Australia AUSLAN Bible Translation

Overview

The Auslan (Australian Sign Language) project provides Bible translations for deaf people in Australia. In 2020, the project paused to transition into a new committee. Now that the translation work has relaunched, the team is moving towards more translation work and Bible engagement resources, including the production of Auslan animation videos.

The Need

In 1996, Bible Society was approached by Christians in the Deaf community to help them translate the Bible into Auslan. In the two and a half decades since, the team has worked under translation consultant John Harris and project chair Mac Adam. Auslan is primarily used in Australia, and is one of about 130 sign languages worldwide. It dates back around 200 years and is used by about 20,000 people to communicate every day.

In 2020, when John and Mac both turned 80, the Auslan translation project began to transition towards new leadership under fellow Bible Society translation consultant, Amy Cruickshanks. Part of the transition to new leadership will involve the training of new deaf translators.

sign languages worldwide, AUSLAN is one of them.

>16,000 people in Australia use Auslan at home (2021 Australian census).

Goals

In 2022, The Auslan team produced an animation video of the Who?

What? Why? How? of Christmas story in partnership with, Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia. The video is based on a children’s book by Susannah Mcfarlane around the

Impact

questions children have about God and Christmas.

For 2023, this project will work on an Easter production for the Jesus. All About Life campaign as well as create other Bible engagement resources around key topics and

The impact of this project will be seen as 20,000 daily users of Auslan are able to engage with the Bible more fully. Through the Auslan translation, deaf people in Australia are provided the tools to understand the message of the Bible in greater depth — many to understand it for the first time.

The team have published Luke, John, Acts, selections of the Pentateuch, selections of Paul’s epistles, as well as a full retelling of the story of Jesus (a combination of all four Gospels).

Prayer Needs

events. More work is underway to produce materials for youth and children, including an Auslan translation of Jonah.

Testimonies

“After a lifetime of reading a printed Bible in English and trying to understand its detailed message, Mum found that the Bible came alive with the Auslan Bible. Mum was reading the Bible in her first language for the first time. Many deaf people have come to us and said how they have read a passage many times throughout their life, but this is the first time they have truly understood it.

“What a blessing it is for Deaf people to read the Bible in their language to understand more of the Bible’s message.”

Peter Bonser, a member of the Auslan translation team.

Please pray for ongoing translation work, especially with a new committee on board.

Pray for wisdom as the team chart the way forward.

• Praise God for the spiritual growth and sharing made possible by the Auslan Scriptures.

• Praise God for the team’s wonderful partnership with the Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia in creating engaging Auslan animation videos that teaches around the word of God.

Mongolia Bible Translation

Overview

This project aims to meet the demand for a new Mongolian translation that is easier to understand for both readers and listeners. The project seeks to produce an exemplary translation in Mongolian and to have a strong impact among Mongol-speakers around the world. Started in 2015, the translation is projected for completion in 2027.

The Need

The population of Mongolia is three million, which includes approximately 65,000 Christians.

Mongolia uses the Khalkh dialect in all its official documents and all Mongolians understand this main dialect. With literacy rates of over 95 per cent, most Mongolian people can read and write the Khalkh dialect.

A translation that is more understandable and naturally flowing in this dialect has been greatly needed for many years now, as expressed by church leaders and believers.

This translation has the potential of being widely used in all Protestant as well as Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches in Mongolia.

3m ±65k people in Mongolia.

Christians in Mongolia.

95% of Mongolian people can read and write in the Khalkh dialect.

Goals

This project aims to fulfil Bible Society’s mission of providing the Bible in written form to every Mongolian family.

The goals of this project are: to translate the Bible from the original languages; to be accurate; to be natural with Mongolian sentence structures and phrases; to be easy to understand for both readers and listeners. Those working on the project will employ a balanced- approach in translation, as well as an emphasis on Hebrew language acquisition by aural and reading immersion methods.

So far, the Old Testament was completed as a first draft and nineteen books have been fully translated. Work has begun on the New Testament — with emphasis on Greek language training and translation — and will continue throughout 2023.

This is a 14-year project, with portions of the Bible to be released for consultation and review throughout the process. The near-final translations are made accessible to readers as soon as possible through the project website. This helps in receiving immediate feedback and in encouraging the Scripture engagement aspect of the project.

Testimonies

This project will ultimately impact 80,000 people. This takes into account the approximate number of Christians in Mongolia (65,000) and abroad (1,000), plus those who would be interested in reading the Bible.

Mongolian Christians will be able to read the Bible with greater ease and comprehension. The newly translated version will benefit not only Mongolia but has the potential to be used by 5 million Khalkh speakers around the world, some of whom are also in China and Russia.

Impact Prayer Needs

“I was inspired many times while translating God’s word. I am moved [by] how biblical authors offer us [a] deeply profound diagnosis of human nature, especially our sinful nature. We try to find out the whole array of meanings of a word considering its different usages in different contexts. Having a whole picture of the words is very important in solving translation issues. Thank you for your prayer and support for our work in Mongolia.”

B Orgi, Project Translator.

“We expect this project to have a lasting impact and contribution to the growth of Mongolian Church.”

Purevdorj J., Principal of Union Bible Theological College

• Pray for the effective training of translators in biblical languages, linguistics and Bible translation.

• Pray for cooperation and unity among translators, Mongolian churches, committee members and the Mongolian Bible Society.

• Pray for the team as they work to accurately and faithfully translate the New Testament in 2023.

• Pray for the staff working full-time on this project to overcome the economic hardships Mongolia is currently facing due to COVID-19 and the Russian war in Ukraine.