The ripple effect of Scripture engagement
By Helen Sahl | Wycliffe Today Spring 2024 Edition |
So much of what we think and say and how we interact with one another has been influenced by the Bible. Phrases such as ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ and ‘salt of the earth’ have become part of our everyday vernacular. Many people in Australia no longer realise the impact Bible translation into English has had on our society. Yet what we see in modern Bible translation projects is a powerful ripple effect that creates lasting change among communities.
Kim and Annie Colich are a couple I met while I was a teacher in Papua New Guinea. The Colichs were working on the New Testament for about 20 years in the Tami language. They did not feel like they were close to completing the translation but Annie thought ‘We’ve done a lot of translation work. It’s not ready to be published yet but I’m going to take what we’ve got and start a women’s Bible study’. She sent word around the village and the women began meeting together.
Annie gave them pieces of paper with the translated verses written on them in Tami. The women would listen intently during the teaching times. Hearing the Bible verses read aloud in their own language was so exciting! Many said ‘Oh, this speaks to my heart!’ They would gather around the fire in the evenings with family and friends and share what they were learning, applying the truths of God’s Word to their lives.
Aikiba is one of the women who attended the studies. Her husband, Angham, was angry and abusive. After years of living in fear of him, when Aikiba heard God’s Word being read in her language, her heart filled with joy. She began taking the verses she received from the Bible study home with her. Aikiba started showing her husband the written verses but he would grab them away from her and throw them on the ground. Yet one day, he took the paper and read Scripture in his mother tongue for the first time. His heart was ready to encounter the Living God, and he asked her, ‘Do you think I could attend this Bible study?’
The next week, Angham sat quietly at the back of the group of women and listened to the Scripture verses being read. The words began impacting him and he realised that he needed to turn his life around. Aikiba saw her husband become a new creature in Christ right before her eyes! The whole community recognised that Angham was a changed man. Angham later shared with Annie:
I felt like I was the man in the Bible with the evil spirit who lived in the graveyard, and when I met Jesus, my chains fell off and I was free!
Angham wanted others to know that Jesus was the reason for this change. Later, he even became the coordinator for the Tami Bible translation project. Many people in the village are coming to a new understanding of the power of God’s Word and its ability to change their lives.
Annie’s countenance was glowing when she told me how one life transformed by God’s Word can create greater change in the world, and for eternity. Annie shares:
If this was the only ‘glimpse’ of what the Lord did in my 33 years among the Tami, it would be worth it all. But it hasn’t been the only one! We have seen so much evidence of God at work, particularly as a result of the Scripture Engagement courses we have held in the Tami villages. His Word really does change lives!