Dear friends,
Greetings from Kenya, where the rains continue to fall and hot water bottles ward off the nocturnal chill. Really.
Thank you for praying for Bruce’s recent trip to Tanzania. All 16 chapters of Romans were checked during his six days with the Rangi team. In addition to the two translators, other members of the language community gave their input in ‘real time’ via a Facebook page where the translators sometimes post questions about challenging words or concepts. An unexpected highlight of the trip was preaching (in Swahili) in Dodoma Anglican Cathedral at the invitation of Bishop Chilongani. The 7am start was a little early for Bruce’s liking but his opening joke about Arsène Wenger resigning (Bwana asifiwe! Praise the Lord!) was well received and settled the nerves.
The Facebook moment in Dodoma was a helpful reminder that African societies are forging ahead in many areas and that Bible translation needs to take account of this reality. This was the subject of a recent conference that Bruce attended in Malaysia, entitled ‘Multilingualism, Urbanisation and Scripture Engagement’. In most places around the world, people speak three or more languages on a daily basis (e.g. Kikuyu, Swahili and English), making choices about which language to use on the basis of where they are, who they’re with and what they’re talking about. Languages are constantly changing and new ‘hybrid’ languages are emerging, especially in urban settings: ‘Ni time ya kuregister smartphone yako’ (‘It’s time to register your smartphone’). Identities and aspirations are caught up in these different languages and the church/translation/missions community needs to understand these dynamics in order to bring God’s Word to bear on people’s lives in meaningful ways.
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