The impact of the PEV

I'm always encouraged when I hear of people loving the Plain English Version (PEV), or finding it easy to understand.

• A friend who works in Kununurra said she read some with an Aboriginal coworker who really loved it, saying, "Look at my arm, the hairs are standing up!"

• My colleague Susanna went to a local Aboriginal hostel to test some of her Genesis draft with Aboriginal people and the lady who helped her was really pleased with it, saying it was so easy to understand.

• A colleague also met someone from rural NSW who knew about the PEV and said people at his church loved it.

• And we recently had a uni graduate visit who started tearing up when reading the PEV!

This is what she said,

"I started tearing up while reading through the gospels in the PEV – the directness and simplicity of the language made them come alive for me in a new way, and made me realise how the good news of Jesus cuts across cultural and linguistic barriers, how it convicts and transforms and brings people into God's family, people from every nation and tribe and tongue. John 1:4-5 was especially moving for me:

The Word had the power to give life to everything, and he showed people what is true about God. You see, the Word was a light for everyone. That light shines out into the darkness and makes everything clear, and the darkness can't put it out."

Evangeline (the uni graduate) and me. She was a great help in the office!

Give thanks that the PEV helps people understand and connect with God's word. Pray that Indigenous Australians who don't easily understand other English translations will find out about it and find it helpful.