God-Towards All Liver-With Love

That is how "Love God with all your heart" looks like after it is translated into one of the languages used in Columbia.  You can’t love God with anyone else’s heart, so "your" is not needed. In the English version heart means our whole being of which our "heart" is the centre  (not the physical heart) In this language they use "liver" for the centre of their being. The words acting as prepositions in this language are particles attached to the end of the words they apply to.  Finally, the verb is put at the end of the sentence.

Bible translation is not just simply using an English/other language translation book. No. It is more about understanding the culture and how language is used.

This is just a small part of what a representative from Wycliffe shared with us when he came to do a presentation last year. He also showed us a presentation about Wycliffe’s Vision 2025.

With no increase in the rate of progress, it had been estimated that all languages would have some of the bible or at least a translation project started by 2150. God challenged Wycliffe to be a part of getting this done by 2025.  They, in partnership with others, took up the challenge and God has honoured that commitment. The process is accelerating and at the current rate of progress a translation programme should have been started in all languages which need one by 2038. Keep praying and supporting them so the 2025 target can be met

As an example of what is involved, Papua New Guinea has a population of around 5.5 million people and over 700 languages!!

Many of those working with Wycliffe (450 from the UK and over 6,000 round the world) need an understanding of culture, anthropology, linguistics, phonetics and often lots of other skills. The process is a long one which is why it can take up to 15 years to translate the bible into a particular language. Some languages are not even written down yet!