Bible translation in the NT

Serving in the Northern Territory

Did you know that only one Aboriginal language has the whole Bible translated? My name is Kathy and I am in the Top End of the Northern Territory with Wycliffe Bible Translators serving Indigenous Australians through Bible translation. Would you like to help give more Indigenous Australians access to God's word in a language they easily understand?

Consider supporting the work of Bible translation in Australia & East Timor through the Australian Society for Indigenous Languages: http://www.ausil.org.au/node/3714

You can also visit my Wycliffe member page to sign up for updates or support my work directly: wycliffe.org.au/kathy

My work involves:

Working on the Plain English Version (PEV) Bible. The PEV is an English translation of the Bible designed for people who speak an Aboriginal language as their mother-tongue, and do not speak standard English. It is used by those who do not yet have the Scriptures in their own language, or who meet with Christians from other language groups. It is also useful for theological training and for Aboriginal people doing Bible translation into their own languages. About 70% of the New Testament has been translated so far, and a few portions of the Old Testament. You can find out more and read the PEV here: aboriginalbibles.org.au/english-plain

Supporting Aboriginal Bible translators. I also support Aboriginal Christians who are translating the Bible into their own language. This involves helping train translators and providing technical, linguistic & exegetical support, as well as facilitating checking of the translation.

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To read more about my experiences, see my posts below.

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The people cried to see Christ crucified

Were they sad or crying 'crucify him'? At chapel at Nungalinya College one morning we sang a song called He Rose Again. It says, The people cried to see Christ crucified But He rose. He rose, he rose again. I have previously wondered if the composer meant that the people were sad to see Christ crucified or called out because they wanted Christ crucified. Some Nungalinya students did actions to the song suggesting they were weeping. But the Kriol translation said the people "j

Jul 141 min read

It comes with the Territory

I grew up in Sydney and have been living in Darwin for 7 years now. I recently saw a couple of women riding bikes in dresses and thought, "I never imagined that would become a normal part of my life." So, for your entertainment, here is a list of things I never expected to be normal parts of my life: Riding a bicycle regularly (sometimes in a dress) Hearing Indigenous Australian languages spoken in my neighbourhood A 200m walk to work No hills anywhere near my place Regularly

Jul 141 min read

Want to do an internship?

This year we have our first full-time year-long intern since I started. Bek is doing a traineeship in Bible translation and Scripture engagement with AuSIL in Darwin through MTS. She's been working on a variety of Plain English Version (PEV) and Kriol projects, as well as helping out with workshops, leading Bible studies, visiting remote communities, updating websites and making videos. Bek is a delightful addition to the team, she is proactive and willing to give anything a

Jul 141 min read

Hear what Indigenous translators have to say!

We recently had a work experience student who made a great video from interviews that were recorded at our November multi-language workshop. Check it out: youtube.com/watch?v=RxwXSJ-itus

Jul 131 min read

You might misunderstand my English

The Plain English Version is sometimes used by Standard English speakers who are doing ministry with speakers of Indigenous languages, or by Indigenous Australians who grow up speaking English as their dominant language. So even though our target audience is speakers of Indigenous languages, we also want to consider how Standard English speakers will interpret things. Here are a couple of example translations that we decided to change because we thought Standard English spea

Jul 11 min read

Tea time?

What does tea mean to you? Growing up, the only type of tea I had more often than not involved rice. I've started calling that meal 'dinner' to avoid confusion, even though 'dinner' meant lunch for my grandparents. I've realised lately that a quite a few things are called tea that don't necessarily involve tea! Tea = dinner Morning/afternoon tea= snack foods High tea = fancy finger food, or traditionally a hearty meal eaten at a 'high' dining table at the end of the workda

Jun 272 min read

Unexpected: PEV Printing

When I decided to do Bible translation in northern Australia, printing was not something I pictured as part of my work. We prepared the second edition of the Plain English Version (PEV) Mini-Bible (an incomplete Bible with what has been translated so far) in October 2024. At the time it felt very soon to update it when the first edition had only arrived just over a year earlier. And it was a lot more work than I expected! But I'm now very thankful that Bible League, the publi

Jun 171 min read

John Epistles

1, 2 and 3 John have now been published in the Plain English Version! The consultant has approved it for publishing; our volunteer proofreaders have checked it; it's been formatted for printing; and it's been published online. (One day it will also be recorded so that people can listen to it, but that will take a little longer.) You can find it in the YouVersion Bible app, Australian Bibles app and android PEV app. It's also available online at: https://ebible.org/study/?w1=b

May 182 min read

Bible college mission teams

At the end of March we had two Bible College mission teams come to Darwin and partner with us. The team from Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC) also partnered with Darwin Baptist Church, and the team from Moore College also partnered with the Anglican Cathedral. I spent most of the week with the team from SMBC (where I studied). I thought I'd be exhausted, but the team's enthusiasm and excitement rubbed off on me! They got to see a fantastic chapel service put on by

Apr 131 min read

“It touches my soul” (Testing the PEV)

As part of the translation process, I tested our Plain English Version draft of 1 John with an Aboriginal lady who speaks Kriol (photo below recording some PEV Psalms). It was such an encouragement to see the impact the Scripture was having on her. After reading 1 John 3:4-5 she said, "It's very interesting. It touches my soul. I can feel it." At the end of chapter 3 she said, "This word is hitting me deeper. It's like I'm doing Bible study." And when she read 1 John 5:4

Dec 18, 20251 min read

Another translation workshop

Sometimes the story of the Son of God being sent to earth to die on a cross so that we can be forgiven and reconciled to God seems so far removed from my everyday life that it's hard to believe it could be true. And yet, I always come back to the question of whether Jesus really rose from the dead. Historians generally don't dispute that Jesus lived and died. But did he rise again? I was recently reading Luke chapter 1 as part of an advent (arrival of Jesus) Bible reading pl

Dec 2, 20252 min read

Working with Gen Z & thinking about AI

Gen Z help in the office We had two Bible college students/graduates helping in the office in early October, and they were a huge help! My colleague Lynette had two Aboriginal ladies from Yirrkala in for a workshop at the same time, and the Gen Z-ers* helped in so many ways. They helped the translators use the computer for drafting and checking, one of them helped them check the spelling in a Bible reprint and fixed the verse numbering, the other made picture books with newl

Nov 13, 20252 min read

Two weeks on Goulburn Island

In September, I spent just over two weeks in a community called Warruwi, on Goulburn Island, which is just off the coast about 300km east of Darwin. My purpose in going was to accompany my new colleague Anne, while she did language learning with Mawng speakers. Anne moved to Darwin to work with us in July, and her role involves supporting language groups in West Arnhem Land to translate and use Scripture in the languages spoken in their communities. Her main focus is on Mawng

Oct 15, 20252 min read