Hello Friends! This article will be a sequel of-sorts to our last explainer article where we covered the basics of Deaf Culture, what sign-language Bible translation is, and why it is so necessary. In this article, we wanted to go in a slightly different direction, and compare the state of sign-language Bible translation around the world with the progress that has been made in spoken-language Bible translation – because the results are eye-opening.
Here’s the headline: About 1 in 3 people whose primary – or, “heart language” – has no Bible translation project is a deaf signer. Sign language Bible translation is a HUGE need in God’s kingdom. Looking at the biggest, most prolific Bible translation organizations, about 1% or less of their resources (finances, and workers) are going towards meeting this tremendous need in God’s kingdom. We know that God IS going to the Deaf, but right now, almost no one is going with him.
Lots of pie charts and bar graphs under the break!
Who Still Needs Translation?
There are roughly 7 thousand living languages in the world. Below, we’ve split them into spoken languages, and signed languages to show the huge disparity between them in Bible translation progress.
- 10% of spoken languages have completed Bibles. There are still NO completed sign language Bible translations.
- The percentage of spoken languages which still lack any Bible translation effort is about 17% For signed languages, that statistic is more than 90%
How are translation resources distributed?
- 1-in-4 languages that have no Bible translation project are signed languages.
- 1-in-3 people whose language has no Bible translation project are Deaf signers.
Based on those numbers, you might expect somewhere between ⅓ and ¼ of resources to be put towards sign language translation efforts. Unfortunately, when we look at how they are actually distributed, we don’t observe a proportional amount of resources going towards signed languages. A very large majority of finances and workers are being poured into spoken languages.
- Organizations.
- There are ONLY 7 organizations that are directly involved in sign-language Bible translation.
- There are more than 2 dozen organizations working in spoken-language Bible translation.
- Annual budgets.
- Sign-language projects range from $2.5-6 million.
- Spoken-language projects range between $12-200 million
- How many trained workers?
- There are about 200 sign-language-trained Bible translation workers, worldwide.
- There are more than 10,700 trained spoken-language Bible translation workers in the top 5 organizations alone.
How long will it take?
Vision 2025 is a multi-agency initiative launched by Wycliffe to start a translation project in every language by the year 2025. Since the initiative has started, there has been tremendous acceleration in the rate of setup for new Bible translation projects.
120 projects/year is the current overall rate, which masks the low rate of new sign-language projects per year – about 1-3/year.
Within a generation, we may see the accomplishment of something incredible – a Bible translation project for every spoken language on Earth!
But what happens next? What happens after 2040? It seems plausible to imagine that as spoken language translation work finishes over the next few decades, the following might happen.
- Many translators/consultants/support staff will leave the field or find other ministry work
- Many who remain will face years of difficult retraining.
- The overall pace of translation progress will slow dramatically.
What Next?
Martha & I are passionate about this area of need within God’s kingdom. We want to get this information out there! Especially for those who are in leadership and/or gateway positions in the church, who control the flow of resources and information. Our homebase in the States, Northwest Arkansas, is already a hub of support for missions, but we’d like to see it become a place where the Deaf are not forgotten when missions decisions are made.
Martha & I are called to Bogota Colombia, where we will be working with the Sign-language Bible translation project that is already ongoing there. There are more than 500 thousand Colombian Deaf who are waiting for the Word of God in a language that they can understand!
What can you do? (We’re in this together with you!)
- We need your help to get to the field. Martha is a trained consultant. Her training represents years of investment on the part of several organizations. The only way to put all that training to use is to find the finances to take us to Colombia.
- We need access to people. We’re at about 74% support, but Martha & I can’t cross the finish line without access to people beyond our immediate network of contacts. Introductions to small group leaders, community pastors, etc would be very helpful.
- Pray for the Deaf around the world, and for sign-language workers. Prayer is powerful, and a little faith can move mountains. Join us in asking God to raise up workers for the harvest.
- You can learn sign-language and reach the Deaf in your area! Yes! You can do it, we believe in you!
The Signing Times 