Posts Tagged ‘The Seed Company’

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In the news this week…

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

The Guardian have written about a man in New York who has been inspired to write out the entire Bible:

“I hadn’t counted on the fact that it would end up being beautiful,” Patterson said. “Or that it would be so exhilarating. And so long.”

Patterson, 63, might seem like an unlikely scribe for the King James version of the Bible. Tall and bald with a hearty laugh, the retired interior designer is neither monkish nor zealous. He goes to church but has never been particularly religious. Health issues – including Aids and anemia – have sent him to the hospital and slowed the work. He relies on two canes and will lean on walls and furniture to get around his apartment near the Massachusetts border. More from the Guardian article.

A translator writes the word. Photo by Søren Kjeldgaard.

A translator writes the word. Photo by Søren Kjeldgaard.

He’s been writing the Bible for interest and for the beauty. But there are people in some part of the world writing for their lives – writing the Bible as the only way to share hope. For example, we’ve shared this account from Open Doors before:

CHINA: “We took shifts copying for 20 days continuously, two copying and two correcting. By the last night, we finished and went to return the Bible. Exhausted, we fell asleep on the way. Morning came and we rushed to return it to the elderly woman, constantly apologizing. We started reading our hand-copied Bible immediately. At the time we had 10 churches, and we used that Bible during meetings. This copy was lent among the churches. This Bible is very precious to us. We hid it at a meeting place by digging a hole, putting it in and covering it with a rock. I used it for 10 years, until it was discovered and confiscated.”

Writing out the Bible in a language that truly speaks to you is a brilliant thing to do, and if you’re interested, we’d encourage you to get on board with the Write the Word programme our partners The Seed Company are running. As you read and write, think about how much we have and remember that there are many people still waiting for their first verse! Give God’s Story.

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Make a joyful noise!

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

The word of God is light in my darkness, hope for the hopeless, strong and true. The word of God is strength for the weary, a shield for those who trust in you!

In June last year, the very first Gamo New Testament was released. That’s something worth singing and praising God about!

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This music video was produced by Wycliffe partners The Seed Company with Brenton Brown.

Year on year, the number of people who have God’s enlightening and hope-giving word in a language they understand is growing. It’s worth praising God about!

There are loads of ways you can get involved with praising with Wycliffe: why not try out Get the word out, ideas for inspiring your small group through Bible translation themed activities? Or plan to join with other praisers on 9 November for Frontline Prayer, Wycliffe’s 2013 day of prayer (details coming soon).

How does news about what God is doing around the world get you praising?

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Press play for the voice of God

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

As English-speaking Christians, we often forget how much we have: we have easy access to the Bible (in loads of versions) and we know that when we speak, God listens and understands. This account from a worker taking Proclaimers (digital audio players with Scripture recordings) to a people group in Ghana reminds us that not everyone does:

A Konkomba village scene. A woman cooks and her child looks on.

Morgan remembered the early years when he took recorded Scripture to the Konkomba in Ghana. ‘I asked one man if the village wanted to hear God’s word in his mother tongue. He said, “No, no. God’s doesn’t speak Konkomba.”

‘Then I set up a Proclaimer audio Bible and pushed play. The man’s eyes widened. He grabbed a gongo [piece of metal] and rushed through the village… bam, bam, bam! Soon the entire village sat under the trees ready to listen.’

Morgan pushed play again. The genealogy of Jesus rolled out in their language. ‘Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren…’ (Matthew 1:2 KJV) The crowd was riveted. When the story stopped 45 minutes later, they roared, ‘God speaks Konkomba! He’s from among us! We don’t need a translator to talk to God.’

There are many people, all around the world, who still believe that God doesn’t know them and that they can’t speak to him because of their language. Translating the Bible into these languages is a demonstration of the hope, love and grace of God. Give God’s word.

This account was originally published in SeedLinks, the magazine of our partners The Seed Company. Read the rest of the magazine for more about the impact of genealogies, the need for translation, and creative ways people are getting involved with Bible translation.

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A mission of prayer

Monday, January 14th, 2013

In 1999, Ernie got a mission. He began to pray for his city every day, and he didn’t stop for 19 years. Now he is encouraging a new prayer group, and churches across the city are praying for the Bakossi people.

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You can find out more about the partnership between Ernie, the Pittsburgh churches and the Bakossi people at theseedcompany.org/ernie.

How could you serve God and his people in prayer?

The Seed Company is a US Wycliffe organisation committed to partnering people with the work of Bible translation.

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The year of giving artfully

Wednesday, December 12th, 2012

Today, 12/12/12, Jill Davis from South Dakota, turns 28 years old. And she has one simple birthday wish: to raise funds to translate 879 verses – the equivalent of the book of John – into the language of the Ehty people of South Asia.

For the last year Jill has been building up to her special 12/12/12 birthday by doodling a Bible verse every day on her blog at www.year27.com. Every day, that is, except for Sundays. Jill set those aside as Silent Sundays to remind us that, for the Ehty people, every day is a silent day without Scripture in their own language.

‘This has had a huge impact on my life,’ Jill says. ‘It’s an opportunity for me to use the gifts and talents that God has given me to honor and glorify him. It’s also made me a lot more consistent in reading my Bible each day. God’s word has really come alive to me this year and that’s what I am hoping will happen when the Ehty people of South Asia read God’s word for the first time!’

There are only about twenty Ehty people who have come to faith in Christ. Some have renounced their faith due to heavy persecution, while others have grown stronger in the Lord during hardship. Imagine what having Scripture would be like for these people.

