From the Field – Bible Translations and Bible Studies – July 23, 2019
Just as at Pentecost we want all to hear in their own native languages of the wonderful work of God. On our website lutheranmissions.org we have a large amount of material in English. Beyond that we have material in twenty languages: Burmese, Chin, Chinese, Hmong, Efik, French, German, Hindi, Kisii, Korean, Mandarin, Nepali, Oriya, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. We hope over time to add more to these categories as well as to add new languages. In Nigeria where we work with our sister church, the Nigerian Church of the Lutheran Confession, we only have material in Efik which is the language of the tribe we work among. Beyond this there are around 500 languages of the different tribes. In India there are 22 different languages and we have material in four of them. In Myanmar there are around 100 languages and we have material in two of these.
Expand now the view of the need of Bible translations as of 2018. The full Bible was in 683 languages. In 1534 other languages the New Testament had been translated. And beyond this there are portions of Scripture in 1133 languages. Add all these up and you have 3350, while the total number of languages in the world is 7102. This is why organizations like Wycliffe have been working tirelessly to reach even more in their native languages. Now add to this that in many places it is difficult, dangerous and even illegal to distribute Bibles. Just consider the other of the two most populous countries(one is India). In China the government banned online sale of Bibles, an additional obstacle in a country where printed Bibles were already difficult to obtain. The Communist Party is also working on a new Bible translation intended to inject Chinese values into Scripture. This is not good.One of the new languages we have on our website is Hmong. This we pray is a beginning to our work in SE Asia. Laotian Christians at times are forced out of their villages to temporary shelters. Even though in Laos there are supposed guarantees of religious freedom, if you read a Bible you could be designated on the local level for persecution.
Let us pray that the printed Word goes forth and through electronic media it also goes forth for man’s salvation in Christ.