Bible translators say God "speaks to them," giving them insight on their work even as they now use a new and much faster method of translating the Gospel, thus bringing the Word of God to more people.
Wycliffe Associates told The Christian Post that it has developed a pioneering rapid Bible translation technique, offering more people the chance to read the Gospel in their mother language, uplifting their lives.
The new method is called Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation (MAST). Linda Fahnestock, Wycliffe Associates' MAST regional coordinator for the Americas and Southern Africa, said the new method is based on an eight-step strategy that cuts possibly years, even decades of waiting for an accurately translated Bible into just months, or even weeks.
Translators undergo workshops for them to fit in to the new system.
"At the end of each workshop, we have translators share their experience. And over and over again, Christian translators have said that it has been the most wonderful experience spending all day, every day for two weeks" translating the Bible, Fahnestock told The Christian Post.
What took them by surprise was the revelation made by some of the translators that God is speaks to them. In one of their workshops in Puerto Rico, Fahnestock said, one female translator suddenly "pushed back the chair, got down on her knees, and with tears in her eyes, she began to pray to God" and talk about "how God had spoken to her about how valuable the Scriptures were."
The good news shared by Wycliffe Associates was in sharp contrast to a report that came out just two months ago about the mounting cases of oppression victimising Bible translators.
Bruce Smith, the president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates, revealed at that time that they were getting "new reports of oppression literally every week," noting that "spiritual warfare has become the 'new normal' for many national Bible translators."
Smith said spiritual warfare was evident in the way Bible translators were falling ill, often without explanation, translators being arrested and thrown in jail, some cruelly tortured, translators being assaulted and murdered, and translators' family members experiencing sudden problems that kept the translators from their work.
He mentioned one translator who died in her sleep after the first day of a translation workshop.
Wycliffe Associates has been translating Bibles around the world since 1967.
