Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Temecula office link to worldwide Bible translator group

Try a little experiment: Put your open palm in front of your mouth and say the word “top.” Now do the same and say the word “stop.” Feel the difference between the puffs of air you feel on your palm even though each word contains “top?”

This is only one of what linguists call “bilabial stops” in the English language. Now consider that the world has approximately 6,912 languages, not counting dialects. Factor in the languages that contain clicks and even whistles, not to mention complications like the Tzeltal language of Mexico, which has 26 ways to say the word “carry.” Devout Christian or not, one can begin to appreciate the challenges Wycliffe Bible Translators face in translating Bibles into native tongues of indigenous people throughout the world.

With about 1,350 projects ongoing worldwide at present, Wycliffe’s goal is to see a Bible translation program in progress in every language by 2025.

The company, headquartered in Orlando, FL, has regional offices sprinkled throughout the country, with one in Temecula. The approximate 4,000 employees around the world are nondenominational, but their work is to support missionaries with one goal. Perhaps Mack Timm, director of operations in Temecula, says it best: “Our mission is to give them God’s word in their language and let it speak to them in their own culture, not ours.”

Easier said than done.

Linguists, like Temecula’s Robin Thurman, must not only immerse themselves in a language but in the culture of a country so that a translation makes sense to the locals. Direct word-for-word translation may not work. Imagine trying to assemble a product from an instruction sheet with a direct Japanese-to-English translation.

And, if you’ve never seen a camel, chances are there’s probably not a word for it in your language, so the translators must use an illustration to explain this common form of transportation in Biblical times. Same goes for a civilization that has never seen an ocean or a horse.

Culture, too, plays a big role and Wycliffe people are not there to judge, Thurman said. For example, he explains that in some places in the world it is common for a man to have several wives. To the western world, the practice is considered not only illegal but immoral; however, as Thurman explains, in the particular culture it’s a matter of survival because if the man did not support all of his wives, they would starve.

Just getting the Bible translated into a group’s language might not be enough. If the people cannot read it, Wycliffe has failed, so to avoid such pitfalls they have become the largest non-government literacy trainers on earth. The company publishes books of interest to locals from how best to raise a sheep to AIDS awareness in Africa. They’ve even pitched in to get wells built to supply fresh water.

Missionaries travel to all corners of the world and live under primitive circumstances to complete their missions.

Ruth Thurman has spent more than 40 years teaching in these isolated outposts. She and Robin met in college and went on the adventure of a lifetime while having a family of their own and working in Papua New Guiana, one of the most diverse countries on earth with more than 850 languages and at least as many traditional societies.

Norm Purvis, who works in Temecula, spends his day recruiting teachers with a sense of adventure to send worldwide to teach the basics. He said his goal is to recruit 300 a year but he usually only gets one hundred fifty.

Danger is always real to the missionaries, Timm said.

Thurman said that in one isolated area in Papua New Guiana, tribesmen told him to leave because they were expecting to be fighting within the next couple of days.

Another missionary, an elderly women, reported being physically picked up, carried into a forest and hidden before two tribes had a conflict on the roadway.

Still, where things seem so different they can be very much the same. Thurman and Timm said every group of people they encountered have a sense of a greater power or great creator, although the word for it may not be “God.”

Wycliffe was founded in 1934. It was recently named the number two Best Christian Place to Work in the nation. Its work is funded only through donations.

Timm said the company is always looking for teachers and people who have experience with languages. To learn more about Wycliffe Bible Translators call the main office at (407) 852-3843 or the Temecula office at (951) 719-1105.

 

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