“The Forum of Bible Agencies International (FOBA‐I) is an alliance of more than 25 leading international Bible Agencies and other missions organizations with a shared vision: “working together to maximize the worldwide access and impact of God’s Word.” This vision conveys that the Forum is not only concerned with delivery of Scripture but also, most importantly, with engaging people in the Word of God so that lives may be changed.”
Forum of Bible Agencies International. “Mission & Vision.” Forum of Bible Agencies International. http://www.ifoba.org/ (accessed March 10, 2009).
Sending and Assisting Organizations
The Seed Company supports Christians translating the Bible into languages they already know, or languages which are closely related. They publicize the need for expatriate translation advisers.
“Today, the Summer Institute of Linguistics and Wycliffe Bible Translators work together to translate Scripture, train field personnel in linguistics and promote interest in translation. Over 500 translations have been completed, and hundreds more are in the process.”
Wycliffe International. “History.” Wycliffe International. http://www.wycliffe.net/about/history/tabid/449/Default.aspx
“IBS stands for International Bible Society, which has been translating and distributing the Bible for 200 years. STL stands for Send the Light, which in 50 years has grown to be the world’s largest Christian distributor of Christian products. The two ministries merged in 2007.”
“IBS-STL specializes in translating the Bible into languages with 1 million or more speakers.”
They also retranslate outdated translations.
“Right now, IBS-STL has 200 full- and part-time Bible translators working in 42 languages.”
IBS-STL Global. “About Us and What We Do.” IBS-STL Global. http://www.ibsstl.org/aboutus/index.php (accessed February 06, 2009).
Pioneer Bible Translators, International is “serving 9.5 million people in 43 language projects”.
Pioneer Bible Translators, International. “Our Mission.” Pioneer Bible Translators, International. http://www.pioneerbible.org/cms/tiki-index.php?page=our+mission (accessed February 06, 2009).
“The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a fellowship of 145 national Bible Societies working to place God’s Word in the hearts and minds of the people they serve across 200 countries and territories”.
United Bible Societies. “Welcome to the United Bible Societies.” United Bible Societies. http://www.biblesociety.org/index.php?id=9 (accessed February 06, 2009).
-
“The United Bible Societies is currently involved with close to 600 translation projects covering nearly 500 languages. In this endeavor, we cooperate with all Christian churches and many different Christian organizations. Languages into which we translate the Scriptures vary from those spoken by only a few thousand speakers to major national languages and international languages.”
United Bible Societies. “About UBS Translation Work.” United Bible Societies.
http://www.ubs-translations.org/about_us/ (accessed February 08, 2009).
The World Bible Translation Center “has printed and distributed 18,538,065 Bibles and New Testaments throughout its history. In addition it has provided Scripture portions and internet downloads of its texts in the tens of millions.” Their translators “speak the target language as their mother tongue”, but expatriates may serve with this organization as “Greek and Hebrew scholars [to] make sure every word and phrase is true to the original meaning”.
The World Bible Translation Center. “About Us.” The World Bible Translation Center, 2007. http://www.wbtc.com/site/PageServer?pagename=About_Us (accessed February 28, 2009).
“The Word For The World is an interdenominational Bible translation ministry” working in African languages. They provide ministry opportunities in “short-term involvement in Bible Translation” to serve as “short-term trainers”, for people with “post-graduate qualifications in Greek, Hebrew, Missiology, Linguistics or Cultural Anthropology” to serve as trainers or consultants, and for both mother-tongue and expatriate career Bible translators.
“The Word For The World affords those who feel themselves called to Bible translation the opportunity of obtaining practice-oriented training.”
New Tribes Mission
“The NTM missionary team learns the tribal language and understands the culture, so the message of the Gospel can be presented in the language and the manner the people will understand.
They translate God's Word, teach people how to read and write their own language, and teach through the Bible chronologically, laying a foundation for the Gospel among people who have never met the God of the Bible.”
New Tribes Mission. “About NTM.” New Tribes Mission. http://www.ntm.org/about/ (accessed March 10, 2009).
“The Institute for Bible Translation is a non-profit organization founded in 1973 whose main aim is translation and publication of the Bible in the languages of non-Slavic peoples living in Russia and other countries of the CIS. Some of these peoples number many millions, other languages have only a few thousand speakers. Some of the languages have a long written tradition, in others a written form is only now being created.”
Institute for Bible Translation. “About the Institute for Bible Translation.” Institute for Bible Translation. http://www.ibtnet.org (accessed February 05, 2009).
Lutheran Bible Translators
“LBT works with Lutheran church bodies and Bible translation organizations worldwide-- so that every person has the opportunity to read, hear, and understand God's Good News in the language of their hearts.
LBT recruits Lutherans to become missionaries to serve as Bible translation advisors and consultants, or as specialists in literacy, literature development, language survey and vernacular media.”
Lutheran Bible Translators. “About LBT: Information about Lutheran Bible Translators.” Lutheran Bible Translators. http://www.lbt.org/about.htm (accessed February 05, 2009).
Bibles International, the Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions, has ministry opportunities for linguistic consultants, consultants, Bible translators, and translation tools specialists.
Bibles International. “Ministry Opportunities.” Bibles International. http://www.biblesint.org/info/bi/ministry-opportunities-7.html (accessed March 10, 2009).
