Pondering Parallel Passages

 One of the final steps in preparing the Jita New Testament for publication is comparing parallel passages. For example, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus asking his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" It's important that we translate that sentence consistently in all three places. Thankfully, we have some amazing software that shows us all the parallel passages in the New Testament, but there are hundreds!!! 

It's a very time-consuming process, and it takes a lot of intensive focus. As you can see in the example above, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the question of Jesus with the same exact wording. However, each Gospel writer recorded Peter's response differently. We have to be very careful and pay close attention to each word and each phrase in each passage.

And sometimes, one phrase shows up in a lot of places. 

For example, Jesus' command to love our neighbors shows up in Matthew (3x), Mark (2x), Luke, Romans, Galatians, and James.

Please keep praying for us as we finish up the New Testament in Jita!

Thanksgiving Pie Chart

 Think about this pie chart as you enjoy your Thanksgiving pie.

There are entire people groups who don't have a single verse of Scripture in their language. 

Let's continue to pray that God will send more workers to translate his Word for unreached people groups. Please keep praying for us as we work hard to translate the Bible for the Jita people of Tanzania. 

And as you enjoy your Thanksgiving pie, say "thank you" to God that you have the Bible in your own language.

Simbiti Scripture Celebration

 

We praise God that the Simbiti people of Tanzania now have the complete New Testament published in their language! The Simbiti are another group that Ben worked with in Tanzania. He mainly focused on the Jita translation, but there were times when he was able to assist other teams as well. The Simbiti team recently published their New Testament and then held a celebration to thank God for the arrival of the books. There was music, dancing, speeches, and of course, feasting. 

       

One of the musicians shouted, "The Lord speaks to us in our language, praise the Lord! We now have God's Word in Simbiti!"

When the books were unveiled at the climax of the ceremony, one copy was given to a woman who had been chosen to read a passage out loud. She read Matthew 28:19,

Ku bhuyö ni-igha moghende mokore abhantö bhonswe igho bhabhe abheegha abhaane, ko okobhabhatiisya ku iriina irya Taata, irya Omoona, na irya Umwika Ömöhörëëru.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

We praise God that Simbiti people are repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus for salvation! Now that they have God's Word in their language, we pray that the church of Jesus Christ will grow and that Simbiti Christians will go and make more disciples. 

photos by A.Olson

Are you my Mother?

Do you remember that great children's book called, Are You My Mother?

I thought of it today as I was reviewing the Jita translation of the Gospel of Mark. There's a story in Mark chapter 3 about Jesus' mother and brothers coming to talk to him because they were afraid he'd lost his mind. The Bible says, 

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

The Jita language uses three different words for "mother," depending on context. When the narrator says, "his mother," the Jita has {nyiramwene}. When the people say, "your mother," the Jita has {nyokomwana}. And when Jesus says, "my mother," the Jita has {maayi}.

We need to check the context very carefully to make sure that we are translating God's Word clearly, accurately, and naturally. Please keep praying for us! 

Phase 1 Done!

 We finished Phase 1 of the Jita New Testament translation project!!!

Phase 1 was translating, revising, testing, and double-checking each individual book of the New Testament. Now, Phase 2 is preparing the entire New Testament for publication. It's a huge task, but we're excited to be one step closer to seeing Jita people holding the complete New Testament in their hands for the first time ever!

Please keep praying for us. As we get closer to finishing the New Testament, the attacks of the enemy have become more intense. The Jita translators are struggling with more and more sickness and the death of loved ones. Pray for strength and protection.

Thank you!

GOAL!!!

 

Praise the Lord we reached our goal!

We are so thankful for the many individuals, families, churches, and businesses who are partnering with us through regular prayer and financial support. By God's grace and your generosity, we have reached the goal of 100% of our monthly support need.

We're struggling to find the right words to express our deep gratitude to each and every one of you who have prayed and sacrificed and given so generously and so faithfully. On behalf of the Jita people, we joyfully say, "Wakondya!" (Thank you!)

Help the Gerths reach their GOAL!!

I'll never forget sitting in a church worship service in a Jita village. The pastor was trying hard to explain an important concept from the Bible, but he was using Swahili, the national language of Tanzania. After struggling for a little while, he switched to the Jita language and explained the concept again. Immediately, the people's faces lit up with excitement. They were smiling and nodding their heads and saying, "Amen!" They understood God's Word because it was in their heart language.

Our passion is to make God's Word accessible to all Jita people so that pastors can preach from the Bible in Jita, people can read the Bible for themselves, and many will put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and follow him as their Lord.

