hello Heroes today is lecture eight we're looking at Bible translation in particular we're looking at a case study for Wickliffe Bible translators in particular the summer Institute of linguistics uh summer Linguistics Global as it's now called you can see the required reading and the recommended reading and here's the devot the Bible verse is Hebrews 4:12 for the word of God is alive and active sharper than any double-edged sword it penetrates even to dividing Soul and Spirit joints and Marrow it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart in a sense this entire lecture is a
devotional because it is a testimony to God using people to translate the Bible into the mother tongues of millions of people around the world even billions the first time people group churches die after a generation if they do not receive the Bible in the language they grew up speaking I attended wickliff Bible translators Quest program in January of 1988 while I did not join the organization I came away with an even deeper deeper appreciation of the work the Bible is at the heart of the Christian faith without it we would not know that Jesus is
the way the truth and the life we would not know that in Jesus is found eternal life my wife and I have five good wickliff friends we admire that they are Faith missionaries and totally devoted to some aspect of Bible translation I have had Wickliffe members and other missionaries share at churches I have served I hope that in some way you will want to be involved in the Kingdom work of Bible translation the previous lecture was one of my favorite ones and today is one of my favorite lectures as well here's a brief introduction wickliff
and summer Institute of linguistics is a parot church organization par Church means coming alongside and assisting the church in the Great Commission of making disciples parot Church organizations exploded after World War II s International and Wickliffe had its Beginnings after World War I as we'll see in a little bit parot Church organizations often have a narrow Focus such as college students Navigators crew inner varsity or Specialties in the case of Wickliffe the specialty is Bible translation Wickliffe members are sent forth by churches that in turn support them financially churches and individuals support the members sometimes
grants are secured for special projects ancillary services are provided such as education and clean water let's look at the beginnings the amazing Cameron Townsen in 1917 the Los Angeles bible house sent Townsen to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles near Antigua according to Wikipedia which is an island in the Lesser Antilles he tried to sell Spanish Bibles in southern Mexico and discovered they spoke an indigenous or native language here's Wikipedia again tan townzen was concerned that cams that Central American mission Christian message spread exclusively in Spanish could not reach the monolingual majority of the indigenous population
he settled in a kakel community on the coast called Santa Catarina and over the next 14 years he learned the language to the point where he could translate the Bible he also founded the robin son Bible Institute which with financial backing from us sources built a center for the indigenous community that included a school medical clinic and electrical generator a coffee processing plant and an agricultural supply store during these years towns and's concerned for the indigenous people community grew and he became convinced that the missionary practices he observed did not address their needs effectively and
did not take into account their diverse languages and cultures according to Colby and Dennett towns and's cam superiors also showed signs of unease that he had adopted indigenous cultural practices clothing and language close quote and I can share with you that in 2024 I had the privilege of attending an all day or most of the day event at the church in Orange County that uh was very involved with Cameron Townsen it was an S event uh with one of my friends that I'll share with you about later returning to Wikipedia Townson viewed true conversion to
Christ as a solution to the challenges of indigenous peoples but he had to discover why Protestants and Catholic missions did not not attract many indigenous converts to Orthodox Christian beliefs he believed that the main reason was that the illiterate monolinguals had no access to scripture many Indians could not read and even those who could did not have the Bible in a language they could understand although heterodox syncretism was the norm in indigenous communities the Catholic clergy refused Bible translation fearing EXA Jesus which did not agree with the Catholic tradition the Protestant missions concentrated on Spanish
speaking Latino overseers as converts instead of on the speakers of minority indigenous languages towns and wish to see a mission that sought to produce indigenous run self-sufficient bible-based Christian congregations he believed that this could lead to a more just Society trusting that if the Christian scriptures were well translated and well understood they had the power to change individuals and Society for the better one very important step toward this goal was the development of groups of indigenous people who were literate first in their own language and later in Spanish as well and to help them produce
a translation of at least the New Testament and key parts of the Old Testament in their native tongue Townsen firmly believed that if the Christian scriptures were well translated and well understood they had the power to change individuals in society for the better he often said that the Bible in the language of the people was the best missionary of all because it never got sick never took a Furlow and never sounded like a foreigner Townsen founded s International formerly known as the summer Institute of linguistics in 1934 Townson always claimed that siil was an academic
