As we shelter-in-place here in Alhambra, California, waiting to see when things might open back up, I (Adam) have continued working with the Enga translation team remotely to complete the back-translation of the remaining books of the Enga New Testament. Just two days ago, we made the final edits as we prepared the back-translation for consultant check. To refresh your memory about what back-translation is and why we need to do it, let me remind you about the checking process for Bible translation. As we complete portions of the translation, we must have them checked by an outside consultant. The consultant is an experienced translator who goes through the translation line-by-line with a couple of Enga speakers to make sure that they are understanding the meaning of the text. But because the consultant does not speak Enga, he or she must have access to a very literal English back-translation of the Enga translation. The consultant then works from the English back-translation as he or she asks questions of the Enga speakers about the Enga translation. We have now completed back-translating the remaining books of the Enga New Testament so that they are now ready for consultant check. We praise the Lord for helping us to complete this work, which can be very tedious (but also very beneficial). We now wait for the time when we can have the remaining books of the Enga New Testament checked by a consultant. This is, of course, all up in the air right now as we wait to see how Coronavirus pans out both here in America and in Papua New Guinea (where there are eight confirmed cases).
Biblical Terms Checking
As we wait to see how things will pan out, there is another check that we will be working on, which is the Biblical Terms checking process. This is a process in which we use translation software to make sure that every word in the Greek New Testament is accounted for in the Enga translation. This process is slow-going at first as I work through Matthew verse-by-verse. But the more Enga terms I match up with Greek terms, the easier the work gets as I go along. So far this process has shown that our translation is quite accurate with only minor words here and there that we failed to account for. Of course, as we identify any words that we accidentally overlooked, we make notes to add them into the translation.
Future Plans
Before Coronavirus hit, we had been planning on returning to Papua New Guinea in early July. Now, we are in a holding pattern, waiting to see what will happen. Our heart's desire is to return to Papua New Guinea sooner, rather than later, so please pray with us that we will be able to return before the beginning of the next school year. Pray as well that the Enga translators will remain safe and healthy and that the number of Coronavirus cases in Papua New Guinea will not increase. We appreciate your continued prayer and support of our work. Please know that we continue to move toward our goal of completing the Enga translation, even as we shelter-in-place here in California.
May the peace of Christ be with you!
Biblical Terms Checking
As we wait to see how things will pan out, there is another check that we will be working on, which is the Biblical Terms checking process. This is a process in which we use translation software to make sure that every word in the Greek New Testament is accounted for in the Enga translation. This process is slow-going at first as I work through Matthew verse-by-verse. But the more Enga terms I match up with Greek terms, the easier the work gets as I go along. So far this process has shown that our translation is quite accurate with only minor words here and there that we failed to account for. Of course, as we identify any words that we accidentally overlooked, we make notes to add them into the translation.
Future Plans
Before Coronavirus hit, we had been planning on returning to Papua New Guinea in early July. Now, we are in a holding pattern, waiting to see what will happen. Our heart's desire is to return to Papua New Guinea sooner, rather than later, so please pray with us that we will be able to return before the beginning of the next school year. Pray as well that the Enga translators will remain safe and healthy and that the number of Coronavirus cases in Papua New Guinea will not increase. We appreciate your continued prayer and support of our work. Please know that we continue to move toward our goal of completing the Enga translation, even as we shelter-in-place here in California.
May the peace of Christ be with you!