Evangel Bible Translators
More than thirty translators work with this organization.
Organizations Assisting Translators in Skill Acquisition and Bible Translation
“Founded over 70 years ago, SIL International is a faith-based organization that studies, documents, and assists in developing the world’s lesser-known languages. SIL’s staff shares a Christian commitment to service, academic excellence, and professional engagement through literacy, linguistics, translation, and other academic disciplines. SIL makes its services available to all without regard to religious belief, political ideology, gender, race, or ethnic background.
SIL (initially known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) has grown from a small summer linguistics training program with two students in 1934 to a staff of over 5,000 coming from over 60 countries. SIL’s linguistic investigation exceeds 1,800 languages spoken by over 1.2 billion people in more than 70 countries.”
“SIL works in partnership with local speakers to adapt or translate literature for publication on subjects such as nutrition, farming, health (including HIV/AIDS), and some or all of the Bible.”
“SIL offers training for language work in partnership with educational institutions and other organizations at more than 20 locations around the world. Courses are taught by faculty from the partner institution and from SIL. Classes offered include phonetics, phonology, grammar, language learning, linguistic field methods, cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics, literacy, translation, and language program planning.”
SIL International. “What is SIL International?” SIL International. http://www.sil.org/sil/ (accessed March 10, 2009).
“The Word For The World is an interdenominational Bible translation ministry” working in African languages. They provide ministry opportunities in “short-term involvement in Bible Translation” to serve as “short-term trainers”, for people with “post-graduate qualifications in Greek, Hebrew, Missiology, Linguistics or Cultural Anthropology” to serve as trainers or consultants, and for both mother-tongue and expatriate career Bible translators.
“The Word For The World affords those who feel themselves called to Bible translation the opportunity of obtaining practice-oriented training.”
Organizations Assisting Translators in Skill Acquisition
Most seminaries, Bible institutes, universities, and colleges offer courses potentially helpful to Bible translation. The Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, Multnomah Bible College and Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Master’s Seminary, and Baptist Bible Translators Institute offer more relevant courses.
At the undergraduate level, Moody Bible Institute offers four Greek courses, two Hebrew courses, and numerous Bible courses.
Moody Bible Institute. “Course Descriptions.” Moody Bible Institute.
http://www.moody.edu/edu_MainPage.aspx?id=1172 (accessed March 10, 2009).
-
Also at the undergraduate level, they offer one course each in phonetics, grammatical analysis, phonological analysis, linguistic field methods, cultural anthropology, second language acquisition, intercultural communication, tropical diseases, New Testament missions, and Christian missions, and at least two courses in evangelism and discipleship.
Moody Bible Institute. “Course Descriptions.” Moody Bible Institute.
http://www.moody.edu/edu_MainPage.aspx?id=1052 (accessed March 10, 2009).
-
At the graduate level, they offer five courses in Greek, two in Hebrew, and one in cross-cultural communications.
Moody Bible Institute. “Course Descriptions.” Moody Bible Institute.
http://www.moody.edu/edu_MainPage.aspx?id=1726#Department_of_Biblical_Languages (accessed March 10, 2009).
Baptist Bible Translators Institute
“BBTI prepares missionaries to go anywhere in the world, learn a language, translate the Bible, and plant Baptist churches.”
Baptist Bible Translators Institute. “Specialized Preparation for the Mission Field: Advanced Missionary Training.” Baptist Bible Translators Institute. http://www.baptisttranslators.com/ (accessed March 10, 2009).
-
The Baptist Bible Translators Institute offers courses in Articulatory Phonetics, Phonemics, Morphology, Syntax, Language Acquisition, Cultural Anthropology, Cross-Cultural Communication, New Testament Greek, and Bible Translation Principles.
Baptist Bible Translators Institute. “Courses.” Baptist Bible Translators Institute. http://www.baptisttranslators.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=2&id=5&Itemid=33 (accessed March 10, 2009).
-
They do not accept Pentecostals, Charismatics, or those believing certain Calvinistic teachings. Belief in “baptism by immersion of believers only” is also required.
Baptist Bible Translators Institute. “Requirements.” Baptist Bible Translators Institute. http://www.baptisttranslators.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=23 (accessed March 10, 2009).
Organization Publishing About the Need for Translation
“Joshua Project is a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world with the least followers of Christ.”
“Joshua Project gathers, integrates and shares people group information to encourage pioneer church-planting movements among every ethnic group and to facilitate effective coordination of mission agency efforts. Joshua Project compiles the work of numerous missions researchers to develop a list of all ethnic peoples that is as complete as possible.”
Joshua Project. “What is Joshua Project?” Joshua Project.
http://www.joshuaproject.net/joshua-project.php (accessed March 10, 2009).
World Scriptures is a website providing information about completed Scripture translation.
United Bible Societies and the American Bible Society Library. “World Scriptures.” United Bible Societies and the American Bible Society Library. http://www.worldscriptures.org/about.html (accessed March 22, 2009).
Ethnologue is a “reference work cataloging all of the world’s 6,912 known living languages”.
SIL International. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International. http://www.ethnologue.com/web.asp (accessed March 10, 2009).
Bible Translation
Evangelism
Home