To give you just a taster of Jill’s art, these are some of our favourite of her doodles from the year:

5th March – Psalm 118:24 3rd December – Daniel 2:2-3
2nd February – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 19th September – Psalm 9:8

So far Jill’s a third of the way there with 315 verses sponsored! If you’d like to contribute with her to the goal, you can do it through The Seed Company, one of our US partners. Jill’s artwork is also available to buy at http://society6.com/year27. All profits will go to the Ehty translation.

What could you do to bring God’s word to the Bibleless peoples of the world?

This post was originally written for Wycliffe USA’s blog by Angela Nelson. Read the blog here.

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Strength in numbers: communities translate the Bible

Monday, October 29th, 2012

So, you want to translate the Bible into a little-known but loved-and-used language? Obviously, you need to start by finding the language, but (since you’re reading this) the chances are it won’t be your own. How can you make sure that the final translation is not just accurate, but sounds right and natural to the audience?

Image from The Seed Company

In any Bible translation project with Wycliffe, getting the naturalness and accuracy right are big priorities. And traditionally, the former has been done by extensive testing among the community once the mother-tongue translators and exegetical experts have had their go. But one Bible translation partner, The Seed Company, are investigating ways that get the community involved with the translation much earlier than that: Crowdsourcing.

‘Crowdsourcing is what Wikipedia does. When you open a process to a larger community of interested people, you end up with a far greater aggregation of diverse knowledge, insights, experience, and even areas of expertise that exceed the intelligence of the small, closed group of experts….

‘This year, The Seed Company, in collaboration with our partners in South Asia, conducted an experiment to see what would happen when a Bible translation project is opened to full community participation from the start.

‘The results were astounding. Within months, over 3,000 people participated via their own custom-designed Web site where the translation work resides. About 78 people were confirmed by the community as quality drafters. Over 100,000 votes were cast, answering essentially the same questions: Is the translation clear? Does it accurately convey the meaning of the original texts? And does it sound natural?’

Read more about this project over on The Seed Company’s blog.

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What we have waited for

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

Wycliffe Bible Translators are working with more than 100 partner organisations to get God’s word to people in a language that they really understand. One of our partners is The Seed Company. They recently shared this amazing testimony of the Etulo people, who are starting Scripture translation. It’s The Seed Company’s 700th translation, but for the Etulo people, it’s the first Scripture in their language!

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‘It takes many skills, and many people working together.’ Find out more about working together, supporting Scripture translation around the world here.

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No longer a foreign God

Friday, June 15th, 2012

Peter has a heart to see the Bible translated into the languages in East Africa. In fact he’s the general secretary for Bible Translation and Literacy of East Africa. On their website, one of our partners, The Seed Company, shared this from him:

“I was blessed to have been born in a community where the Bible was available,” he said. “When I received Christ as a young man in college, I became aware of people groups in my country who don’t know Jesus because the Bible is not available in their language.

“There are 8.6 million people in Kenya, with 50 languages — some have the New Testament and some have portions of Scripture; 19 have nothing,” he said. “Some of them have no written language … and my heart goes out to them.”

“Bible translation brings life transformation. Their worldview changes when they know God speaks their language. He’s no longer a foreign God.” Many in Kenya’s Bibleless people groups believe their languages have no value. He said, “A man in the Sabaot community of Western Kenya prayed aloud in his mother tongue in a gathering. Afterward, another man stood up and apologized to God for him praying in a language God wouldn’t understand; he then prayed in Swahili so God would understand.” Read more here.

Praying in the mother tongue is just one example of how starting Bible translation can change a language group. Consider how you could support the transforming work of Bible translation and language development.

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Get involved

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

Wycliffe Bible Translators work with partners around the world who are passionate to see people read and understand God’s word in the language that is clearest for them. The Seed Company, one of these partners, is focusing on the urgency of getting God’s word to all people, and are passionate about seeing the work start everywhere it’s needed in this generation.

In this video, they explain not just why they’re so passionate, but how churches are getting involved in seeing God’s word reach people through the Bible, through Bible stories, through translation into sign languages, through ‘The Jesus Film’.

What can you do to be involved? The list is endless: hold a fund-raising tea party, play a game, pray with us through our prayer diary, teach in another country for a year, provide hospitality to folks in this country, give someone a copy of our magazine, tell someone that you love the Bible so much that you want to give it to someone else. Get involved and give the Story everybody needs.

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God, When Will You Speak in My Tongue?

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

This poem is by James Lokuuda Kadanya, a speaker of the Toposa language of South Sudan. Toposa is still without Scripture.

God, When Will You Speak in My Tongue?

Far and near
It is said that you, God, speak!
How do you do that?
Is it in their tongues?
If it is truly so,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

East and west, north and south,
The Creator speaks, it is said!
Not in the language as of birds;
But in other human tongues I cannot understand!
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

Children and grown-ups of other lands,
With their different tongues,
Know your voice.
In their tongues you speak a special message to them!
If you speak messages in different tongues,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

In the world around, we perceive you,
Yet your language is not clear.
We want to know you personally,
We want to hear you speak to us.
If you know all tongues,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

We search you as a treasure.
Our eyes look on mountains, rivers,
Even in caves, forest and world around us.
Many voices are heard, confused we become,
If your voice is one, as of that of the Creator of all,
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

Oh! God, Creator of all people,
You who do not segregate,
Is it possible to hear you speak?
Can you speak in my tongue?
God, when will you speak in my tongue?

When he wrote the poem, James was studying in a linguistics school, and he now works for a mission, spreading God’s good news around the country. As many as half a million people who speak Toposa still only have a few portions of the Bible in their language. Do something so that people like James will hear God speak their tongue.

This poem has been reposted from the blog of a partner organisation, The Seed Company. Read their blog.

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Posted in Africa, Culture, Languages, People | 4 Comments »

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