Action in Albania
As we look around our troubled world today there can be a tendency to think that all is doom and gloom – and for some, unfortunately, that is the case. I am reminded of a song we often sing in church: “Great is the darkness that covers the earth, oppression, injustice and pain. Nations are slipping in hopeless despair….watching while sanity dies, touched by the madness and lies”. Those words do indeed describe many a situation around the world today. In fact, they describe what it must have been like in the country of Albania between 1945-1991, when it was a communist country, completely shut-off from the rest of the world. In 1967 the country’s dictator, Enver Hoxha, even declared Albania to be “the world’s first official atheistic state”. It was forbidden to believe, or even speak about God! Bibles were banned and burnt, buildings of worship were demolished, and the mood in the country was one of suspicion and corruption. By 1985 Albania was considered to be the third poorest country in the world!
But – people around the world were praying hard! In effect they were praying the words of the chorus mentioned above: “Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus, pour out your Spirit we pray”. Ahead of my trip to Albania in March, one of those pray-ers emailed me to say: “I am encouraged to hear of your visit to Albania. When I was growing up, Albania was always regarded as a country that was very alien to God's word and Christianity. There was much prayer for the persecuted church there”. In 1991/92, in answer to those prayers, something significant happened in Albania - communism collapsed. From the spiritual darkness of six centuries the light of the gospel began to shine again in Albania, and the Lord began to open blind eyes; the rebuilding of the church had begun!
Thirty three years later, in a hotel just down the coast from Durres in Albania, TWFTW held a five-day conference for its teams in Eastern Europe. As sixty people met to worship each day, there was no fear of being arrested, and our singing could be heard throughout the hotel, especially so as the speaker volume was way too high! There was no need to hide what we were doing. Bibles were being read; Bibles were being talked about, and Bibles were being passed on, and praise was given to God for the rapid progress of our translation teams. I was struck by a WhatsApp message from the head-translator of the Albanian team who messaged the team from Macedonia with these words: “When you leave the conference please could you take a box of Aromanian Gospels of Mark back with you? There are Aromanian friends in Macedonia waiting for them”. With so many translations in English to choose from, it’s hard for us to imagine what it must be like to have to wait for one gospel in our heart language! But here are Aromanian people in Macedonia….. waiting, waiting, waiting. My mind immediately went to Acts 16 where Paul has a vision of a man in Macedonia standing and begging him to come to help them in Macedonia. “After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them”.
Today, TWFTW has responded to the Aromanians of Macedonia and Albania, although with Bible translation, it’s never an ‘at once’ response! We have indeed started, but it takes time. In fact the fastest time for a complete TWFTW Bible translation is 10 years! However, thanks to the progress of our teams in Eastern Europe, that record may be at risk of being broken! The Aromanian team based in Albania, which started its New Testament translation in June 2023, is storming ahead and has translated (in draft) about 75%. The Arli, Chergash & Gurbet teams in Serbia & Croatia, which only started back in April 2022, have now completed their NTs! Community checks are done, revisions are done, exegetical work is done, consulting is done, and even the digital version has been published on YouVersion. By end of this year, they hope to have published, with a launch scheduled for early 2026. So, we praise God for the hard work and progress of our Balkan teams, and look forward to receiving testimonies of changed lives as a result of God’s living Word in the heart language of these people groups.
“May now your church rise with power and love, this glorious gospel proclaim. In every nation salvation will come to those who believe in Your name. Help us bring light to the world, that we might speed your return”.
Update on the situation in Myanmar:
In last month’s newsletter I focussed on our work in Myanmar under the title “Translating in Times of Turmoil”. Sadly, those times of turmoil have been made even worse due to the powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake last week, causing huge amounts of damage and loss of life. This was the message I received from one of our team leaders there: “Some of our team members were affected by the earthquake with minor damage to their property, and our office windows were all smashed – but we are safe, and our teams are safe”. So, we thank God for their safety, and ask again for their protection as they continue their work. The military junta is apparently continuing to carry out attacks on various regions – even in the aftermath of the earthquake! Please pray for peace in Myanmar, and continue to pray for our teams, many of whom have persevered through various trials over the last few years.
Various Versions: TWFTW’s Approach to Bible Translation.
Since the 16th century, there have been around 900 different translations of the Bible….. into English alone!! That is a staggering amount, especially when you consider that only 756 languages of the 7400 that there are in the world, have a full Bible!! Traditionally, translations of the Bible can be arranged along a spectrum; the two extremes are ‘literal’ on the one hand, and ‘free’ on the other. Another description would be “word for word” and “thought for thought”. The King James Version (KJV) is an example of a literal version, and at the other end of the spectrum, the ‘Message’, which is a ‘free’ translation. A literal translation may be characterized as giving priority to form above meaning, and following a procedure of translation that is word-based rather than meaning-based. A free translation on the other hand, is more of a paraphrase than a direct translation, allowing ample freedom for the inclusion of subjective interpretation.
Since its inception, rather than adhering to either of these two extremes, TWFTW chose to follow the “dynamic equivalent” translation method. The Good News Translation is a good example of this sort of translation. Our approach is to produce natural, accurate and clear translations of the Bible. While we place more emphasis on conveying the meaning of the original text in a natural everyday style of language, we also want to remain faithful to the original author's literary style of writing, and the impact he wished to create on his readers.
Website:
Last month we were able to update our website, giving it fresh makeover. It’s now wide-open to view – and you’re already here!
Out & About Diary Dates for April:
Sun 6th: Preaching at Hesket Newmarket Evan Church, Cumbria (AM)
Tues 8th: Interviewing for Finance Officer role
Thur 10th: Fundraising Training Course, London
Sun 13th: Preaching at Ladyfield Evan Church, Chippenham (AM)
Wed 16th: TWFTW Vision Event at Hartham Park, Corsham (PM)
Fri 18th: Preaching at an Easter Church event at Stoke Fleming, Devon
22-30th: Attending launch of the full Lambya Bible in Chitipa, Malawi
Praise & Prayer Points:
There is much excitement in Malawi as TWFTW prepares for the launch and distribution of the full Lambya Bible on Sat 26th April. Please pray for God’s blessing and protection on this event, as Bibles are distributed amongst the community in the north of the country.
Please pray for the UK office as we continue the process of appointing a finance officer – this could be a key month! Please also pray that the Vision event scheduled for 16th April in Corsham would go without hitch, and be a blessing to all who attend.
It’s been a good few months on the road, and we praise God for two churches stepping up to support the work of TWFTW.
TWFTW Zimbabwe is planning New Testament launches in the Kalanga, Korekore, & Nambya languages in Nov 2025. This marks the first New Testaments produced by TWFTW in Zimbabwe. Recent rainfall has also brought much relief after a severe dry spell that affected water supplies, electricity, and food production.