As many of you know, we are continuing to do the translation work from America, but our ministry budget has increased. We need to be back to 100% of our ministry budget so we can continue working full-time on the Jita translation. As of today, we only need another $382/month to reach our goal. We're so close. Would you please partner with us in bringing God's Word to the Jita people? If you've already joined our team, thank you! We appreciate you! We couldn't do this without you. Please pray with us that God will stir other people's hearts to join this amazing kingdom ministry. And if you haven't joined our team yet, this is the time. Help us reach our goal before July 19 (only four weeks away). We appreciate any commitment amount. You can give monthly, quarterly, or annually. All of it helps us reach our goal. If you decide to join our team, please let us know so we can celebrate God’s provision. We will send out regular updates so that you can see our progress.

Join the team here:  www.wycliffe.org/partner/2EBEFB

For financial support you can give online at the website above or mail contributions to:

Wycliffe Bible Translators

P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862

Checks should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators with a separate note saying “preference for the Wycliffe ministry of Ben and Jeannette Gerth  Account # 240064”

 

Thank you!!

 

Technology is Amazing (most of the time)

I'm so thankful that I can communicate with the Jita translators in Tanzania, 8,000 miles away. This technology really is amazing. Here's a little video about the blessings and challenges of doing Bible translation by Zoom.

Please keep praying for us as we translate God's Word into the Jita language.

Four Future Tenses

Pastor Magesa baptizing new believers

 The Jita language has four different future tenses. The tenses reflect how far into the future the speaker expects something to happen, as well as the level of certainty of the anticipated event. So when we come to John 1:32-33, the Jita translation uses two different future tenses.

Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”

This is a difficult verse to translate for multiple reasons. John is talking about what happened in the past, referring to something even further in the past, and in that distant past he received a message about a future event which will then trigger a subsequent future event.

The Jita translation of these verses uses two different future tenses to clearly communicate the timing of the future events, as well as the certainty of those events. It is such a glorious truth that when Jita people repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus for salvation, they will definitely be baptized with the Holy Spirit and become united to the body of Christ, the Church. 

Please pray for us as we translate God's Word into the Jita language. Pray that we will make it clear, accurate, and natural, and pray that people will be transformed by the Word of God.

Six Completed New Testaments

Praise the Lord for six completed New Testaments! 

Our colleagues in southern Tanzania recently celebrated the launch of six completed New Testaments. We thank God that the Nyakyusa, Vwanji, Sangu, Ndali, Kinga, and Malila people now have access to God's Word in their heart language. 

The dedication events were celebrated with lots of joyful singing and dancing...

...pastors thanking God for the arrival of his Word...

...men and women holding God's Word in their own hands for the very first time ever...

...and of course, lots of food...

We rejoice in the hope that future generations will grow up reading God's Word and believing in Jesus.

Here's what people said about the celebrations:

"It was so good to see people from every denomination coming together to celebrate God's Word." 

"I see people receiving the Word of God and receiving God himself."

Please keep praying for Ben and the Jita translators. They hope to print the New Testament in Jita in the next couple of years. 

{photos by Steve Pence, Katherine O'Donnell, and Mark Woodward}

Pray for Tanzania

Please pray for Tanzania. 

The president of Tanzania, John Magufuli, died suddenly last week, after not being seen publicly for over two weeks. Pray for peace and stability in the country as many rumors and speculations are swirling around about the cause of his death. Pray for comfort for those who are grieving. Pray that people will turn to Jesus for hope and peace.

Can you hear me now?

Those are the words that we all dread on a Zoom meeting.

"Hello? I can't see you."

"Uh oh. You're frozen."

"Wait, now I can't hear you."

Sadly, there's been a lot of that recently in my Zoom meetings with the Jita translators in Tanzania. Because of rising COVID cases in Tanzania, the translators have been working from home, which makes internet connection even less reliable than when they worked in the office. On top of that, the rainy season has begun and that seems to cause some extra interference (even though we're very thankful that God has sent rain). 

Thankfully we were able to make a lot of progress today, in spite of the difficulties.

Please pray that God would give us clear, stable internet connections and that our checking sessions together by Zoom would be very productive.

Jita Matthew books finally arrive!

Magesa is holding the book of Matthew printed in the Jita language for the first time ever!

We're so excited! The shipment of Jita Matthew books finally arrived in Musoma! It took longer than expected because we discovered a major problem with the first printing. Some pages were blank, other pages had words cut off, and still other pages were so blurry that they were illegible. After reprinting those books, they were shipped to Musoma, and now they finally arrived. This is the first time that the book of Matthew has ever been printed in the Jita language...ever! Praise the Lord! 

Thank you for your prayers during this long process. It took years of intense labor, input from lots of different people on multiple continents, and lots of prayer...but it's done!

Now let's pray that the Jita people will come to believe in Jesus as Messiah, Immanuel, Lord, and Savior.

Wycliffe update video

Check out this video about what God accomplished through Wycliffe Bible Translators in 2020. God's Word is still alive and active, even in the pandemic. If you look closely, you can catch a glimpse of Tanzania in a couple of the clips!