It Takes a Village
Democratic Republic of the Congo
It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. A child is not simply the product and responsibility of its parents. To be completely integrated into the fabric of its community, a child needs to have meaningful contact with and input from its wider family and community. The same is true of the process of birthing Scripture in the language of a people. Many minds and hands are part of the process, resulting in ownership of the product as well as impact by that body of Scripture in the life of the community.
The following photographic essay by Heather Pubols provides a window into one such village effort on the part of the Mono speaking people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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This is a draft of the translation of the book of Ruth in the Mono language of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It’s in the middle of the translation process. It has been drafted, but there are still several checks that need to be completed before it’s ready for distribution.
How the Bible gets from its original languages (Hebrew and Greek) into another language is a process that involves many people, checks and revisions.
The Mono Bible translation project, like many translation projects, began by the request of Christians in the Mono language community. For a few years, some foreigners came to live in the community. They helped to develop an alphabet and documented the sounds, grammar and structure of the language. They left after just three years because of the war in the area.
The community did not lose hope and continued to pray that God would help them to have the Bible in their language. Several years later, Gaspard and Marie Yalemoto were selected by their community to continue the project. They went to Bible college and seminary to receive training in theology, linguistics and translation principles.
They joined ACOTBA-SUBO, the local Bible translation organization in this area. ACOTBA-SUBO provides infrastructure for resourcing Bible translation projects and accountability for the people involved in each project.
The five member Mono translation team does much of their translation work at the ACOTBA-SUBO office in Gemena, DRC. The team is lead by Pastor Gaspard Yalemoto. It also has two full-time translators (including Marie Yalemoto) and one person who helps to type the text into the computer. All of the team members are mother-tongue speakers of Mono, and the team members involved in translating the text have all received training in Bible translation principles.
Special computer software provides the team with exegetical and linguistic helps and makes drafting and revising the text simpler.
The Mono language community is estimated to have about 100,000 people. Several of the main villages have a translation committee. These committees play an important role in general promotion of their language including encouraging literacy classes and the use of available scriptures.
A very important part of their job is to coordinate the testing of each passage of scripture as it is translated. The testing process involves seeing how well people comprehend the meaning of the passage. If something is unclear or misunderstood, they offer suggestions to the translation team in Gemena for how to correct it or make it clearer.
Testing is done with a crosssection of people from the community including pastors and church members from different denominations, men and women, young and old.
The translation committee in Bili is distinct from the others. Bili is considered by the Mono language community to be the linguistic center of their language, or the place where the purest form of Mono is spoken. Sometimes important key terms can be challenging to translate and the translation committees may have differing opinions as to how to advise the translation team. When this happens, the opinion of the committee in Bili carries the most weight in how to advise the translation team. With feedback from the translation committees, the translation team makes revisions to the text.
Another part of the checking process is for the translated passages to be checked by a translation consultant. Consultants have advanced training in theology, linguistics, and biblical languages. They also must have previous experience in a Bible translation project. Consultants ensure that what is translated is accurate to the meaning of the source languages (Greek and Hebrew). After consultant checks, translation teams have more revisions to do, and more testing.
Goma is one of the ACOTBA-SUBO staff that is completing training to be a full-time Bible translation consultant. When he completes the program, he’ll serve as the primary consultant for ACOTBA-SUBO translation projects, including the Mono project.
Some scripture is already available in Mono. Mark 10 was read in Mono in the church I visited in Bili. I loved seeing this man’s smiling face as he heard God’s word in his own language.
Photos and text by Heather Pubols
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Heather Pubols is the Assistant Director of Communications for the Wycliffe Global Alliance and the Director of the Wycliffe News Network.
