Translation and Bible Society Awareness Workshop Held in Rakiraki

Translation and Bible Society Awareness Workshops in the West

Participants of the Translation and Bible Society Awareness workshop held in Rakiraki.

Two workshops were conducted in separate venues (Rakiraki & Lautoka) in the Western part of Viti Levu on Friday 16/10/09 and Saturday 17/10/09. The venues were Ra Christian Centre and Lautoka Kahtriya Hall.

The goals for this workshop were threefold, namely:
1. To promote the work of the Bible Society
2. To conduct a training on how to translate the Bible into the vernacular
3. To challenge church leaders to support the efforts of the Society

The program for both workshops was similar and lasted for half a day (8:30am – 1:00pm). The majority of the participants were church leaders from the two locations, with a total number of 40 people in attendance. The workshop proper started with the devotion led by BSSP reps in those areas before moving on to some theoretical presentation on the history of the Bible (“How the Bible Came to Us”). The session was semiformal as participants were given the liberty to raise questions at various intervals. Interestingly, many participants came in contact with this topic for the very first time, which challenged them all to appreciate and
treasure the Word of God that is freely available within their reach. Some translation exercise on the two main types of translation (literal translation versus meaning-based translation) was also conducted, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Also, the interest to start a translation of the Bible in the Rakiraki language surfaced at this workshop. Further discussion and prayer on this is ongoing. A number of churches and individuals have also raised their hands to join in to support the work of the Bible Society as prayer partners, or as a financial donor, or both. Even some have volunteered to help out in doing some translation work as well, which is very encouraging. The Bible Society staff team who helped facilitate these two workshops were Seremaia Rareba and Apenisa Lewatoro. Plans are now underway to do a similar translation and awareness workshop in Nausori and in Vanua Levu in 2010. Another topic to be covered in future workshops is “Leaders and the Bible” – to be facilitated by the General Secretary, Mr Solomone Duru.