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CHRI STI ANS ACCOUNT FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
THE CONGO'S RELIGI OUS DEMOGRAPHIC. SO ITS PARTICULARLY SURPRI SI NG THAT LESS
THAN HALF OF THE 218 LANGUAGES I N THE D.R. CONGO HAVE THEI R OWN BI BLE.
THE CHALLENGE, SAYS BI BLE TRANSLATI ON CONSULTANT OLIVI A
MAMI SOA RAZAFI NJATONI ARY, I S THAT "WHEN THE WAR BREAKS, PEOPLE HAVE TO
FLEE. AND USUALLY WHEN SOMETHI NG HAPPENS, THEY LOSE THE TRANSLATI ON WORK.
THEY HAVE TO SAVE THEI R LIVES." WHI LE THE CONGO WAR HAS OFFICI ALLY ENDED,
OLIVIA EXPLAI NS, "I N SOME PARTS OF THE D.R.C., EVEN AS WE ARE SPEAKI NG NOW,
THERE I S STI LL SOME UNREST GOI NG ON."
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the translators to back up their work on a central server
in Nairobi, where Madagascan natives Olivia and her
husband, Serge, live and work as Wycline Africa members,
seconded to SlLlastern Congo Group (SlLlCG). As a
Bible Translation Consultant, Olivia has had a hand in
helping translate half of the 11 languages currently in
process. Since she began the Doctor of Ministry program
at Gordon-Conwell in zc1!, she decided to focus solely on
the translation into a language called Budu-Nita alongside
her studies.
Te Budu-Nitas are a community in the deep forest of
the D.R.C., in a place called lbambi," says Olivia. lbambi
is in the middle of the forest, surrounded by forest. People
subsist on whatever is available in the forest snakes
(according to the people, viper is the best), monkeys,
caterpillars. Life is really simple."
lor years, Olivia would make the dimcult trek into lbambi
to work with the Budu-Nita translators there. Te arduous,
two-day journey, says Olivia, involved a fight from
Nairobi, Kenya, to lntebbe, Uganda. Ten, we`d take an
MAl (Mission Aviation lellowship) fight from lntebbe to
the D.R.C., to a place called Bunia, and another MAl fight
from Bunia to a place called Nebo-Bongo. And from Nebo-
Bongo to lbambi, we`d take a motorbike."
A few years ago, the local church, desiring to be more
involved in Bible translation, established a translation
hub in a larger village called lsiro, just over 1c miles from
lbambi. Te churches provide omces for the translators, all
of whom relocated to lsiro with their families. Currently,
six translation teams work together in the hub and are
supported by SlLlCG`s translation and lT consultants.
Te hub provides opportunities for accelerated translation
and collaboration between translators.
lach team consists of at least two translators, one back-
translator (a person not involved in the translation) and
a consultant. Sometimes a consultant-in-training will
also join them. We are training Congolese to become
consultants, too. Te aim is to build capacities among
nationals so that whether expatriates are there or not, the
work can always continue. lt is a joy to have one Congolese
translation consultant now, two more in the pipeline to
become consultants soon and more in the consultant-in-
training track," Olivia says.
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When they translate the Bible, they use lrench and/or
Swahili to translate into their local language. Ten the
back-translator translates back into lrenchthe language
that l understand," explains Olivia, who holds a bachelor`s
and a master`s in translation, with expertise in Malagasy,
lnglish and lrench. And then we meet face-to-face
and l check with themthe meaning, the naturalness,
everything. Of course, l check from the Greek or Hebrew
to make sure that everything is there, that nothing is lost
or dropped."
Afer they meet face-to-face in lsiro, someone takes it back
to the village and it`s tested for accuracy, for naturalness.
Tey receive feedback from the village," explains Olivia.
Te thing is that usually when they send the drafs to
the community to be tested and checked, the community
doesn`t want to give back the drafs. Tey say, `Tis draf
doesn`t go back to you. Take notes of our corrections.`"
Te laborious yet incredibly important task of Bible
translation involves years of focused enort, and usually
begins with the New Testament. When we do the
checking in lsiro, if we check a narrative text, we are
able to check up to 1c verses per day. When we check the
lpistles, then it`s a maximum of !c verses per day," Olivia
says. ln every single verse, l have to depend on God. My
knowledge doesn`t bring me far. lt`s all about God."
Te Budu-Nita New Testament is now ec percent complete.
