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First Encounters
Introduction
Mission Translation Brief
Open Bible Stories
First Encounters
Introduction
Mission Translation Brief
Open Bible Stories
Introduction
Mission Translation Brief
Open Bible Stories

 

Mission-Translation Brief

Introduction

This Mission-Translation Brief assists churches and networks who want to center the task of Bible translation in the context of the church. When the church is at the center of the Bible translation process, Bible translation serves the mandate of the Great Commission, unifies the whole church around the translation task, establishes the church as a mature faith community, and results in a quality Bible translation that is trusted by the local community. Because Church-Centric Bible Translation (CCBT) focuses on building capacity within each lingual church, CCBT equips the church to be able to produce, maintain, update, and revise Bible translations into the future.

Mission: Participating in God’s Purpose Together

  • Key Question: What is the mission of your network? Who has God called you to reach? Tell us about your network and the mission God has called you to.
  • Foundational Passages: Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:6-8
  • Core Projects:
    • Project 1: Network Narrative and Mission: Describe the history and mission of your network.
    • Project 2: Mission Map: Draw (or mark) a map of the people groups that God has called you to reach. Describe your mission strategy to reach these people groups.

God calls us to serve his mission: to participate in God’s purposes in his world. Like a structure supporting a house, the work of Bible translation supports the work of the Great Commission. In this session, we want to explore how to approach Bible translation in a way that helps to advance God’s plan to reach the nations with the good news about Jesus.

Key Question: What is the mission of your network? Who has God called you to reach? Tell us about your network and the mission God has called you to.

  1. Core Mission: What is the mission of your network? Who has God called you to reach? Tell us about your network and the mission God has called you to.
  2. Mission Obstacles: What are the urgent needs of the people/community that God is calling you to reach? What obstacles exist to the spread of the gospel among these people(s)? Tell us about the pressing needs and challenges you face in this work/mission.
  3. Biblical Mission: How do you understand the biblical mandate of the Great Commission? Tell us what you believe about God’s mission in the world.
  4. Mission Strategy: What is your plan/strategy to accomplish the Great Commission work? How do you approach the work of spreading the gospel, establishing healthy churches, and training leaders? How are you fulfilling this work at a local, regional, and global scale? Tell us about your strategy to do the Great Commission work.
  5. Bible Translation as Mission-Focused: How should/might the work of Bible Translation rightly relate to the biblical mandate of Great Commission work? Tell us about your vision to have the work of Bible translation serve the Great Commission.
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we pray for your mission situation? How can we partner with you and support you in your mission work? Tell us ways we can pray for you and partner with you in your work.

Church: Keeping God’s Church in the Center

  • Key Question: What is the makeup/structure of your church network? Who are the key leaders in your church network? Tell us about your church/network/organization and its key leaders.
  • Foundational Passages: Ephesians 3:7-13
  • Core Projects:
    • Project 1: Mission Partners: Identify the churches, networks, and organizations that need to be involved in this work. Identify a plan to unite them together in this common work. Discuss how you will keep the church at the center of your strategy.
    • Project 2: Key Leaders: Identify key leaders who need to be involved in this work. Reflect on their ministry/church roles and the needed translation functions. Determine how you will use the church leaders to accomplish specific translation functions.

God calls us to belong to his church: to experience a loving Christian community. Like the many parts that make up a human body, the work of Bible translation requires the many members of the church to function as one body. In this session, we want to explore how to approach Bible translation in a way that involves the whole church and her leaders.

Key Question: What is the makeup/structure of your church network? Who are the key leaders in your church network? Tell us about your church/network/organization and its key leaders.

  1. Connected Church: What is the makeup/structure of your church network? Who are the key leaders in your church network? Tell us about your church/network/organization and its key leaders.
  2. Church Concerns: What are the urgent needs of the church in your context? What are some personal and ministry obstacles that your leaders face? Tell us about the pressing needs and challenges you face in the church network.
  3. Biblical Church: How do you understand what the Bible teaches about the church and her role (and responsibility) in God’s mission? Tell us what you believe about the identity of the church and the role of the church in God’s mission.
  4. Church Strategy: What is your plan/strategy to prioritize the church in your work? How are you establishing the church in neighborhoods, cities, regions, and throughout the world? How are you developing and deploying key leaders (“equipping equippers”) in this work? How are you partnering/networking/connecting with other key churches/groups? Tell us about your strategy to centralize the church in your work.
  5. Bible Translation as Community-Owned: How should/might the work of Bible translation serve your church/network? How should/might you involve the whole church in the work of Bible translation? Tell us how you would envision the work of Bible translation including and impacting the church.
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we pray for your church and its leaders? How can we partner with your church and support your leaders? Tell us ways we can pray for and partner with your church network and its key leaders.

Formation: Engaging God’s Word for Transformation/Maturity

  • Key Question: How are Christians and churches in your context maturing in the faith? How do you measure Christian maturity? Tell us your current approach(es) to maturing disciples.
  • Foundational Passages: Hebrews 5:11-6:1; 2 Peter 3:14-18
  • Core Projects:
    • Project 1: Specific Needs: Describe the needs of believers and churches in your community. Identify the challenges they face and the ways you can help them mature.
    • Project 2: Passage List: Identify what content you will translate first. Consider how the translation of this content will build translation capacity and serve the needs of the church.

