People sometimes ask us 'is that all that you do? Make a Bible? What about fresh water? AIDS? Literacy?' We're also asked "850 different languages? Aren't some of those dialects? Can't you just make quick changes to existing Bibles?
The answers are usually more involved than we have time to fairly deal with the topic. I find it frustrating that we have to constantly boil down years of training and experiencing and living, into sound bytes that don't do reality justice.
This video is one of my favorites, and yet, I'm rarely able to show it. Why? Because it is 4 minutes long and people don't have the patience for it. The times we've tried to show it, we see people drifting out of attention.
The reason I like it is because it talks about the HOW we do what we do, why it takes many people of many types. It explains how we work along side Papua New Guineans and utilize their skills. It talks about how we often do other things to bridge gaps and bring healing.
It talks about the process as a whole. Often times I feel like the questions we are asked all peck away at one big picture. It is VERY hard to give someone the big picture. This video does a good job of that in only 4 minutes. It is still just an overview, each little title and video have hours of stories behind them. But it is the best attempt I've seen at covering the material.
We live in a day and age where complex problems aren't sufficiently investigated because most of us want sound byte answers. Finding real solutions requires much more understanding than a soundbyte can offer us. There is too much information in the world, for us to read all of it. We have to discern what we pay our attention on, and many people choose to pay attention on things which require little time.
Bible Translation requires a LOT of time. This month's dedicated New Testament took 23 years to create.
It is part of our youtube/facebook/twitter generation, that we want information boiled down more quickly for us. And if it isn't quick enough, or simple enough, we move on to the next thing.
Bible Translation takes decades. It takes a lot of people, a lot of effort.
This video is no soundbyte, but it is the most inclusive thing I've seen in the window of 4 minutes.
Take a gander, it will be worth your time if you have questions about Bible Translation and our role in it.
