John White - Developing Church Leadership in the Russian Speaking World DCU, Prospect Ilicha 106-A, Donetsk 83059, UKRAINE December 2006 011-38050-567-6550 | jwhite@alumni.princeton.edu | http://www.marucheck.net/jw
What? You say that the Bible is older than that? Well, you’re right, but the Bible has only existed for 130 years in Russian. Before that, most Russian speaking people had no way to read the Bible for themselves.
Bible translation is one of the most important tasks in missions. I don’t work in Bible translation myself, but the more I study missions and teach it to my students here in Ukraine, the more I value it. Cyril and Methodius, two brothers from Greece, were missionaries sent to translate the Bible into Slavonic, the precursor to Russian, back in the 800’s. They’re responsible for the "Cyrillic" alphabet--those strange characters that make up Russian and many other Slavic languages. Then, in 1876, the Bible was translated into Russian--1000 years after Cyril and Methodius did their work for the Slavic people, the Bible was finally put into words that Russian people could understand.
There are people who think it isn’t a good idea to let "common" people understand the Bible. How will they interpret it correctly? But as common people understand God’s Word, revival often comes as they believe in Christ and accept Him into their hearts. That’s exactly what happened in Russia back at the end of the 19th century.
Not everyone in the world has God’s Word in his or her language. Please pray with me that the Bible would continue to be translated until everyone has the opportunity to read it.
At DCU, we just held a conference commemorating the 130th anniversary of the first Russian translation of the Bible, and invited our staff, students, church leaders, and friends to celebrate with us. I really enjoyed listening to pastors, professors and students share about the importance of having God’s Word translated into their language and how it has helped transform society.
As Christmas approaches, I can’t help but think of how God "translated" His Word in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ. God wanted us to understand Him better, and so He blessed us with the incarnation of His Son, being born as a baby in a manger. Our God is truly missionary, as He stoops down from on high to where we are so that we might seek and find Him.
I am amazed at all God has done for me, allowing me to participate in His work in Ukraine as a missionary. God is at work in so many languages around the world, drawing people to Himself. May the Lord use us to help "translate" His message to those who do not yet know Him.
Have a wonderful Christmas,
John