12 Prayers, 12 Weeks

Aboriginal Australians long for Bible

Women and children attending a dedication service for an Australian Indigenous language New Testament.

Pitjantjatjara is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by around 7,000 people. While this is very small in comparison with some of the other minority languages across the world, this is one of the largest audiences of an indigenous language in Australia.

In 2002, the Pitjantjatjara Shorter Bible was published containing the New Testament and 15% of the Old Testament. In 2011, the next generation of Pitjantjatjara Christians longed to have the whole Old Testament. "We want to know what God is saying to us in the rest of the Bible. We want the whole Bible in our language."

So began a project to complete the the Old Testament and it has become a project involving over 30 translators! These translators live in several remote communities in Central Australia and have been coming together voluntarily during school holidays for training & translation since 2011. It has become essential for some translators to give all their time and focus to the task in order to finish the job.

Pitjantjatjara Christians also want to produce Bible engagement resources, including audio recordings, Bible studies, comic books, video clips. They are also hoping to create some online resources, all of which will assist in improving literacy and Bible Engagement among Pitjantjatjara people.

The completed Bible will be the first complete Australian indigenous Bible in a traditional Aboriginal language and will therefore be a significant cultural event for all of Australia. We can all learn a lot from this passion for God's Word and the heart cry of these people to know God better.

This photo captures the remoteness of many Australian communities. Access is by light aircraft and populations can be fewer than 2,000 people.

Pray for translation in Australia

Please pray for the Pitjantjatjara translators and Bible Engagement workers, that they produce quality translation and engagement resources that communicate well with their people and motivates them in their walk with Jesus.

Pray for the health of the translators and their families, that they have the time and patience to remain committed and focused to this long-term project.

Praise God that there is a real desire for His Word among the Pitjantjatjara people. There is such hunger for the Bible and desire to know Him better. May God sustain His people with His presence and continue to build His Church.

Week 6: 8 November 2016

From the Translators

The translators are being drawn closer to God as He reveals His truth clearly to them in deeper ways. Here are a few of their thoughts:

Umatji: "I learnt many new things about God's Word that make my whole heart really rejoice."

Katrina: "As we were translating Psalm 61, some wonderful meanings came clear to me, about how we are to worship God in spirit, and trust him, and always stand strong with him. As we do this, he is always with us, with his strength. It is so uplifting."

Stanley: "We wanted this story of hidden things to be clear so that we could tell other people about it."

Nyurpaya: "And from this story I realised, 'It's the same for us. God is telling us through his word that we should persevere when various things test us, that we should remain strong and keep our eyes fixed on God for he has wonderful things for us as we truly trust him and keep on doing well the work that he has given us, remaining firm in our faith."

Lillian: "Today we completed the last verse of Daniel. And my heart is humbled - God is so good - speaking to us through his story he is revealing his message to us from things like this so that we might follow him truly."

Makinti: "We need to have all of God's Word in our language, so that we can all understand it well."

Nyunmiti: "We really love doing this translation from God's Word. There is such joy in doing it."

People of all generations need God's Word in their language.

All photo credits: Phil Zamagias

Bible Society NI, 27 Howard Street, Belfast, BT1 6NB

TEL: 028 9032 6577 - www.bsni.co.uk

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