International (MNN) ― Experts say more than 122,000 people around the world become Christians every day. Many of them are in developing nations where poverty is rife, Bibles are rare, and in some cases, haven't been translated into their language yet.
International Bible Society-Send The Light's Steve Johnson says that's changing. "We really believe that Bible translation is the bedrock of leading people to Christ. Effective evangelism really can't happen unless the Word of God is present in the mother tongue of people around the world. So right now, we're in the process of translating up to 50 languages in key parts of the world."
Their teams recently completed the following translations that have the potential to impact 290 million people with God's Word: Danish Bible revision, Nepali Old Testament, Norwegian New Testament revision, Polish New Testament revision, Romanian Bible, Russian Bible revision, Thai Bible, and Orominya New Testament for Ethiopia.
The impact of Scripture is usually felt as people use their translation manuscripts even before widespread distribution has begun. That was true for their Romanian translation.
Relating this account through their website, the ministry writes: IBS-Romania Director Iosif Ignatoaie used the printer's samples of the Romanian Bible translation. He read a passage from it aloud for a Bible study group at the home of a government official. The discussion that followed was unusually insightful and focused on living the passage.
After the meeting, the host confessed he had never considered the
Bible could be so clear and understandable. The clarity of the Scripture enabled such
meaningful interaction. Ignatoaie gave the New Testament to the government
official who began sharing it with his friends and colleagues.
Annual budgets for individual translation projects like this one range from
$3,000 up to $50,000 depending on the scope of the work and the cost of
qualified labor.
Johnson is urging believers to get involved. "There are stories in Africa of people who take one Bible, and they tear it up and pass out different portions so that everybody will have a piece of the Word of God. That's how precious it is in certain parts of the world. I think it's so important for us in the United States, who can so easily take God's Word for granted, to understand that there's a desperate need."
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