Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Luke Partnership: A First Step in Evangelism, Church Planting, and Discipleship

By Bob Creson, Jim Green, and Roy Peterson

The initial phase of the Luke Partnership accomplishes several important things. First, churches in the language community experience the effectiveness of scripture and scripture-based materials in their mother tongue; a team of trained and experienced Bible translators is prepared for more translation work; and churches and other partners in the area experience what is involved in Bible translation and managing a translation program. When a Luke Partnership project is coming to a close, and further translation work is being considered, administrators look for some key criteria before approving a full-scale translation program. For example, if there is a local church, they look for believers within the church who are motivated and committed to a full-scale project. This is important because the church will have a responsible role in organizing the project and helping support the translation team financially. Church members will also be involved in reviewing and testing the translations as they are produced and in finding creative avenues to get the scriptures into use as they are translated. Also, the current translation team must have the desire and ability to continue with the translation project, or there must be a group of potential translators with the desire and aptitude for further training.

Facilitators and consultants who can give the necessary training and technical support are essential to sustain both initial and ongoing projects. As a key component of Luke Partnership projects, facilitators identify potential consultants within the local language community and guide them in an intentional training program.

Reflections
The Luke Partnership is a strategy that allows a community to begin translation work without necessarily committing to a long-term New Testament or full Bible translation project. This approach gives the translation team and the local church the opportunity to see how materials in their language can help spread the good news of the gospel and build the Church. They build confidence and gain valuable translation experience in an empowering environment.

People hear and understand, often for the first time, the message—and it is powerful! After viewing the JESUS film for the first time, one woman in an isolated area of Indonesia exclaimed, “Who taught Jesus to speak our language? How long did he study it?” In Madagascar, people in one community stayed up all night to listen and discuss the translation. One person said, “If we had known that this is what the Bible says, we would have become Christians long ago.”

Once the JESUS film is produced, it often opens opportunities for wider involvement of people in the community, creating greater ownership of the product and the potential for wider impact. When the Luke Partnership started in one very sensitive language community in Africa, there were very few Christians. The team found local people, most of whom were not believers, to read the parts for recording the JESUS film. As they read the scripture, some of them believed Jesus’ message and trusted him. People from this group are now listening to God’s truth and a small indigenous church has grown up around the translated scriptures.

Often on the first showing of the JESUS film, many respond to Christ’s call, opening the door for local agencies to implement follow-up programs that lead to new churches. Jesus now speaks languages all over the world, and people are hearing him speak clearly to them in the language—and medium—they understand best, most often their mother tongue. For many of them, this is the first time they have understood God’s message of love, and very often the result is changed lives and growing churches.

Bob Creson (left) is president/CEO of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. He worked in West Africa and in international administration with SIL. Jim Green (middle) is executive director of The Jesus Film Project. He joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ in 1962, serving in Africa for fourteen of his forty-six years in ministry. Roy Peterson (right) is president/CEO of The Seed Company, an affiliate of Wycliffe USA, which focuses on national-led Bible translation.

Comments on this article

I am a coordinator for Language Program Coordinator training for SIL and WBT Asia Area I will incorporate this article into our training curriculum as a springboard for small and large group discussion. We will ask LPC practitioners to describe their contextualized response to this important opportunity.

Karen :: 7 Aug 2008