Bible Translators: Taking the Word to the World
When you visit the Southeast Bookstore—or just about any bookstore, for that matter—you can’t help but notice the sheer number of English Bible versions and translations available. Between Study Bibles and Readers Editions, paperback and leatherbound, NIV and ESV and a dozen other acronyms aside, we’ve got it made. Many of us carry the Bible with us at all times, thanks to the helpful apps on our phones and tablets.
But for more than 165 million people in the world, the pages of their Bibles are blank. They have no app, no versions to choose from, no translation of the Bible whatsoever. Just imagine it for a moment: the great God of the universe loves us so much that He has spoken His Word onto paper, but entire cultures can’t even hear His voice in their own language. We need to change that.
As we strive to share the Good News of Christ, Southeast is partnering with Pioneer Bible Translators (PBT) to take God’s Word to the world. Right now, PBT’s missionary translators are serving 31 million people with 65 language projects across 15 different countries. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, they hope to begin 19 new translation projects by the end of 2018.
Southeast is joining with PBT to serve one particular group of people in a large Asian country. For their own safety and the security of the translators, we’ll simply call them the “Fire People”—a population of 7 million that has no churches, no Bibles, and no knowledge of the hope we have in Jesus. Nearly all the Fire People live on the steep slopes of mountainous regions. Their unique climate, culture, and language keep them separated from the large urban populations in the cities below where they otherwise might encounter the Gospel. In the midst of this need, God has opened a door for our partnership to work, and
soon the Fire People will be able to read the Scriptures in their own language.
For the first time in history, these communities will encounter the inspired Word that is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Children will finally grow up learning the story of God’s faithfulness to His people—their story and ours! Imagine the overwhelming joy on that day when the work of translating is finally completed and new Bibles are placed in hands that have never touched the Scriptures before. After so many years of darkness, light will finally shine, growing and maturing and multiplying believers as God’s Word is spoken and read in their heart language. It’s this
dream that drives us on.
The future is full of promise. But if we’re honest, not everyone is called to be a Bible translator. Even if you’re not a linguist and you aren’t able to travel to Asia to help build Christ’s Church directly, you can get involved in the initiative that God has placed before us through prayer. Please pray for these translators and their families, and pray for those who are learning a new language and immersing themselves in another culture to bring the Kingdom of God to a fresh frontier. As we pray for the translators working word-by-word, line-by-line, we remain intimately involved in God’s purpose of reaching unreached people.
Jesus has called the Church to take His good news to all peoples, tongues, tribes, and nations, and we get to be part of this amazing work today. If the Lord continues to open these new doors, our own children may live to see the Bible finally accessible for every last language on earth! So let’s rally behind this work, praying earnestly in our small groups, at the dinner table, and in our morning quiet time. Let’s continue asking God to do amazing things in the lives of people who have yet to hold the Bible in their hands or hear His glorious Word proclaimed.
Get Connected
To learn more about Pioneer Bible Translators,
visit pioneerbible.org.