While the people anxiously await their wriuen translation,
they have had the opportunity to hear the gospel story
in their own language through the JlSUS" hlm. Te
dedication of the `JlSUS` hlm in zcc was a big celebration
for the community," Olivia recalls. Te villagers all came
dressed up in their traditional outhts with traditional
musical instruments. Te whole village and the villages
around all came, and all of the local churches gathered
together. lt was a big party, a really big celebration with
lots of praise and worship and thanksgiving."
Olivia predicts that an even bigger party will ensue afer
the release of the hnished New Testament, which she
anticipates will be complete afer zc1. Tey really look
forward to that. Tey are already preparing. Tis will be a
big time, a big celebration."
When Olivia is not in lsiro helping with the translation,
she`s working out of her Nairobi omce, preparing for the
checking sessions, keeping in touch with the translators
via email, hosting guests and auending to her studies. She
also helps with travel logistics for Serge, who is Program
Manager for all 11 languages being translated in eastern
D.R. Congo.
lven before Olivia and Serge met in Madagascar in zccc,
the Lord had called each of them to the mission held, but
neither was sure exactly where. Afer we got married in
zccz, we just felt that it was the right time for us to give our
full time to the mission that the Lord has put in our hearts.
Te Lord opened the ministry of Bible translation to us,
and we asked him to equip us if that`s what he wanted
us to do," she refects. God led them to NlGST (Nairobi
lvangelical Graduate Studies of Teology)now AlU
(Africa lnternational University)where, in zcce, Olivia
received an M.A. in Bible Translation and Serge earned
an M.A. in Biblical Studies. ln zcc, they entered into full-
time Bible translation with Wycline Bible Translation.
Olivia hrst learned about Gordon-Conwell in zccc, when
Dr. Tim Laniak, Dean of the Charloue Campus, and his
wife went to Nairobi to visit friendswho happened to be
Olivia`s professors at NlGST. Te Laniaks stayed in touch
with Serge and Olivia afer the visit and encouraged Olivia
to consider the D.Min. program in Bible translation. Soon,
others also began encouraging her.
People started telling me about the doctoral program
in Bible translation at Gordon-Conwell," Olivia says.
Although l was interested to know about the program,
l had always thought and kept telling people that it`s not
for now, l was sent to work in the D.R.C., not to study.
But in December zc1z, a visit from a dear friend opened
my eyes and my heart to see and consider it seriously.
Ten, we went back to Madagascar for a month to talk
to the church about it. What do they think` What does
the church feel about my going to seminary` lveryone
encouraged me to go for the D.Min. program.
But we had not even one dollar for it. lt was not budgeted,
it was not planned, nothing. We thought, `How can we
get all of this` l don`t know, but let`s just do it. God will
open doors.` As we were praying, a couple wrote to us and
said they `would like to pay Olivia`s hrst year, whatever,
whatever she needs for the hrst year, we will pay.` Looking
back at how God orchestrated the hrst year, l know he`s
never late. lven when it`s at the last minute, he`s never late."
When she thinks about why she works in the D.R. Congo
or why she has added doctoral studies to her already
demanding schedule, she says, Our vision is to wake up
Africa. Tis is the time for Africa to go into mission! God
has called us to go. God has called Africa also to go.
What l want is to not only be a Bible Translation
Consultant, but to invest in training others at a higher
level, to plant more seeds of sustainability in Africa," she
says. Capacity building is needed in order to accelerate
Bible translation with a high-quality result and a larger
scope. l also would like to help my fellow African women
see the value that God has put in us as African women."
Olivia explains that her native Malagasy culture values
women and holds them in high esteem, however, she has
not always found that to be the case among other African
cultures. Some of the biggest challenges l face stem from
being a woman working in a leadership role within a
male-dominated society," she says.
ln the end, though, the joys outweigh the challenges. Te
biggest joy is hearing them say, `Tat`s our language!`
You hear people using the drafs or whatever we hnish
in the local churches or in the families. You see children
reading what we`ve hnished, and it`s a joy hearing them
and seeing their faces, just smiling and lighting up. lt`s
really something.
Usually, here in Africa, when we talk about missionaries,
that would mean people from the West who are rich,
who have everything, who do everything, who provide
everything. But God opened our eyesmy husband`s
and mineto see that that`s not true. God has called
every Christian to go. And Mauhew zc1czc is for every
Christian to go and make disciples. My part in making
disciples is Bible translation, to provide the tool for those
to teachbecause no one can teach without the Book."
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Fror lo her work wlh lhe BuduNlas, Ova worked wlh lhe Bekwara lrahsaloh
leam h Ngera.
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Ova hleracls wlh eager chdreh durhg lhe campagh o lhe Cospe o
Luke ahd lhe JE8U8 m h Lka, aholher ahguage o lhe easlerh D.R.C.