An Opportune Moment for Bible Translation

March 16, 2022
4 min read

We asked Roy Eyre to share an update on what’s been happening through the ministry of Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada. Roy is pictured above with his wife Becky and their children Aidan, Cotter and Kaitlyn.


We are in a special moment in history. You might be thinking, “Yes, a moment to forget!” It certainly has been a very challenging couple of years. I recently heard missiologist Ed Stetzer share that we are not just facing a pandemic, but a coming together of six forces in what he calls a “cultural convulsion.”

Rather than fall into despair, he asked, “Is this an opportune moment to see a unique work of God?”

For the ministry of Bible translation, the forces we’re facing have increased our conviction and catalyzed new approaches. Let’s get some context.

The Bible translation world is seeing exponential growth in the number of languages with translation in progress.


Growth curves like this are made up of two things:

  • Cumulative momentum in the fundamentals – more translations moving to completion;
  • Inflection points – catalytic moments that increase the angle of growth.

Momentum

In terms of cumulative momentum, in December we celebrated Wycliffe Canada’s involvement in completing two New Testaments. We also saw the start of the final two languages in a cluster of 10 languages in a war-torn part of Cameroon. Just before everything shut down, I was able to join a New Testament dedication there in January 2020, and they will send two more New Testaments to the printer in the next two years.

Canadians are active participants in about 10 percent of the 2,800 active language projects around the world through initiatives that include Bible translation, engagement with translated Scripture, language development, literacy, and capacity building.

RMCC plays a significant part in that Canadian engagement by:

  • sending some of our young people into language roles, as Stephen Rogalsky did a couple of years ago;
  • partnering with those in administrative or support roles here in Canada, such as the Hettingas, Coffyns, Staples, Dirks and my wife Becky and me;
  • providing volunteers, like Miguel Montes, who has now moved to southern Peru and continues to serve as a liaison with our projects there;
  • interceding for our staff, our projects, and our mission; and
  • giving to projects like the Eastern Apurimac Quechua in southern Peru, which is putting final touches on typesetting for the full Bible in their language.

As active participants in this project run by our partner AIDIA in Peru, I want to invite you – members of the RMCC family – to attend the dedication of the Bible. It’s a significant moment to the Quechua speakers, but with only 717 full Bibles completed worldwide, this is an amazing moment for all of us!

We’ll be sending a delegation of Canadians to Abancay, Peru in October or November to share in the joy of the Quechua, and we’d love to have some RMCC people join us.

Catalytic Moments

Second, Wycliffe Canada is reaching for the next inflection point we believe is just around the corner. One way we’re doing that is through the launch of an innovation lab, which is coordinating pilot projects to address some of the biggest obstacles slowing the work of Bible translation and engaging with trends as we look for what’s next.

What might the next breakthrough be?

There is real momentum and energy going into computer-assisted translation. Certainly some of the big players are working on this, like Google and Amazon, but breakthroughs might also come from smaller initiatives.

Wycliffe Canada is investing deeply in the development of our own natural language generation software. Along with 11 other partner organizations, we are developing and testing The Bible Translator’s Assistant (or TBTA) as a tool for drafting Scripture. Early pilot programs in three countries show that it creates natural-sounding translation and maintains accuracy through the process, while shaving 40 percent off the average translation time!

Becky and I have personally invested time and money in the project, and our oldest son Aidan is training to step into a software development role with the team. It’s a family endeavor!

Conclusion

Right now we’re seeing unprecedented collaboration, with dozens of partners coming together to ensure that this generation is the last generation to live without access to God’s Word. As we recommit to seeing translation started in every language that still needs it and to seeing these projects completed while engaging every opportunity technology affords, we have the chance to see the exponential curve jump.

So, to answer Ed Stetzer’s question, we are not on our heels, but we’re leaning forward because we believe the answer is an emphatic “yes!”

This is an opportune moment to see a unique work of God in our time.

Written by Roy Eyre, President/CEO of Wycliffe Canada

(Roy is pictured below with a stack of New Testament Bibles in Eastern Apurimac Quechua, the same language soon to get the full Bible.)

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