How Bible translation changes lives

When I was baptised, at the age of 17, my parents gave me a Bible. It was a step along the road to enabling me to grow in faith and to explore that faith independently. 

But imagine what it would have been like if that Bible had been in a language that I didn’t speak, or there had been no Bible at all. My life would probably have been very different. 

For more than a decade I’ve been travelling the UK and the world for Bible Society, reporting on communities that have received the Bible, and the difference it’s made. Along the way, I’ve visited many neighbouring communities still waiting for the Bible, and the difference between the two is always marked. 

Translation lies at the heart of Bible Society’s work, and has done since we were founded in 1804. In 2021 we completed translations in 90 languages  that are spoken by some 794 million people. But translation is, if you like, just the beginning of the story. Teaching people to read, providing good distribution networks, pricing the Bible at an affordable level, are all important. Then, it’s crucial to train pastors and to enable people to see the connection between this ancient book of books and their own life. 

It's a long game. Never was this more the case than in the African country of Burkina Faso. It’s one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 40 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. 

It’s also a multi-lingual country. French is the national language, but there are 70 local languages and many people will only speak their indigenous language, not French. So for a 17-year-old in Burkina Faso, there’s every chance that the Bible they receive, if they get one at all, will be in French. If you speak the local language of Bissa Lebir, that’s no use at all. 

But local Christians have an astonishing commitment to changing this. One man has taught generations of local people to read so that, when the Bible became available, they could read it. 

In 2002, the New Testament was published. Suzanne, a mother of four, is a subsistence farmer. Sitting in her extraordinarily beautiful mud hut in late afternoon sunshine, she explained how reading the New Testament had improved relations between her and her mother-in-law. Much laughter ensued. 

Then she added, ‘Before we had the New Testament I used to pray, but I didn’t understand my faith. With the Bible, when you pray it gives you light and makes your faith grow and it gives you more happiness.’

Over the next year, we’ll be completing the Old Testament of the Bissa Lebir language and then a full Bible will be available for Suzanne and her family. The whole project, including all the literacy lessons, will have taken 36 years: a life’s work for those who have been involved. I would dearly love to be back in Suzanne’s cool mud home when that Bible arrives. 

Six things you need to know about translation at Bible Society:

• In 2021 we completed translations in 90 languages that are used by some 794 million people
• In that same year, 11 million people received their first Scriptures
• Also in 2021, new or revised translations were completed in languages used by 783 million people
• In this coming year, we are working on translations in 19 countries
• These include a new translation of the New Testament in Serbian for a population of 10 million people
• And a Bible for an ethnic minority group in China that will reach 8.47 million people