institution that applied original linguistic research to the solution of human problems and to the creation of an indigenous literature that included both the collection and publication in written form of previously oral histories and stories and the translation of works of high moral value especially the Bible but also often including the sections of national constitutions most relevant to indigenous rights and later the translation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights he explained that although SI was not a religious institution per se its members were lay Christ Christians motivated by their Christians by lay Christians motivated
by their faith to serve the minority language groups of the World s's Creation coincided with the emergence of a body of intellectual thought that had already begun to circulate in the Mexican intelligencia called indigenismo many Mexican intellectuals had begun to believe in the gradual incorporation of indigenous cultures into The National Society while still preserving those original cultures by applying the principles of cultural anthropology and Linguistics on January 21st 1936 president Lazaro cardinas known for his extensive visitations to the countryside paid a visit to a small town just south of Mexico City where Townsen had set
up a project the result was a deep and Lasting friendship cardinus was the best man at Town Zen's wedding and a ringing written endorsement of town Zen's work from Mexico's red president and before I talk more about the summer Institute of linguistics I would like to explain why I'm not wearing a jacket in this lecture first of all I brought it with with me but I forgot to put it on before recording but second of all can you imagine how often Cameron Townsen wore a jacket in southern Mexico before there was air conditioning I don't
think he did and how often summer Institute of linguistics people around the world except when they were speaking in air conditioned churches use jackets I don't think so so with your permission and Indulgence I am going to give the rest of this lecture without wearing my jacket back to the summer Institute of linguistics Townsen and leur had opened Camp Wickliffe in Arkansas another hot and humid place in the summer of 1934 named for John Wickliffe whom we looked at in church history 1 who was responsible for the first complete English translation of the Bible with
persecution the camp was designed to train young people in basic Linguistics and translation methods because the Mexican government did not allow missionary work through its educational system Townsen found Wickliffe Bible translators he founded it as a separate organization from s wickliff Bible translators focused on Bible translation and missionary activities whereas s focused on linguistic documentation and literacy education in the first year two students enrolled the following year after a training session with five men in attendance including Kenneth Pike who had become a lifelong friend and prominent academic linguist Townsen took his students to Mexico to
begin field work Wickliffe Bible translators us a was officially founded in 1942 yes during World War II there's never a convenient time to do Mission work Wickliffe Bible translators International was established in May 1980 to provide International Leadership from this small beginning has grown worldwide Ministry of the summer Institute of linguistics now called simply s International or Global wickliff Bible translators and the technical and Logistics partner of s known as jars which helps with flying missionaries in places like Papa New Guinea and in the Amazon region let's look a bit at the vision in the
early years I have already discussed the early vision for S and Wickliffe and uh to it was to get the Bible into the indigenous language to use recordings where people were not yet able to read where possible to teach reading to use supportive life Basics as a holistic approach while keeping the focus on Bible translation there would be growth it they grew over the years and decades it increased significantly after World War II there was the use of software to Aid in Bible translation there was one language in Tanzania then there were seven I used
to talk about AA gold flowing down from the mountain with the use of software but more correctly it should be called W orani because ala was not a good name uh it was an insult to use that word but I think of Psalm 1910 the fear of the Lord is pure enduring forever the decrees of the Lord are firm and all of them are righteous they are more precious than gold much more than pure gold they are sweeter than honey than honey from the honeycomb today there is the use of artificial intelligence s is now
being led by the Christian SA South there are many Christians below the equator also South Koreans and some other Northern Pockets the head of s was from Cameroon for nine years he had a PhD in linguistics it took many years but he helped bring the New Testament to a once reluctant group of people the new leader of s is also from Africa from a family that converted from Islam to Christianity one amazing story after another approximately 900 languages have yet to be translated is God calling you to help with that some are not available because
of religious isolation others because of cultural isolation so siil has developed a diaspora division that uses urbanization migration and digitization to reach those 900 languages in other words people that have moved from where they grow up who might live in a city who can help with the translation they have migrated from where they grew up and the use of digitization Si people are able to meet with previously unreach speakers in cities or via the internet to work on Bible transl ations and here is from the website now s International here are some details other Ministries
