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 plan I'm doing with some friends, and I so appreciate that Luke, along with 3 other gospel writers, "carefully investigated everything [and] decided to write an orderly account ... so that [we] may know the certainty of the things [we] have been taught." (Luke 1:3-4 NIV)At a recent multi-language Bible translation workshop we looked at the story of the women finding Jesus' tomb empty. It was a great reminder of the many witnesses of Jesus' resurrection, including women, who at the time did not qualify as witnesses in court. And yet, their testimony, and that of many others, is what convinces me that it must be true. 

We had 7 languages represented at the recent workshop, each looking at the story of the empty tomb from Mark 16:2-6. On the first day we focused on understanding the story. We did a tour of the Way of the Cross garden at Nungalinya, and listened to, discussed, retold and acted out the story in small groups. Then from the second day groups started drafting and editing their translations. We had to cancel the 5th (last) day of the workshop due to a cyclone, which sadly meant one group didn't quite get their translation ready for publishing. I think everyone else would have liked more time for making videos and other resources with their translations too. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic week and for the Iwaidja language group, it's the first Scripture ever published! 

Give thanks that everyone who planned to come to the workshop made it, and that we all had a great week. Pray that people will be sharing the translated story with their communities, and that people will have confidence in Jesus' resurrection.