እወድሻለሁ

Yesterday, I wrote to my sponsored child in Ethiopia. My college roomie and I started sponsoring precious, little Karot in 2003. She's now a beautiful young woman who's just entering her teens. In closing the letter, I googled how to say "I love you" in her language, Amharic: እወድሻለሁ

This has really made me stop and think about Bible Translation in a new way. Imagine never hearing your sweetheart say "I love you" in your language. He/She might say "Ik hou van jou" or "te iubesc" or "j'taime" or hold up the "ILY" handshape. But imagine never, ever, having him/her say "I love you" in the language of your heart. Not once.

The Bible is one of the primary means by which God communicates His love to us, from His heart to our hearts. But today, 350 million people, representing 2,252 minority languages, have never heard God say "I love you" in their language because they have never read a Bible in the language that speaks to their soul.

"In my country, the English language is widely known and used. But when a young man wants to say 'I love you,' he says it in the local dialect, not in English, because it is his soul speaking to her soul." -Nokano Speaker (Philippines)

God can use any skill

(Mute my music player for best viewing.)

"The greatest missionary...

...is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner." 

- William Cameron Townsend