Myriam*, a Dudarni* speaker stopped the recording almost as soon as it started and exclaimed, “This is so beautiful. This is really, really amazing!” She was astounded and kept repeating how beautiful the Scriptures were. It was Myriam’s first time to hear the audio Dudarni Scriptures.

Myriam is a Dudarni speaker living in the diaspora in the USA. “We have the Bible in Dudarni,” she told her friend. “But no one can understand it.” She continued, “It’s old and the language is antiquated. It doesn’t make sense to us.”

Unknown to Myriam, a team was working near her home country on a new Dudarni Scripture translation because it was well known that the very old translation needed updating into language the people could understand.

There are three main phases to the process of Bible translation. The first is drafting the text using both related languages and the original Biblical languages. The second phase is comprehension or community checking. It was during this phase that the Dudarni Bible translators were struggling. In such a sensitive location, they were finding it difficult to find enough speakers whom they could trust to check that the Dudarni Scriptures were clear and natural. (The third phase involves consultant checkers who study the translation and check it against the original languages for accurateness.)

But working with Myriam—even though she lives far from her homeland—was a huge blessing. Not only could she hear God’s Word in her mother tongue, but she was able to give valuable feedback that was sent back to the translation team.

At the conclusion of listening to the book of Ruth, Myriam had one pressing question, “Is the Bible really supposed to be easy to understand? Because this is really easy to understand!”

There are over two thousand languages that need a Bible translation project started. Of those two thousand languages it is estimated that one thousand of them will need to take place outside the host country due to sensitivities and hostility to Christian work.

Interestingly, the speakers of many of these languages are now located in diaspora communities around the world. The Lord is bringing these people to our doorsteps! Research continues into what languages are represented where, but this is an opportunity that our partner organisation, SIL, is actively pursuing.

Technological advances are making this possible. While translation teams in one part of the world can upload their translation work onto a secure platform, such as Scripture Forge, those in other parts of the world can be given user access in order to test the Scriptures with diaspora communities. These can include both audio and written forms.

Teams are working with diaspora communities doing both of the first two phases of Bible translation. Translations into new languages are being drafted and Scripture translations are undergoing community checking

These are exciting new opportunities that are making Scripture translation possible for people whose language communities are in difficult to reach nations. Perhaps God is calling you to be involved. There are needs for researchers and diaspora specialists who can connect diaspora populations with Bible translation projects. If you would like more information on how you can be involved in this or some other aspect of serving in the Bible translation movement, please contact: inquiries@wycliffenz.org.

*pseudonym