Translation and God’s amazing work
Jesus came to this world, lived, died, and was raised to start God’s new creation. He started the work of forgiving and healing broken parts. And he made a people for himself that would continue this work, in his strength.
A mixed group of people from a Muslim community meet almost every day online to translate Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels into their mother tongue. One of them said passionately, “Jesus’ teachings are important for everyone; we need to make them accessible to all the people in the area, so that their communities can be changed by them.” Some of the translation team members have read Jesus’ teachings and have learned to follow him. Others on the team hadn’t read any of the Gospels before starting this work. Their Muslim teachers have taught them the importance of God’s word, and that the honourable Injil, “Gospel,” is God’s word, alongside the Koran. Those who hadn’t read Jesus’ words don’t feel that they’re doing anything related to “converting” to another religion; rather, they view themselves as working on a text that is honoured in their religion.
They considered a borrowed word to translate Elizabeth’s words, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me?” Struggling to put it into their mother tongue, they came up with an everyday phrase that helped them understand Elizabeth’s amazement.
This team started translating at the beginning of the year. January was spent making a rough draft and editing Luke 1. In February, part of Luke 2 has been drafted and edited. In Luke 1, the team had long discussions about how to translate the phrase “God’s Holy Spirit” (the being who filled John even before his birth, who filled Elizabeth when Mary visited, and who created a baby inside Mary).
They learned about the inside part of the Temple, where Zechariah burned incense and the outside part where the worshippers were waiting. They pondered what the words of the angel to Zechariah meant, when he said, “Joy and gladness will come to you, and many will rejoice at his birth.” They discussed what the term “the Son of God” means. They talked (and joked) about how exactly John leaped in his mother’s womb. They considered a borrowed word to translate Elizabeth’s words, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me?” Struggling to put it into their mother tongue, they came up with an everyday phrase that helped them understand Elizabeth’s amazement.
Then, Mary’s poem turned into a wonderful treat. The group discovered that one of them was a songwriter. He translated Mary’s poem as poetry and, in the editing session, sang bits out loud as he thought of how best to fix the wording and get the meaning right.
This work is happening through this group of people that God picked. Some family members, friends, and colleagues are being consulted for translation advice. Soon, the team is looking forward to taking the first part of the translated text to more people in the broader community for feedback.
Please pray for this endeavour. Pray for the accuracy of the translation. Pray for the family and friends who have discussed translation questions with the team. Pray for the community that will soon hear the translation. Pray that God’s word “will not return empty” (Isaiah 55:11), and that the community will be changed.
Identifying details are withheld to protect the security of the ministry and workers.