The Plain English Version

Some encouragement

As I sit at a computer each day, it's easy to worry that even when the Plain English Version mini-Bible gets published, people won't know about it or use it. However, I was recently encouraged by a couple of ministry workers telling me how useful it is. One works in a community in Central Australia, and he basically emailed me just to say how "incredibly useful" they find the PEV and that he is hopeful it will help people understand God's message more clearly. The other works in a community in Arnhem Land, and, as we talked about the PEV app, I was saying that I didn't really know whether any Aboriginal people were using it yet, and he said he knew people that had it, and that he put it on someone's phone just the other day when they asked for an English Bible.

Progress

Dave Glasgow and I continue to revise the books that have already been translated to prepare them to be printed as one volume, called a mini-Bible (about 75% of the NT and a few excerpts from the OT). We have been reading through each book and also checking that key terms, like Pharisees and Christ, have been translated consistently (depending on context). There's still a bit to do, as well as getting them proof read and finding pictures to help people understand unfamiliar concepts. 

An article with more info

If you'd like to read more about the Plain English Version, I recently wrote an article for Coordinate - the Bible translation arm of the Northern Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia. You can find it in their May Newsletter on their website: https://www.coordinate.org.au/news-events

Give thanks for progress revising the translated books, and that people are already using the Plain English Version. And pray that more and more people will find out about it, and that it will indeed help people to understand God's message more clearly.