that support people receiving a translation in their mother tongue they work holistically with people's needs education clean water and other the increasing use of native speakers in the translation process I previously told you you about Hawaii in the 1820s and 30s there were four Americans who worked with I believe it was eight Hawaiians on the Hawaiian language the Americans knew the Hebrew and Greek the Hawaiians knew the ins and outs of the Hawaiian language there were the American board missionaries who lived near Mumbai who worked on the maratus language they lived among the people they
spoke the language they worked with the people on the best way and use of words and translated the New Testament and the Old Testament into the people's mother tongues and I mentioned before Tanzania I have friends named the Gil Mor who have served with siil and Wickliffe in Tanzania in Africa and USA they are currently helping wickliff missionaries who are in the US uh they're visiting there they translated one language and now they have oversight of seven languages in Tanzania another form of min his in Wickliffe has to do with mapping we have a friend
I'll call her Esther mapping gives Bible translations a clear pictures and this is from the mapping site of the United Kingdom quotations from it maps are used throughout all the different stages of Bible translation mapping is used to visualize information about what languages are spoken in different parts of the world explains Ava Horton a member of the mapping team of Wick Cliff's main partner s International Ava colleague Marcus love explains further that mapping in general shows people what the actual situation is on the ground you can have lots of information and data about a group
of people who speak a particular language but often it is when you see that information presented in a map that it all comes into Focus the mapping team that takes the data that language surveys collect and turns it into maps that sounds quite simple Ava notes but it can actually be quite complex especially in places like Southeast Asia where one language can be spoken in several different places in a number of different countries and be known by various different names and sometimes they are Unwritten languages so working on those Maps can be very complicated it
can often be like detective work to make sure the map is accurate do you like detective work maybe mapping is for you I just added that it is important in the work of Bible translation to help everyone know where the language is spoken the mapping Team Works closely with the language survey teams sometimes we prepare maps for survey teams before they go to an area to help them find where they are going Ava explains but mostly we collect information from the survey teams mapping is done before translation starts and gives translators a clear picture of
where people live it is is important in the work of Bible translation to help everyone know where the language is spoken Marcus says it helps people make strategic decisions about translation projects our maps are often used in materials that go out to people who pray for the people groups we are also working to create maps that show the Bible translation status like the map of Central African Republic that you can see on the website as well as many other indicators for each language area these maps are invaluable in the process of planning translation work and
making decisions about allocating resources however they are not just about translation maps are also valuable for our parallel literacy and scripture engagement work the maps are used throughout all the different stages of Bible translation Ava observes and then also for distribution of the translated Bible and in evangelism knowing that there are people from the same language groups living in a few different places sometimes in different countries that I'll mention in a little bit enables us to distribute the translated Bible to speaking that language as widely as possible the language maps are also used by Christian
radio stations like the Far East Broadcasting Company so that they can know which language to use when broadcasting to different areas often these radio broadcasts may be the only way many people will hear the Bible maps are used throughout the different stages of Bible translation the maps our mapping team produces are generally considered to be the most authoritative language Maps available and are used by both Christian and secular organizations around the world I think the high standards of the mapping work we do helps people from many different religions respect Bible translation work and helps Point
people to God says Marcus by producing maps that are very comprehensive I believe that we earn respect for our work as people who care about minority groups even from those who may not believe in the Bible close quotes in all of these ways mapping plays a central role in the Journey of Bible translation and in enabling trans the transformation that can come from people having the Bible in their own language the article concludes by asking could you serve in the mapping team here's an example licha zapot after I had been a pastor north of Bakersfield
for seven years a new new and small Spanish congregation came to my congregation's building my declining congregation welcome them they started to grow and they are now very successful as they seek to be faithful within a month or two I learned that a significant majority of the congregation were from a state in Mexico called Waka I did some research and found out that they spoke a specific language called licha a poek I learned that the summer Institute of linguistics was working in that language I was able to secure funding for three Bible portions in print
