Oral Bible Translation
The Word for the World’s Pioneering Spirit Continues
Oral Bible Translation (OBT) accelerates access to God's Word for the oral majority. Combining rich oral practices of *internalization with the use of *Render translation software means communities have access to Scripture as the Bible is translated and approved.
The Word for the World has embraced the innovative and accelerating movement of OBT and the benefits are numerous:
An additional pathway to Bible translation for communities with low literacy rates or oral preferences.
Local translators can be trained to clearly and accurately render God's Word through Bible translation software developed for oral translators.
OBT goes through the same rigorous checks as a written translation—peer review checking, community checks, back translation, and consultant checking.
The methodology has been accepted by the worldwide translation community.
As soon as a recording is approved—whether a few verses or a whole book—Scripture can be exported immediately for the local church/community’s use.
Barriers are removed where print Bibles are forbidden.Thousands of people who have waited for Scripture now rejoice.
Let's end Bible Poverty
As with written translation, The Word for the World seeks to enable persons, ministries, and organizations from language communities that do not yet have the Bible in their own language to take responsibility for translating the Bible and ensuring its availability and accessibility by:
Invest in Communities
Individuals, often involved in local churches scattered throughout villages and cities, are identified, vetted, then recruited for both oral and written Bible translation.
Providing Tools
Potential translators are enrolled in *The Diploma of Bible Translation (DBT) program providing academically—sound and practice-oriented training in Bible translation while others are slated for our consultant-in-training program (CiT).Oral Bible translators and advisors may attend the *Introduction to Oral Bible Translation (IOBT) Course and *Translation Advisors (TA) Exegesis Workshops taking translation principles from the DBT program and training through innovative oral translation software.
Creating Processes
Providing an indigenous infrastructure to handle all aspects of Bible translation, we work with local Christian organizations and churches, creating culturally relevant structures which can be multiplied to other language groups within the region.
“We rejoice and celebrate the transformative power of the Oral Bible Translation Project, a beacon of hope and enlightenment for countless communities within Malawi. This initiative stands as a testament to the dedication and vision of those committed to making the Word of God accessible to all, regardless of language barriers or literacy levels.”