When did you last buy a Bible? Was it as a gift or because your well-loved copy was falling apart? How easy was it to choose?
With more than 60 versions of the Bible in English, choosing a new Bible might take a while: you might even suffer from ‘Bible decision fatigue’– a genuine phenomenon, according to Bible Gateway.
But here’s one version you may not have come across yet: the KJV Bible that can be worn as a piece of jewellery, thanks to state-of-the-art nanotechnology. You can even read it, as long as you have a microscope that can magnify x10,000.
A vast gulf
So I hope you can appreciate my shock at this vast gulf between those who have so much and those who have so little.
In September, Wycliffe released its State of the Bible report showing amazing progress in translation, with Bibles or New Testaments being launched at a rate of two every week. But that incredible statistic does not apply to sign languages. There are 399 sign languages globally* – representing 70 million signers. There is only one complete Bible, however: the American Sign Language Version, launched in 2020. Is it any wonder that less than 2% of the Deaf have encountered Jesus in a language and format they clearly understand?
Progress is being made, though.
• Motion capture technology, most often used in movies, now powers tools such as Chameleon, enabling digital avatars – or animated characters – to sign the Bible to viewers. This could vastly speed up translations.
• In June 2024 JESUS, a Deaf Missions film, was released. Produced for the Deaf by the Deaf (with a cast fluent in American Sign Language), for the first time, a Deaf audience will be able to experience the greatest story ever told in the language that they understand best.
• One of the most exciting developments is Bible translation software being developed for sign languages, called SLTT (Sign Language Translation Tool). By supporting translation teams during drafting and checking, this software significantly speeds up the process.
• In the past, portions of Scripture in sign language were only available on video tapes or DVDs. Now passages can be streamed via mobile apps or downloaded to micro SD cards, which is a huge development.
But even with all this good news, there are still three major obstacles persisting in sign language translation: technology, funding, and translation checking.
Encountering God’s word
I want to share two examples of how amazing it can be when the Deaf encounter God’s word.
In Tanzania, Jestina, a young girl, attended an accuracy check of the book of Ruth at her community centre. Touched by God’s word, she stood in church the next Sunday and signed an entire chapter from memory, to the delight and amazement of everyone in the congregation. She urged the congregation to put God’s word into action in their lives. ‘Let us be good and faithful to our in-laws, parents, friends, and neighbours like Ruth,’ Jestina signed. ‘As for me, I will emulate what I learned – how about you?’
In Mexico, a group of translators visited a church to show a portion of Scripture in Mexican Sign Language. A Deaf man stayed afterwards to ask the translation team some questions. He told them: ‘It’s better in sign language. It’s clear. I’ve tried again and again to read the Spanish [Bible] but I didn’t know what it meant. Now finally you have shown me, and I am overjoyed.’
In Wycliffe’s recent Prayers for Life prayer diary, we prayed for the Deaf, but one prayer was missing: that God would remove the obstacles to sign language translation, turning a trickle of translations into a flood. Will you pray for this? Thank you.
*This figure includes 158 ISO and 241 Non-ISO Recognised Sign Languages according to ProgressBible, the leading Bible trans-lation statistics organisation
