In the Democratic Republic of Congo, André took his translation of Luke 1–3 to a small village chapel to read it to the congregation and gather their response. When he finished, the people applauded. One 82-year-old woman commented, “Very good, my son. Today I have understood what I had never understood before.”
Hearing and understanding is the first step in evangelism and discipleship leading to church planting. God has sent his message of love, but it must reach people in the language and in a form they relate to best.
Making God’s message clear was André’s goal as he worked to translate God’s Word into his mother tongue as part of the Luke Partnership, a joint translation and media initiative.
The challenge
At the time of publication, many large language communities—some with several million speakers—still had no Scripture at all, meaning they lacked a foundation for individual and community transformation. Some communities were difficult to access or faced sociolinguistic questions related to attitudes toward their language. In certain cases there was little or no Christian presence.
The Luke Partnership began as a pilot program to produce initial Scripture and Scripture-based materials in thirty languages. Its early aim was to give these language communities access to portions of God’s Word within thirty-six months.
The team surveyed languages under consideration and used several criteria when selecting projects:
- No Book of Luke and, in most cases, no other Scripture was available.
- No film based on Luke was available in the language.
- No other translation effort was planned or underway.
- The language represented a largely unreached community of more than 100,000 people.
- Active churches were present or church-planting agencies had adopted the community.
- Local speakers could be trained for key responsibilities in translation.
- Where feasible, several languages in one area could be developed together.
The goals
The partnership allowed participating organizations to combine their strengths and create tools for evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. An initial package for a community included a translation of Luke’s Gospel, usually in print and audio, an audiovisual presentation based on Luke, and further Old and New Testament selections.
The Old Testament portions prepared the way for understanding the gospel, while additional New Testament selections supported the discipleship of new believers. The team emphasized audio from the beginning so communities could use the Scriptures before a literacy program was available. Even where some people could read, audio could be the more effective medium.
In many cases, the partnership brought the first Scriptures in the mother tongue to a community. Audiovisual material created interest, gave believers a tool for public or private use, and sometimes opened doors for church planting.
Partnering with future users
The strategy enabled a community to attempt translation without first setting intimidating, long-term projections for a full New Testament project. The aim was to create material that local churches and mission agencies could use promptly, sometimes within ninety days of the start of translation.
Making small portions available early and involving churches and communities in testing helped increase local interest and support. It also provided timely feedback, allowing the team to identify a translation style appropriate to the local setting.
Where churches existed in the language area, they were primary partners in the projects. Where no church existed, the initiative sought other agencies working in the area to support distribution and follow-up. Material was not intended to be translated without a plan for use.
The cluster strategy
Priority languages were often geographically connected rather than isolated. The project therefore developed a cluster strategy, grouping languages from the same area.
Representatives from several languages participated in two or three workshops each year. Churches or other partners helped select three mother-tongue speakers from each language, often with complementary skills, to receive training in initial linguistic work, orthography development, and translation.
Mother-tongue teams worked with experienced facilitators who returned regularly to mentor participants, provide individual assistance, and supplement group sessions. Training continued throughout the workshop series, with each gathering focused on a particular topic.
From the beginning, translators applied their training as they produced portions of Luke in booklet and audio form. To support a high-quality, communicative translation, teams studied the source text, drafted the translation, checked work with colleagues, tested it with other speakers, and completed consultant review.
History and expansion
The Luke Partnership began in 2001, initially working with four languages in Ethiopia and five in Madagascar. Project teams connected prayer and financial support, developed project plans, supplied administration and management, and produced audiovisual versions from translated scripts.
In 2002, after the model had been tested, projects began in several East Asian communities and later in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, and Nigeria. The original article also described anticipated work in Sudan and the Central African Republic.
By 2006, Luke and the corresponding audiovisual presentation had been completed in thirty languages. A second phase enlarged the scope and emphasized the cluster strategy. The publication reported that work had begun in eighty-three languages, with fifty-two language communities then involved in active projects. These figures are preserved as historical claims from 2008 and should not be read as current totals.
From an initial phase to longer programs
Many projects that began with limited goals continued toward additional translation. The article reported that the first Ethiopian projects, begun in 2001, expected to complete New Testaments in 2008. Three of the five original projects in Madagascar also pursued further goals, and twenty-two of the original thirty languages had become full-scale Bible translation projects by the time of publication.
The initial phase accomplished several things: churches experienced Scripture in their mother tongue, trained teams gained practical experience, and local partners learned what was involved in managing translation. Before a larger project was approved, administrators looked for committed local believers, a capable translation team, sustainable support, and meaningful church involvement in review, testing, and distribution.
Facilitators and consultants were essential to sustaining both initial and continuing projects. They also identified potential consultants within local language communities and guided their training.
Reflections
The partnership offered a way to begin translation without immediately committing to a complete New Testament or Bible. Translation teams and local churches could observe how materials in their language supported Christian witness and congregational life. Participants built confidence and acquired experience in an environment intended to strengthen local responsibility.
The article records strong responses from communities hearing or seeing the story of Jesus in their language for the first time. In Madagascar, listeners reportedly stayed up through the night to discuss a translation. In another community, local readers who helped record parts of an audiovisual presentation encountered the text closely, and a small indigenous church formed around the translated Scriptures.
The central conviction was simple: people understand a message most clearly when it reaches them in the language and medium they know best—most often their mother tongue. Translation, training, community testing, and thoughtful follow-up were therefore treated as connected parts of the same work.