E-Mail Assisted Bible Translation  
 

Since 1997, Bob and Amy Carter have been working on translating the Bible into the national language of the Solomon Islands. They have made good progress and now all the books of the Old Testament are in second draft, and a revision of the New Testament is about to begin. But their oldest child, John, is ready for college. He has lived overseas most of his life, and they believe they should be near him in order to help with his transition back into his "home" culture. Also, Amy has had persistent health problems since she arrived in the tropics. What could they do?

Traditionally, in order to complete the translation of the Bible, the translator had to live in the country until publication. This would mean that the Carters would have had to leave their project in order to meet the needs of Amy and John. But now things are different. Because of email, the Carters have the opportunity to continue working on their project from a distance. They have access to email and the local translation partner also has email. While the translator is on his remote island working on revising the New Testament, Bob can be here at the JAARS Center in the US working on checking the second drafts of the Old Testament for accuracy. If they have questions of each other, they can simply write an email. Of course, they will need to work on some of the hard problems face to face, but most of the easier things can be handled by email. So the Carters have moved back to the US. Son John  is now attending the college he had hoped for, and Amy has had the opportunity to undergo important medical tests since they returned to the U.S. last year. And most important of all, the translation project is continuing on schedule. This couldn't have been done without email.

What's so special about JAARS email? First, JAARS exists to enable Bible translation to go ahead. JAARS people have proven over the years to be ready to serve, making it possible for translators and other field workers to do their jobs. Second, JAARS understands the needs of Bible translators. In many places around the world, email is difficult and commercial companies are not really interested in helping in such unprofitable situations. Third, JAARS email is dependable and enables translators to network with others who are involved with the Bible translation process. From the Carter’s remote island in the Pacific, they could send prayer and other kinds of requests and receive responses within a matter of hours. In the old days, it would have taken weeks or months. The Carter family is thankful to God for JAARS e-mail services.