👉 Introduction

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This document helps churches and groups who want to focus on translating the Bible within the context of the church. When the church is at the center of the translation process, it helps fulfill the Great Commission, unifies the church, and results in a trustworthy translation. This type of translation, called Church-Centric Bible Translation (CCBT), helps build capacity within the church to produce, maintain, update, and revise translations in the future.

The Mission-Translation Decision Guide is an introduction to CCBT, which helps leaders understand the basic features of this approach to Bible translation. This document positions Bible translation in the larger context of God's global mission and offers questions to guide discussions around mission, church, formation, and translation. These categories help locate Bible translation within a missional, ecclesial, and theological context.

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The Mission-Translation Decision Guide is a guide to help church networks work together to translate the Bible. It offers a framework for conversations and includes six questions for each of the four main categories: mission, church, formation, and translation. These questions help guide discussions about partnership and planning.

The Brief is also a training guide that provides foundational content and activities for church communities to learn about church-centric Bible translation. It includes key biblical passages, diagrams, and exercises to equip communities for the work. The content also offers a way to assess the church's capacity for the work.

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This document can be used as a plan to implement church-centric Bible translation. After training, communities can use it to make decisions about how to approach the work. It can be used for new projects, existing ones, or to improve struggling ones. The document records these decisions to ensure consistency and can be updated as needed. It guides communities on topics like mission, church, formation, and translation, but can be adapted to different situations. The aim is to encourage dialogue among global church leaders about how biblical principles inform the work of church-centric Bible translation.

🤝 Mission: Participating in God’s Purpose Together

What is the mission of your network? Who has God called you to reach?

  1. Core Mission: What is your network trying to do and who are you trying to help?
  2. Mission Obstacles: What problems and challenges do the people you are helping face? What obstacles exist to the spread of the gospel among these people(s)?
  3. Biblical Mission: What do you believe about God's mission in the world?
  4. Mission Strategy: How do you plan to share the message of God, make healthy churches, and train leaders in your community and beyond?
  5. Bible Translation as Mission-Focused: How does making the Bible in different languages help share God's message and how do you plan to use it?
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we pray for you and help you with your mission?

✝️ Church: Keeping God’s Church in the Center

Tell us about your church/network/organization and its key leaders.

  1. Connected Church: Can you tell us about the people who lead your church network and how your church and/or network is organized?.
  2. Church Concerns: What are some things your church needs help with right now? What problems do your leaders face in their work? Can you tell us about the challenges your church is facing?
  3. Biblical Church: What do you believe the Bible says about the role of the church in God's plan?
  4. Church Strategy: Can you tell us about how you are helping the church grow in different places and how you are training new leaders? How are you working with other churches to achieve your goals?
  5. Bible Translation as Community-Owned: How can the work of translating the Bible help your church? How can you involve everyone in your church in this important work? Can you tell us how the Bible translation work will impact your church?
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we support your church and its leaders? Can you tell us how we can pray for your church and its leaders? How can we work together with your church to achieve your goals?

🪴 Formation: Engaging God’s Word for Transformation/Maturity

Tell us your current approach(es) to maturing disciples.

  1. Christian Maturity: How do Christians and churches in your area grow in their faith? How do you measure how mature they are? What do you do to help people become better followers of Jesus?
  2. Spiritual Challenges: What are some big problems that Christians face when they try to grow in their faith? What makes it hard for your churches to become healthy and mature? What are some issues in your area that make it tough to follow Jesus?
  3. Biblical Maturity What does the Bible teach about spiritual maturity? How does reading the Bible help people grow in their faith?
  4. Formation Strategy How do you help Christians and churches become more mature in their faith? What does it look like when someone is a mature Christian? How do you teach the most important things about the faith? How do you use the Bible to teach people?
  5. Bible Translation as Theological Formation: How can you translate the Bible in a way that helps people become more mature in their faith? How will you make sure that your Bible translation helps people grow in their faith?
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we pray for Christians and churches in your area to become more mature in their faith? How can we help you in your work to help people grow in their faith? How can we work together to help churches become more healthy and mature?

💬 Translation: Making God’s Word Accessible to All

Tell us about your current work in Bible translation.

  1. Current Translation: What are you doing to translate the Bible? Tell us about your work in Bible translation.
  2. Contextual Needs: What are the translation needs and challenges you face? Tell us about them.
  3. Biblical Translation: What does the Bible teach about itself? How does this affect your approach to Bible translation?
  4. Translation Strategy: How will you create quality Bible translations for the people you serve? How will you make sure these translations are trustworthy? What resources are needed to reach everyone you want to serve? What is your plan for licensing and copyright of your Bible translations and other resources?
  5. Bible Translation as Church-Centric How can you translate the Bible in a way that is focused on the mission of the church, community-owned, and theologically formative?
  6. Partnership and Prayer: How can we pray for and support your Bible translation work? Tell us how we can help and partner with you to create biblical resources that will help the church mature