Translating Jita Jonah (part 9)

Neema, Ben, Magesa and Magoma holding the first EVER copies of Jita Jonah!

This is it. The final step.We finished the book of Jonah in the Jita language. Bwana Yesu asifiwe! (Lord Jesus be praised!)

These were all the steps...

Step 1 - DRAFTING: The Jita translators adapted the book from Swahili to Jita.
Step 2 - TRANSLATION ADVISOR CHECKING: I studied the text to make sure the meaning of the original was communicated accurately.
Step 3 - COMMUNITY TESTING: We invited Jita speakers to listen to the text and help us make improvements.
Step 4 - CONSULTANT CHECKING: We worked with a veteran Bible translator to make improvements.
Step 5 - SPELL CHECKING: We carefully checked the text for spelling, punctuation, grammar and any other errors.
Step 6 - READ ALOUD CHECK: We read the text out loud, watched for punctuation and listened for naturalness.
Step 7 - TYPESETTING: We designed a printer-ready copy of Jonah with illustrations and captions.
Step 8 - PRINTING: We worked with our Literacy Department to print Jonah on the risograph machine.

And now the most exciting step of all...

Step 9 - DISTRIBUTION

It was a fun day. It was fun to receive the first copies of Jonah hot off the press (literally). It was fun to hand a copy to Neema and Magesa and Magoma, the Jita translators. It was fun to say "thank you" to them for all their hard work. It was fun to deliver a copy to our next door neighbor, who is a Jita man, and watch him immediately gather his fellow Jita people and start reading the book of Jonah. It was fun to take copies of Jonah out to the village and sell them for $.30 each. (The money goes to our office to cover a portion of the printing costs). It was fun to watch people smile when they read the book of Jonah in the Jita language for the first time EVER!

It's fun to think that Jita people can now learn that Yahweh is the God of heaven, who made the sea and dry land (Jonah 1:9). They will discover that Yahweh sees all the evil that people do (Jonah 1:2). They can read how Yahweh exercises sovereign control over all of his creation (Jonah 1:4, 1:17, 2:10, 4:6, 4:7, 4:8). They can rejoice to see that Yahweh rescues his people when they repent of their sins (Jonah 2:9). They will be excited to see that Yahweh shows mercy to pagan nations who repent (Jonah 3:5, 4:11). They will savor the glorious truth that Yahweh is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster (Jonah 4:2).

Let's pray that the Jita people soon receive the New Testament so that they can believe in Jesus, the one greater than Jonah.

Jesus answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." (Matthew 12:39-41)

We finished the book of Jonah back in September 2013. Since then, we've been working hard on the book of Acts and the letters of John. Please pray for us as we work diligently to translate God's Word into the Jita language. And pray for the Jita people. Pray that they will be ready to accept God's Word and repent of their sins and believe in Jesus.