and with compact dis recordings they are oral Learners do not use the word illiterate and after each family had received their Bible portions one man came up to me and through a Spanish interpreter said they speak my language just like I do and it is hoped that the entire New Testament will be completed sometime in 2026 and after that happens Lord willing there will be a dedication and celebration with that congregation do you remember what I said about mapping and the location of the speakers well they are literally on the map now and also somebody
said to me or I heard that somebody said I didn't think anybody cared enough to translate the Bible into my language and I told that person that's exactly why Wickliffe Bible translators exists to provide the Bible in the mother language of minority language people around the world so summer Institute vision for the future it is to provide at least the New Testament in every remaining viable language and they have goals you can read about that at the siio website there is a painting entitled the last translator it shows an African Man the painting is not
complete because is not yet known who will be the last translator and what the last language will be and I have saved this for the last part of this lecture I would like to talk with you about Edward and Louise Edwards I have changed their names and other things for security purposes this has to do with South Asia and the United States we first met in the 1990s when they we met them in the United States before they went to South Asia when they went to their assigned location there were only two known Believers one
had come to Christ through studying the inel which means the gospels and means the New Testament the other came through having a dream about Jesus now there are hundreds maybe thousands of Believers in Isa which is the Arabic word for Jesus Edward did a master's thesis in the language which makes my head hurt because it took such intelligence to be able to work in that language and then explain it in English he worked with native speakers on translations he received an international award for mobile education and as a matter of fact a leader in another
religion praised their work and he had been an opponent and after 911 the police police because people were angry at the family the police said no these are Old Settlers they were here before 9/11 and there was a major earthquake Where tens of thousands of people died the Edwards were back in the United States at the time and someone who was taking care of their home tragically died in their home because the roof collapsed but they raced back and helped and again a religious leader who had been an opponent said listen to these people they
are the only people from the outside who care and they were living very close when an major international incident [Music] occurred but what the people did not know was was that Wayne was even closer to that incident beforehand when he was translating one of the gospels and I share with you now with permission with some things changed and omitted but it is shared with permission from my friend and you can see see the images I've used some of the images the most recent letter at least the first time when I'm giving this lecture there will
have been developments uh for those of you seeing this in later years but when I am giving this lecture I have just recently received it dear praying friends this is the halfway point and are 3 months away from Memphis I changed the city after significant blocks of time in both parts of the Nomad region we are now in a third Mountain Country for an intensive revision session with three Nomad members of our translation team yes we realize that our publicity policies make it really hard to follow follow all of that we are delighted to share
with you some highlights from our field visits and to report major momentum towards our goal of publishing the New Testament in December and that would be December of 2025 and and another reason why that's important is some people try to steal uh the hard work that my friends have done but once you have published a new testament uh other translations are not recognized and so in addition to the quality work that he has been doing over these many years we don't want to have a shoddy translation by other people so returning to the letter just
after Christmas Our Miss missionary daughter traveled to meet up with us in her childhood home that's where she grew up it was her first time back in six years she's been on a difficult Health journey in recent years and we Rejoice to tell everyone and show everyone that God has literally raised her up from her sick bed she picked right up with everyone in other words she's fluent to the language and was Central to the three 20year anniversary functions we attended to celebrate the progress of the mobile Schools project all paid for by the international
award money he didn't use the money for himself but used it for the mobile schools progress project for these children who constantly are on the move the three of us and a few special former teachers that she is close to listen to hundreds got to get out my Kleenex here of nomad children read and spot check their writing and MTH skills as well it was amazing to see the fruits of the program and consider how much favor the Lord has given us following years of struggle and up position if you only knew arriving in Winter
meant we did a lot of shivering whenever not huddled with others in front of a fire they were there with them other than our two knights in the mountains we usually made about four home visits per day and never got sick from all the germ exposure in tailed by that we were completely stunned by two constant observations the positive responses to the translation products we've been sharing and the Heart wrenching reports of demonization in so many families how we long for them to be set free through a growing faith in Jesus he is being exalted