God calls us to mature in our faith: to grow as Christians in truth and godliness. Like a plant that grows and produces fruit, the work of Bible translation can help Christians and churches become strong and healthy so that they live in ways that are pleasing to God. In this session, we want to explore how to approach Bible translation in a way that helps churches and disciples fully mature in the Christian faith.

Key Question: How are Christians and churches in your context maturing in the faith? How do you measure Christian maturity? Tell us your current approach(es) to maturing disciples.

  1. Christian Maturity: How are Christians and churches in your context maturing in the faith? How do you measure Christian maturity? Tell us your current approach(es) to maturing disciples.
  2. Spiritual Challenges: What are urgent needs Christians face as they grow in their faith? What are some obstacles that Christians and churches face that make it hard to grow to maturity? What specific theological issues and challenges does the church face in your context? Tell us about the pressing needs and challenges Christians and churches experience that make it difficult to become healthy and mature.
  3. Biblical Maturity How do you understand what the Bible teaches about spiritual/faith maturity? Tell us how you understand the role of the Bible in the maturity and growth of the church.
  4. Formation Strategy What is your plan/strategy to help Christians and churches grow to maturity? How do you describe the characteristics/marks of Christian maturity? How are you establishing believers and churches in the essentials of the faith? How do you use God’s Word in the establishing process? Tell us about your strategy to help churches grow and mature.
  5. Bible Translation as Theological Formation: How should/might you translate the Scriptures in a formative way that leads to the maturity of believers and churches? Tell us your plan to make Bible translation a formative process.
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we pray for the maturity (spiritual growth) of Christians and churches in your context? How can we partner with you and support you in this establishing work? Tell us ways we can pray for and partner with your church to grow to maturity.

Translation: Making God’s Word Accessible to All

  • Key Question: How are you already engaged in Bible translation? Tell us about your current work in Bible translation.
  • Foundational Passages: Hebrews 4:11-13; James 1:19-25
  • Core Projects:
    • Project 1: Translation Needs: Identify the specific translation needs of your community. Name the specific resources the church wants/needs.
    • Project 2: Translation Purpose: Summarize the purpose of your Bible translation. Record a simple overview of the characteristics of your translation and the way you want it to serve your people.

God calls us to rightly use his Word: to faithfully study and share his Word with others. Like faithful caretakers of a master’s possessions, the work of Bible translation focuses on the accurate interpretation and communication of his Word. In this session, we want to explore how to approach Bible translation in a way that honors God’s inspired Word.

Key Question: How are you already engaged in Bible translation? Tell us about your current work in Bible translation.

  1. Current Translation: How are you already engaged in Bible translation? Tell us about your current work in Bible translation.
  2. Contextual Needs: What Bible translation needs do you face? Tell us about your current Bible translation needs and challenges.
  3. Biblical Translation: How do you understand what the Bible teaches about itself? How should this understanding of the Bible impact your approach to Bible translation? Tell us how you understand the nature of the Bible and the impact of that understanding on the work of Bible translation.
  4. Translation Strategy: What is your plan/strategy to produce quality Bible translations among the people God has called you to reach? How will you ensure that these translations and biblical resources are quality assured (that is, trusted and trustworthy)? What resources are most needed in your language in order to reach all of the people God has called you to reach? What will your approach be to the licensing and copyright of your Bible translation(s) and biblical resources? Tell us about your plans for the work of Bible translation and the creation of biblical resources.
  5. Bible Translation as Church-Centric How should/might you translate the Scriptures in a mission-focused, community-owned, and theologically formative way? Tell us your strategic plan to make Bible translation church-centric.
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we pray for your work of Bible translation? How can we support and help you in your Bible translation efforts? Tell us ways we can pray for and partner with you in the work of Bible translation and the creation of biblical resources in a way that will mature the church.

Summary of Mission-Translation Brief

  • Key Question: At this point in time, how will you approach the work of Church-centric Bible translation? Tell us about your plans for translation work.
  • Foundational Passages: Nehemiah 7:73-8:18
  • Core Project: Mission-Translation Brief

Summarize your discussions in a simple and usable. This summary (written or recorded) will serve as a guide for your work as a team. Your conclusions integrate Bible translation, spiritual formation, church ministry, and mission engagement. Make this summary brief enough to be usable and detailed enough to provide guidance for churches and translation teams.

  1. Mission: What is your overall mission strategy to reach the people God has called you to reach?
  2. Church and Leaders: What key churches and leaders will you incorporate in the work? How will you approach the work in a way that trains trainers (multiplies trainers)?
  3. Formation: How will you do the work of Bible translation in a way that builds translation competence and matures believers and churches?
  4. Translation: What kind of translation will you produce? What is your translation objective? Who is the audience? What is the shape, height, and latitude of the language?

 unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories is developed by unfoldingWord® and the Door43 World Missions Community. The illustrations are © Sweet Publishing and the entire project—text and illustrations—is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, see the license for more information.