{"id":353,"date":"2016-06-13T07:17:09","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T13:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moretruthandlife.org\/?p=353"},"modified":"2016-06-13T07:17:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-13T13:17:09","slug":"tanzania-project-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moretruthandlife.org\/?p=353","title":{"rendered":"Tanzania: Project Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tz_jb_preachin\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lydia and I have had the great joy of staying in Moro Goro, Tanzania for the past three weeks working with translation teams here. \u00a0The Word for the World<\/em> has 18 projects in Tanzania, and each project is working towards completing a full Bible in a language with no scripture available.\u00a0 In some cases, the first published books of the Bible will be the first books ever published in these languages!<\/p>\n

\"kabwe_goodbye\"<\/a>While here, we lived with Reuben and Doreen Kabwe (pictured on the right), a Zambian couple working as missionaries in Tanzania. \u00a0The Kabwe’s are an amazing couple who have dedicated their lives to serving God through Bible translation, teaching & literacy training, and engaging in God’s mission through church planting and discipleship. \u00a0This couple has spent over 13 years in Tanzania helping to develop the Word for the World’s national office, and they have been instrumental in seeing an effective team of nationals become empowered as leaders, translators, and pastors. \u00a0Reuben was even gracious enough to let me preach at one of his churches here in Moro Goro…marking a first for me–here or back home. \u00a0Lydia has been able to connect with partner ministries in Tanzania, spend time with local women in the community, and she has continued to develop her women’s empowerment program.<\/p>\n

\"tz_lydia\"<\/a>During the past weeks, I have been doing exegetical checks on the book of Acts<\/em> with three translation teams: Ndendeule<\/strong>, Mpoto<\/strong>, and Matengo<\/strong>.\u00a0 These three languages work as part of a cluster program\u2014meaning they work as a group of teams.\u00a0 In a cluster program, the teams come together for training, checking, and consultation as a group.\u00a0 The teams in a cluster work on the same books of the Bible so that the various stages of translation can be done as a group.\u00a0 Working in clusters helps to streamline the process as well as save money.<\/p>\n

I worked with the nine translators from these three languages every day discussing the meaning of idiomatic expressions; talking about the theological implications of prophesy and teaching; and training them on new ways to use their translation software. \u00a0Even though the majority of communication was done through an interpreter (because my Swahili is almost non-existent), we shared laughs, commiserated about working on weekends, and talked about God.\u00a0 Altogether, we had a very successful few weeks.\u00a0 The translators are more equipped, and also excited to engage their communities with the ideas and lessons learned from the early church; the translations are ready for the final rounds of revision and checking; and I have learned new perspectives on God\u2019s grace, His on-going mission, and His ability to reveal Himself in all cultures, and to all people.<\/p>\n

\"tz_checks\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For those interested in what this work is like\u2026.keep reading!\u00a0 When doing exegetical checks, the teams are brought together and we review their translations of a book of the Bible verse-by-verse.\u00a0 There are many different types of issues that can be found while we work through the translations and we take time, as a group, to solve these problems.\u00a0 Sometimes the problems are fixed on the spot, and sometimes the translators are tasked with working with their communities to find a solution.<\/p>\n

For instance, this past week we found a situation where regional Swahili dialect issues caused a significant misunderstanding of a portion of Acts 4.\u00a0 A Swahili word for \u201cneedy\u201d had been misunderstood as \u201csinful.\u201d\u00a0 This led to an interesting translation\u2026in English it read:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not a sinful<\/em><\/strong> (needy) person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had sinned<\/em><\/strong> (need)\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a rather extreme example of the types of issues that can arise, but it shows the value of bringing the teams together to review each other\u2019s work.\u00a0 More common issues we worked through were:<\/p>\n