through the clarity and beauty of the scriptures in their language several whose Hearts had earlier seemed hardened began reading the life of Moses and the life of Jesus books including gatekeeper he gives them nicknames to protect their privacy and safety and our office Hospitality manager and his wife in a private meeting with expensive and flower expensive began speaking of Jesus's great sacrifice and added this is our faith as she smiled in agreement one of our dearest Nomad nieces who has lost one son to snake bite and another when her Hut burned down wrestled the John
act's Revelation book away from her father and took it home later he floored Us by pulling out her copy of the full Bible in the national language well worn and marked up no idea when or where she got that he has made similar pronouncements about faith in Jesus on recent visits but this time we got a glimpse into his daughter's responses as well after 12 days Louise crossed the border to help our other missionary daughter with her baby she was born on Louisa's first full day in that country her mother who was able to make
the 5-Hour drive and meet the baby just after her parents brought her home from the hospital Louise said goodbye to me two days later after which I went to work with the local translation teams we serve one all day meeting with five believing men was especially meaningful then I had a full week session with four men to finalize our translations of first and 2 Timothy Titus and Ephesians pinch myself but it got even B when I crossed the border and read through the same passages with another set of four Nomad men who came to meet
me near the airport one of them said I've lost count of how many times I've read the whole Bible in the national language and taught from it for years but now I feel that it never landed in my heart or anyone's I am deeply stirred by by Our Shepherd translation it feels like it was written just for us after years of wondering if we could ever set foot in that country without forfeiting our access to the country we lived in for 15 years both of us now have long-term visit visas and no scrutiny yet about
our travel history Louise and I were so happy to be together again after after 3 weeks apart and to just focus on being grandparents we learned so much from our time with daughter and her family which included field visits that Gabriel facilitated to the camps of their closest Nomad friends there it was fun to see that we could readily communicate with everyone despite the dialect differences but also to note a definite need for the separate translation project that Gabriel has now started did you catch that there's going to be a second New Testament dialect translation
and I have a question into my friend to see if there will be a third because we're talking three countries in South Asia so it looks like there's going to be at least two and maybe three I'm looking forward to getting the answer to those questions and he concludes by saying please pray now that these next two weeks of revisions in Mark Matthew and Colossians and so on will be attended by the holy spirit's guidance and joy pray also that these men will leave feeling encouraged and deeply supported by us not just exhausted from our
very real production deadlines one has clear Apostolic gifting and is bearing much fruit another has so much vision and promise but recurring health challenges as well the third is still doing the calculation about baptism in other words the cost of discipleship counting the cost of a public identification with Jesus a Fourth Man a local Fellowship co-leader could not come due to a last minute document glitch and will now be reviewing our team's work from his home his daughter died waiting for a liver transplant last year and his Brokenness was evident at the recent airport Summit
in early March we'll head to a wedding in Hong Kong then to the Middle East for meetings with our field team Landing in Denver on March 21st for a week of perspectives classes and other Colorado connections thanks for trusting God With Us for a bible-based breakthrough Across The Nomad homad in his care Edward and for Louise I hope you see images from the newsletter and I've asked Nick my wonderful videographer to have as my background for this whole lecture my friend uh in the Foothills uh but we'll see what happens but he writes that noad
mothers are so excited about their kids chance to study that they embroider bags for their school books and he writes good to be back on familiar trails and with the picture of the hands he says they decorated us feasted us gave us garlands and plaques later the de facto chief of the western nomads asked for a meeting with the Edwards to thank us for our efforts and I'll close by saying Heroes s has a great heritage it also has a bright future Edward's son had a heart transplant as a boy he does not know and
does not expect to live a full life but he is devoting his life to working with biblo bibl which used to be the international Bible Society helping them with artificial translation and helping his parents indirectly with that AI is moving beyond software those software enters in does God have a role with you with the future of Bible translation and one last thing you might have heard some background sounds on this recording morning but can you imagine what kind of interruptions there might be in South Asia as people gather to work on recordings and translating the
New Testament what we go through in our lives is minor I've shared with you the heartache of what some of the people in South Asia have been going through press on my heroes God bless you until next next time
