Update From the Avatime People Pray For Your People

Avatime
Language
GHANA
PROJECT UPDATE
DECEMBER 2014
theseedcompany.org
Update From the Avatime People
Progress
Goals
Quick Facts
Team
Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon
consultant checked. Hebrews community tested.
An introduction to Acts was prepared so now
that book is ready for trial printing.
Full New Testament and
Old Testament portions
Location: Ghana
Number of Speakers: 24,000
Expected Completion: 2017
Project manager Divine
Translator Jacob
Highlights
01 With the entire New
Testament drafted and most of
it team checked, the Avatime
team is focusing on advanced
steps in the translation process.
02 The consultant has cleared
the team to print nine more
epistles after they make the
corrections he suggested. This is
a very encouraging milestone.
03 The team does church to
church visitation to encourage
use of Avatime Scripture. They
continue to distribute and sell
printed Bible portions.
Vital Words Impact People’s Lives
Hebrews 4:12 in Avatime
Key theological words in the Bible will hopefully become fixed
terms in the lives of Avatime speakers. The team must carefully
consider how the vernacular renderings are comprehended in the
Scripture testing and checking sessions.
“Lɛ ese linu si Aya liboe lilɛ ligbã́, lɛ lizɛwa lɛ axwɛna kisekise. lɛ
lilínunu i sani ihɛ inugu tiʋa kakaa. Lɛ lizeetsa bidɔ ɛtsinɔ kimɛɛ
mɛ ke kɔzɛ nani esobo la ni ɔfuɛfuɛ nɔ ɔtsa klɔ, ani axwa la ni
kumu yɔ itsaklɔ ke e. Lɛ Aya liboe le lizɛɛxwa etsi ni ɔna nɔ mɛ
bapɛpɛ ʋa ni begyodi ʋa kyɛ ɛ.”
The standardization of biblical terms, such as holiness, law,
covenant and kingdom of God, is critical to a due appreciation
of their importance by the local church. The translators are
passionate to ensure that such concepts reach deep into people’s
understanding.
‘At the culmination of the ages’
The Avatime translators have wrestled with how to render the
phrase “at the culmination of the ages” in Hebrews 9:26b. This
half verse in NIV reads, “But he has appeared once for all at the
culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of
himself.” The sense of the phrase, according to one commentator,
is that Christ’s coming has ushered in the great Messianic era,
toward which all history has moved.
The team’s problem is that terms like “time” and “age” are
very limited in their vocabulary, so they struggle to translate
“culmination of the ages” meaningfully. They’re now doing
community testing to arrive at a suitable rendering of the phrase.
“And this means God’s word is with life, and it is doing work
quickly. And it is sharper than a knife with two mouths. And it is
cutting things inside the soul and the spirit, where it meets deep
in the bones and the oil within. And God’s word is working in the
heart the wishes and the thoughts also.” (literal English translation
of the Avatime)
The team chose this verse to share with their investors, because it
expresses in perhaps the deepest way possible the power of God’s
Word to transform a person’s life from the inside out.
Go online for more updates and to join the
community conversation!
theseedcompany.org/projects/avatime-nt-0
Pray For Your People
01
02
Father, we pray that the Avatime
team will have at their fingertips
everything they need to serve
effectively in their role.
Lord, we pray that key biblical
terms will powerfully shape and
communicate Your message in
Avatime for generations to come.
03
God, we praise and thank You that
the consultant was available to check
nine epistles in the Avatime language.
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A Wycliffe Bible Translators Affiliate