‘At last, it is like the heart of Christ is open to the Godié people.’
So said Bible translator Jean Dada at the recent launch of the Godié New Testament in Côte d’Ivoire. This is a typical reaction when people get the Scriptures in their own language for the first time: suddenly, they gain a depth of understanding not possible when reading in their second, third or fourth language.
It’s one of the reasons why launch events of New Testaments and Bibles are so joyful, energetic and boisterous. Another reason is the time it takes to do a high-quality translation – for the New Testament, often at least 12 years of dedicated effort by a team of Bible translators. It’s been a long time coming!
