Readers with knowledge of Arabic and Russian may understand the top two questions. Most of us can probably read the Swedish translation of the question, where it says: Why translate the Bible into people's mother tongue? - even if it is not asked in our native Danish.
People who don't have access to the entire Bible in their native language may have the same experience. They may not understand what the Bible says at all, or they may only understand it partially. What about people who have an almost perfect command of a language that the Bible has been translated into, but which is not their native language? Do they need the Bible in their native language? These questions are raised in this interview with Barbro Lindström, who has worked at the Institute for Bible Translation for more than 30 years, first in Stockholm and now in Moscow.
Do most people in the former Soviet Union not understand Russian well enough to read the Bible in Russian?
Knowledge of Russian varies among the 130 language groups in the former Soviet Union, and there are many, especially young people, who do not understand Russian.
I remember a young Christian woman. She lived in Russia and spoke and wrote Russian very well, even though she is originally Tatar. One day she read that it was important to use her mother tongue, so she read the Gospel of John in Tatar. About the reading, she said: "It was as if I became a Christian again; I understood it in a completely new way." Another example is a girl whose mother tongue is Lezginian, one of the languages of Dagestan. She became a Christian in a Russian church and for her, God was a Russian God. When she heard the Gospel in her native language, she realized that God was no longer a foreign God, but her own God. "He speaks to you in your own language and not just in a language you only know as a foreigner." This shows the importance of the mother tongue.
A third example is a Tatar man from Crimea. A priest wanted to give him a copy of the New Testament in Russian. The Crimean Tatar replied: "I will not accept the book because it is about a Russian God." The priest then gave him a Crimean Tatar version of the Gospel of Matthew. The man accepted it with joy, he even kissed the book and said: "This is our book - can I have more copies?"
Barbro Lindström continues: What would it be like if a Dane could only read the Bible in Norwegian or Swedish? Only Danish speaks to a Dane's heart.
How do persecuted Christians feel when Danes financially support Bible translation work through the Danish European Mission?
Persecuted Christians feel valued first and foremost. They are very grateful when people in the West, including Danish European Mission donors, show concern for them and support the translation of the Bible into their native language.
What does a Bible translation mean for a people group's culture, language and identity?
Creating a Bible translation demonstrates that Christians respect people's native languages instead of simply referring them to a foreign language Bible. Language groups that receive the Bible in their native language feel valued and that they can be proud of their language. Some languages are spoken languages only, with a Bible portion being the only book available in those languages. Therefore, in such cases, Bible translations are often considered the salvation of a language and can contribute to its preservation, development and flourishing.
This was the case with the Bezhtin language, one of the 20-30 languages in Dagestan. A Bezhtin man asked us if he could translate the Gospel of Luke into his native language. It became the first book in Bezhtin. The authorities in the area said: "This is our book" and encouraged everyone to read it to learn to read their language in writing. The authorities even organized reading groups where people could learn to read their language by reading the Gospel of Luke.
