Bible translation helps individuals feel noticed by God
When people gain access to Scripture in the language that serves them best, they have opportunities to grow in their understanding of God and His ways. Often, they also gain a deeper understanding of their own worth. For many people, this understanding of their significance to God begins with the conviction that He is their Creator, Redeemer and Father. They also discover that as children of God, His resurrection power is available to them through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
These truths transformed Marcelina Suañe, a Quechua woman in Peru. As a youngster, Marcelina was convinced she had little worth. She couldn’t attend school, because education in her area was only open to boys.
“Instead,” she says, “I was put in charge of the animals. I did not know how to read. I thought of myself as having less value. I was very sad.”
Much later, a Bible translation initiative in her Eastern Apurìmac Quechua language began to open up her world. The project led by AIDIA, a Wycliffe partner organization in Peru, included a Bible-based literacy class for women. There, Marcelina acquired the basic skills she needed to begin reading God’s Word on her own.
Some time later, her husband was hospitalized and Marcelina began praying desperately for his healing.
“In His kindness,” says Marcelina, “Father God talked to me through His Word. I was able to read whole passages, and understand them. That is how [His Word] got into my heart. He comforted me and I found my life changed!”
Stories like Marcelina’s deeply inspire the incoming executive director of SIL (Wycliffe’s key partner organization) and keep him invested in the work of Bible translation.
“What excites me . . . is that it is about people,” says Dr. Johnstone Ndunde.* “It’s about transformation. It’s about change that is so deep from within that actually when people encounter God in their languages, when people encounter opportunities for development in their languages, there is nothing that hinders them. . . .
“Their gates of life are wide open.”
For Marcelina in Peru, the gates of life have opened much wider than she ever dreamed. She now has a growing vision for her life and a growing passion to serve God and others.
“Now that I know how to read Quechua,” she says, “I am going to take His Word to where His children need it. I have so much desire to go and tell others.”
The changes in Marcelina’s life started when she began reading Scripture in her language—and discovering her true value in the eyes of God.