Newsletter
May-June 2010
 In
February Mark's Gospel in Nenets came from the printer and
a few weeks later the audio-recorded CDs of the same text
were delivered. Distribution is now in progress among the
Nenets, a Samoyed people group of about 40,000 in northern
Siberia.
“As the author of the Gospel of Mark did
his best to help the Gentiles to understand the Good News,
so we did our best to translate the Good News for the Nenets
clearly and precisely into their daily spoken language”,
said Eunsub Song, the exegetical advisor from South Korea,
who has been living and working among the Nenets for more
than eight years. “The Nenets believers have been eagerly
waiting for the Gospel of Mark, they have themselves been
engaged in the testing of the translation, they have used
the text in their church services, and they have prayed
and collected money for the project.”
“I remember when some years ago I went
to the tundra to test the translation of Mark”, Eunsub recalled.
“I had been invited by Nadya, a friend who was not a believer.
We visited ten traditional ”chums” (tents made of reindeer
skins). This trip was very different from the other three
field-testing trips which I had made earlier. It was really
a spiritual battle. My glasses broke on the first day and
on the second day my face froze while we were riding a snow
mobile. In one of the chums, where I stayed for ten days,
the young couple agreed to help with the testing of some
passages of Mark. However, when we read the first few verses
in the 10th chapter (about divorce) both of them suddenly
got very angry and left the chum without explanation. My
friend Nadya later explained to me that the text which I
had read to them was just their case: the man had left his
wife and was now living with this young woman. After this
they stopped talking to me.”
”Then Nadya agreed to help me and we read
together verses 17-22 of the 10th chapter, the passage about
the rich young man. In the middle of the reading she got
up and had a fit of anger, shouting that if this is really
what Jesus said she would never believe in him. I knew that
Nadya was a rather rich woman since she owned a small shop.
The Word of God had spoken directly to the hearts of both
Nadya and the young couple and in spite of the awkward situation
this clearly showed that they had understood the text.”
”After this field-testing trip I went
to Korea to renew my visa. When I came back I hardly recognized
Nadya, she had become quite a different person! During my
absence she had opened hear heart to the Word of God and
had decided to follow Jesus. Since then Nadya is one of
our most faithful supporters, she is collecting money for
printing and is helping to test the translated texts wherever
she goes. In the place where she now lives she is gathering
the Nenets to Bible study groups.”
The
Nenets Christians are faithfully collecting money to cover
the printing of the Bible portions. However, for the translation
work itself we have little support. Please join the Nenets
Christians and support the Bible translation into their
language!
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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