Translating living letters

In 2 Cor. 3:1-2 Paul talks about not needing letters of recommendation because the Corinthian believers are letters that bear witness to the Spirit of God working in people’s hearts through his ministry.

Over at the LivingLetters blog I have posted several times in the last week about the process of Bible translation in our multi-language project in Papua New Guinea. My wife also has a number of posts that relate to our life in PNG and our desire to translate the good message of hope and trust in God in our everyday lives.

We pray that our lives would be living letters of recommendation for the people who have trained us up in the faith. Also, that our written translations would not just be letters on the page but words of life for those whom we serve. May these friends be living letters that testify to the work of the Spirit in our ministry.

PNG Languages Website

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the most linguistically complex nation in the world with over 800 languages among multiple language families and language isolates. SIL has been carrying out linguistic research in cooperation with the PNG Department of Education since 1956. Check out the research results of SIL PNG here at the PNG Languages Website. New resources are always being added, including unpublished hard-to-find print materials from as far back as the 1960s.

The maps on this site illustrate the great language diversity in Papua New Guinea shown against a very basic topographic color pattern.

We Need Bible Translation Work

Today, someone found my blog by searching the web for this combination of terms…

“we need Bible translation work”

Well, whoever you are, I’d have to say I agree. In the Sepik region alone of Papua New Guinea–where I work–there are 181 languages, but only 18 with adequate Scripture. There are 38 active translation projects, 15 language groups awaiting personnel, and 98 that still need just to be surveyed to determine language viability and translation need.

Worldwide, there are over 600 languages that are waiting for personnel to begin Bible translation. But an additional 2668 languages still need assessment to determine the translation need.

So yes, we need Bible translation work.