It’s #wycliffewednesday and I stumbled upon this amazing article about the Japanese Sign Language Video Bible that I am super excited to share with you. I hope you will check it out!
Last October the tally of total number of languages in the world was increased by over 300 to include the various sign languages from around the world. At first, I was shocked by this number, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Anyone who can not hear must make signs to communicate. When you think of that, it’s surprising that there aren’t more!
I hope you will enjoy the article, it’s a quick read. Here are some facts I found interesting about sign language and the Visual Bible.
First, one unique feature of sign language is how it incorporates the person’s entire body. In one of the additional articles, Wycliffe blogger Jennifer Stasak writes “Sign language communication involves a person’s whole body: their hands, their eyes, their facial expressions, their body movements, and even the space in front of and around them. A word can take on an entirely new or unintentional meaning depending on the facial expressions — down to the movement of the eyebrows — used to accompany a sign. For the Deaf to easily understand and engage with the Bible, it must be conveyed in video format.”
See this link to read more fun facts!
Second, the work in translating the Bible into sign language is a huge undertaking, and not one Wycliffe takes lightly. As I read the article I was amazed at how much time it took to translate one verse. Stasak writes “It might seem odd to us — a 15‑ or 20‑minute debate between team members over the best sign to use for “wings” in Daniel 7:6. But being clear and accurate are two things that the JSL team members value.” Come to find out, there are four or five signs that could be used for “wings”. For the translation to be accurate great care has to be taken to get each sign just right. Much like translating into a written language.
Third, back when we first started to consider Bible Translation as the ministry God was calling us to, my eyes were opened to the many peoples around the world desperate to get God’s word into a language they could truly understand. Again, from Stasak’s article, “The Deaf need Scripture in a format that makes sense to them: video. And they deserve to understand God’s love for them in their language.” It gives me goosebumps every single time! In English alone, we have over 400 different translations of the Bible available to us. 400! We can easily take this for granted. It’s like we have a feast before us while others have barely anything, just crumbs. God’s word is for everyone.
Here is a brief testimony from Toshie Otsubo, a deaf woman from Japan: “What I really didn’t get in [written] Japanese, I understood so easily in the JSL Bible. For example in John 3:16, it says that God so loved the world [that] he gave us eternal life. When I read this Scripture in Japanese, I thought that God gave eternal life to someone. But when I watched [it] in JSL … I truly understood that it includes everyone.”
“There’s nothing more powerful than understanding God’s love in your own language.” That is what Wycliffe is all about, and I am so excited I get to be a part of that in some small way. Thank you to all of you who are partnering with us in prayer and finances, you are a part of this too! It is so exciting to be used by God!