需要整體參與
據說，撫養一個孩子需要整個村莊的集體參與。孩子不僅是父母的產業和責任，要完全融入其社區結構，孩子需要與更廣濶的家庭和社區層面有有意義的接觸，並從其中獲取資訊。以一個民族的語言出版聖經，其過程也是如此，當中涉及許多頭腦和人手的參與，結果不單令該民族對其聖經產生所有感，還能讓聖經大大影響社群的生命。
以下由Heather Pubols撰寫的攝影散文，讓我們了解在剛果民主共和國的莫諾族（Mono），一條村莊為這個結果而付出的努力。
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這是剛果民主共和國莫諾語路得記的翻譯初稿。路得記還在翻譯過程中。初稿完畢，但仍須在發佈前進行數次核對。
聖經從原文（希伯來文和希臘文）翻譯成另一種語言，是個涉及許多人、核對和修改工作的過程。
莫諾語聖經翻譯項目跟許多翻譯項目一樣，是因應莫諾族基督徒的要求而開始的。有好幾年，一些外國人來到族群當中生活。他們協助制定字母系統，記錄發音、語法和語言結構。因為該地區戰爭的關係，他們三年後便離開了。
這個群體並沒有因此失去希望，他們繼續禱告，祈求神會幫助他們有母語聖經。數年後，耶莫圖與瑪麗夫婦（Gaspart and Marie Yalemoto）被選中去繼續這個項目。他們上聖經學院和神學院接受神學、語言學和翻譯原理的培訓。
他們加入了一個本地的聖經翻譯機構ACOTBA﹣SUBO。 ACOTBA﹣SUBO為聖經翻譯項目和每個項目當中涉及的人事職責提供資源。
由五個成員組成的翻譯團隊大部分時間在剛果格梅納（Gemena）的ACOTBA-SUBO辦公室進行翻譯工作。團隊是由耶莫圖傳道領導，並有兩個全職翻譯員（包括瑪麗）和一個負責文書處理的助手。所有團隊成員都是以莫諾語為母語的。所有參與翻譯的隊員都接受了聖經翻譯原理的培訓。
特殊的電腦軟件為團隊提供註釋和語言學上的幫助，使起草和修訂變得更為簡單。
莫諾族估計有十萬人左右。幾個主要的村莊已經有翻譯委員會。這些委員會在全面推廣母語，包括鼓勵人上識字班和使用現有母語聖經，扮演著重要的角色。
他們工作中一個非常重要的部分，是協調每段翻譯經文的測試工作。測試過程包括人如何理解每段經文的含義。如有含糊不清或誤解的地方，他們會向格梅納的翻譯隊伍提出糾正或使它更清晰的建議。
完成測試工作，有賴一群來自群體中不同的人士，包括不同宗派的牧者和教會成員、不同年齡、及不同性別人士的參與。
位於壁立（Bili）的翻譯委員會有別於其他翻譯委員會。莫諾族視壁立為他們的語言中心，或學習最純正莫諾語的地方。有時有一些難以翻譯的關鍵詞，令翻譯委員會內可能出現不同看法而不知如何向翻譯團隊提出意見時，壁立翻譯委員會便發揮其作用，提出有分量的修改建議。當收到委員會的反饋意見後，翻譯團隊便會進行修改工作。
核對過程中的另一部分，是讓翻譯顧問審核已翻譯的段落。所有顧問都接受過神學、語言學和聖經語言的高級培訓。他們還必須擁有聖經翻譯項目的經驗。他們會確保翻譯出來的經文與原文（希臘文和希伯來語文）的含義是相同的。當顧問核對過後，翻譯團隊會進行更多的修改和測試工作。
戈馬是其中一位在ACOTBA SUBO工作和正在完成培訓成為全職聖經翻譯顧問的人員。當他完成課程後，便會成為ACOTBA-SUBO翻譯項目，包括莫諾語項目的主要顧問。
部分聖經已經翻譯成莫諾語了。在我到訪壁立的一間教會，人用莫諾語讀出馬可福音第10章。我愛看這個聽到神的話語是用自己母語讀出時的笑臉。
*編按：非洲有句諺語，說“It takes a village to raise a child”，意思是為了完成一些事情而要發動整個社區內參與。
攝影與文字：Heather Pubols
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Heather Pubols是威克理夫國際聯會傳訊部助理主任和威克理夫新聞網的主任。