"We have to work together to eat that turtle meat" - Bible translation involves team-work

This week we had a two-day Indigenous languages conference at Nungalinya College (a training college for Indigenous Christians where our office is located). It was great to connect with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working with Aboriginal languages and learn from each other. 

Some Aboriginal Bible translators from Arnhem Land presented about the need to work together. They used the analogy of hunting for turtle. We have to work together to do Bible translation, just like "we have to work together to eat that turtle meat."

When hunting for turtle there are always 3 people in the boat: - The person at the front does the actual hunting. They hold the spear and look out for the turtle. - The person in the middle does the background work. They get the tools ready, bail out the water, let down the anchor and make sure the rope on the spear doesn't tangle. - The person at the back steers the boat. They know about the tides and the weather and suggest where to go.

Well, like that, Bible translation into Aboriginal languages needs someone (or several people) to do the actual translation - the mother-tongue translators; and people to support them and prepare things - like us and the many other organisations involved in translation and publication; and people with language knowledge to give advice and steer the project - the language community.

Give thanks for the conference, for the connections made and all that was learnt. Pray with me that all those involved in Bible translation in Australia will work together well.