piper’s sermon on the life of William Tyndale, please visit the link below: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1840_Always_Singing_One_NoteA_Vernacular_Bible/

1. The Great Commission is not Fulfilled at Conversion, but at Obedience to all Christ’s Commands. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20 According to the above passage, the Great Commission is fulfilled not at evangelism, but instead when people learn to observe all that Christ has commanded. Specifically, he tells us to:1) Go into all…