The Scripture Engagement Guide
The Scripture Engagement Guide provides simple discussion starters to help explore eight key conditions for the Bible to be used in your context. Some are about the products; some are about processes of research, translation, production and distribution; all are about people. Also included is a helpful Resources Catalogue and link to the Multilingual Assessment Tool.
Additional Description
It seems obvious to many of us that when the Bible isn’t in a language you understand you won’t read or listen to it, but that doesn’t mean that translation alone will guarantee use.
Research refined over the last 40 years established eight conditions that need to be in place for Bibles to be used.
Some are about the products: printed Bibles, audio recordings, films, stories, children’s materials (and many more); some are about processes of research, translation, production and distribution; all are about people – the users of scripture and about the partnerships that go into creating and sustaining the many different approaches available today.
All conditions can be strengthened but any one can be the difference between a translation being used or ignored.
Understanding and evaluating each of these conditions takes time, good communication, and good relationships.
In all of this, we remember that God is sovereign, together with our various partners, we look to him for guidance as we join him in what is ultimately his work.
Through the use of simple video discussion starters the Scripture Engagement Guide helps those involved in Bible Translation discuss issues with community members and begin to identify what conditions are already in place, and what may need attention.
Like many tools this continues to be developed. Some additional refinement will take place over the next couple of months and an offline version will be available for workshops where there is limited internet.
Translation of key portions of the site and of the videos into languages of wider communication (starting with French) is also being explored but may take some time.