April-May
2011
"I
didn't think that a religious book could be so interesting!"
The Bashkirs are a Turkic people group primarily living in Bashkortostan,
a republic situated between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains in
the Russian Federation. Some also live in Central Asia and the Ukraine.
The Bashkirs are about 1.6 million and closely related to the Tatars.
The Bashkirs are Sunni Muslims, and their capital of
Ufa has been the centre of religious life for European Russian Muslims
since the eighteenth century. There are over one hundred mosques in
Bashkortostan alone. There is a small number of Christian Bashkirs.
Work on the New Testament into Bashkir has been in
progress since the beginning of the 1990s. The project has suffered
many setbacks during these years: the main translator died and it has
been difficult to find exegetical advisors for the project. Several
have joined the team but left for various reasons. However, for the
past five years a well functioning team has been in place and now the
whole New Testament is translated.
A very important part of the work is comprehension
testing. Rima (not her real name) has been testing parts of the NT among
the Bashkirs in order to find out if the text is understandable. “Most
people were very interested and liked to read the text”, she said. “One
woman said: 'I didn't think that a religious book could be so interesting'
and another said: 'I have tried to read the Koran several times but
it is impossible to understand it. This book, however, is easy to read,
the language is very clear and I understand the contents very well'.
After reading the first letter of John, a young man exclaimed: 'This
is real love! Everyone should read this text!'”
“I'm working both with educated people and those who
are not so educated”, Rima continued. “Sometimes I go to the market,
sometimes to schools and universities. It is important that everyone
will understand the text. Once I gave Luke's Gospel to a friend to read,
and she passed it on to her grandmother. The old woman read it and then
lent the book to her neighbours, but made sure they returned it to her
after two days, so that other neighbours could also read.”
“An editor asked: 'Why do you translate a Russian book
into Bashkir?' I said: 'How can you say that the Bible is a Russian
book? You surely know that it is one of the oldest books of wisdom in
the world!' Then he was ashamed and said: 'I just wanted to test your
knowledge!’”
“I often work with the churches. Last time a big group
gathered and we read Ephesians together. It was very helpful, as they
pointed out parts which were not so easy to understand and suggested
changes. They are eagerly waiting for the Bashkir New Testament!”
Our
goal is to publish the first Bashkir New Testament
at the end of 2012. Thank you for your support of this project!
for
donations from USA
Tax
deductible gifts for IBT Russia/CIS can be made payable
to:
God's Word for the Nations
On behalf of IBT-Russia/CIS
PO
Box 1259
Rolla,
MO 65402
U.S.A.
You
may state a project preference using the form below or make
a donation for the project with the greatest need.
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