Pg 1 of 4 Bible Society of the West Indies (BSWI)

Jamaican Creole Translation Project

Quarterly Report

Financial Year: 2010

Quarter: 3rd (April—June)

By: Bertram Gayle (Project Co-ordinator)

Date: 8th July, 2010

Gad Wod iina fi wi Langwij

The Translation Department, BSWI, P.O. Box 146, 24 Hagley Park Plaza, Kingston 10, Jamaica, W.I.
t. 1(876) 926-2772; f. 1(876) 926-0334. e-mail. jamiekanbaibl@biblesocietywi.org
w. www.jamiekanbaibl.org
Pg 2 of 4

Project Activities that Took Place During FY10 Q1

The following were achieved in the last three months:
1. Exegetical reviewing of seven books: 1 Timothy, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, 1-3 John and Titus.
2. Completion of the 2nd draft of Galatians. The same was also submitted to our exegetes. Work has started the
2nd draft of Ephesians.
3. Commencement of the translation of Acts and 2 Corinthians. We also commenced reviewing the 1st draft of
John’s Gospel.
4. Production of a documentary – “The Making of the Patwa Bible”
5. Meeting with Phil Kenney of Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH).
6. Entering into a formal agreement with the Jamaican Language Unit of the University of the West Indies re the
Unit’s role as the project’s Linguistic Consultant.
7. Completion of the Luuk Buk Project:
• 2,500 copies of the text of Luke were printed for distribution between Jamaica, the UK and North
America
• 250 copies of the audio (MP3 format) of Luke were done for the UK leg of the Buk’s launch in
May. There, Rev’d Courtney Stewart, General Secretary of BSWI, along with one of the Society’s
board members visited 5 churches and had approximately 20 interviews!
• The audio files are available on the British and Foreign Bible Society’s website and are can be
downloaded from iTunes http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/products/1273/49/
first_patois_bible_gospel_of_luke/

Problems in reaching goals originally scheduled:

Several issues prevented the Team from completing a second draft for the following books: John, Ephesians, Co-
lossians, Philippians and Revelation. These included illness, meetings, personnel going on leave and completing
the text of Luke and planning its launch.

Other activities that took place:

1. Media promotion of the project
2. Visiting an orphanage and sharing the message. The response was excellent! The children wrote songs, skits,
etc based on the text that was read to them in Jamaican.

Project Goals and Activities Planned for the next Three Months
The following are scheduled for the next three months:
1. Local Launch of Luuk Buk Project. This includes:
• Further media promotion of the project
• Breakfast with heads of denominations and leaders of major para-church organisations on 28th July
• A launch in a Church on the Sunday afternoon of each Sunday in August
• Lecture at the University of the West Indies (early September)
(We’ll need to make more copies of the audio text for the launch.)
2. Complete the 2nd draft for John, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Revelation.
3. Continue translating Acts and 2 Corinthians.
4. Submit 2nd drafts to the Jamaican Language Unit of the University of the West Indies for the commencement of
linguistic review.
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Project Impact: How God’s working in lives through the project

The following is a “Customer Review” of the Luuk Buk (from the iTunes site)

“I am loving the Patois or Jamiekan Gospel of Luke. To hear my religious text, the Bible, in my mother tongue is
so significant to me. I am so grateful I cannot fully express it. It means I can engage with the words of Jesus at a
much deeper level. I look forward to the rest of the Bible being translated in the same way. I wish the Bible Society
of the West Indies all the best in their endeavours. My only criticism is that the music is a little cheesy but the tone
and the music of the language outweighs this small niggle.

God bless you.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Features of the UK Leg of the launch can be found:

1. In one of the UK’s leading Papers, the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/

news/the-word-of-god-ndash-in-every-language-on-earth-1981957.html
2. BBC Radio 4: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8698000/8698533.stm
3. YouTube by British and Foreign Bible Society: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=mJKYgiR1FcA&feature=player_embedded
4. The British and Foreign Bible Society’s website: http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/news/72/84/patois-
pentecost/

Team Member Profile:

• Name: Ronald Ross
• Project Responsibility: Translation Consultant
• Bio: Born in Colorado, Ronald Ross immigrated as a very young man to Costa Rica,
where he worked as a translator and graduated from the University. Subsequently
completing a Ph. D. in linguistics in the United States, he has taught at the Univer-
sity of Costa Rica for 36 years. For nearly 20 of those years he was a translation
consultant with the United Bible Societies and worked with indigenous language
translation projects in many parts of Central and South America. In the late 1990s he
was granted the special opportunity of working with the Jamaican Language Trans-
lation Project, the largest language group in the Americas after Spanish, English,
Portuguese and French. He has had an abiding interest in Creole languages and his
work with this project –which has continued after retiring from the UBS in 2007--
has become a vital part his life. He looks forward to the day when Jamaicans every-
where will be able to hear –and read—the Bible in the language of their heart.

Prayer Requests:
1. Thank God for the meeting with FCBH. Pray for guidance as we look into the possibilities of a partnership.
2. Praise God for the success of the UK launch of Luuk Buk. Pray for equal success in the remaining launches.
Our hope in planning these launches is that they will serve as a precursor to our larger goal of making the
Scriptures available to Jamaicans (at home and in the Diaspora) in their mother tongue, and as a forerunner
to the release of the entire New Testament in 2010.
3. Praise God for having answered your prayers on behalf of our Translation Consultant. His retirement papers
have now being sorted. Now, he is able to give more time to the project.
4. Pray for Jamaica, particularly our government, the security forces and those directly affected by the recent
clash between the security forces and criminal elements.
Pg 4 of 4

LUUK 1:46-56, 67-79

Dievid.
Mieri Sang 70
Jos laik ou im did taak chuu im uoli prafit dem
46
Mieri se: wie bak wen an se:
71
“Mi priez di Laad wid aal mi aat, im a go siev wi fram wi enimi dem
47
Mi suol priez Gad we siev mi; an fram di wan dem we iet wi
48
kaaz im si an memba mi an av powa fi ort wi.
72
im puo sorvant. Im se im wuda gud tu wi faada faada
Fram nou aan, evri jinarieshan a go se dem
mi a Gad-bles uman, an im memba im uoli
49
kaaz di muos powaful Gad du pramis;
73
da mirikl ya fi mi— Di pramis im mek tu wi
im uoli! faada Iebraham,
50 74
Gad gud kyaahn don, fi siev wi fram dem we iet wi.
an kain tu evribadi So wi kyan du we im waahn
iina evri jinarieshan we rispek wi fi du an no fried;
75
an priez im. So wi kyan liv
51
Im tek im an du wan gud an kliin laif
som powaful sitn; til wi ded.
im skata skata buosi piipl.
52 76
Gad aal dong ruula Mi pikni Jan, piipl a go kaal
aaf a dem ai chuon yu wan prafit fi di Muos Ai,
an lif op piipl we nobadi kaaz yu a go gwaan til im kom
neva tingk se mata. an get im piipl redi fi im;
53 77
Im gi onggri piipl uol iip Yu a go mek Gad piipl nuo se
a gud sitn di laad a kom fi siev dem;
bot rich piipl im sen we Im a go paadn dem so dem kyan
wid dem tuu lang an. get siev.
54 78
Gad elp im sorvant dem, Siek a ou Gad gud an kain tu wi,
Izrel. di maanin son a go
Im memba fi bi gud an shain dong pan wi.
79
kain tu dem It a go shain pan di wan dem we a liv
55
jos laik ou im did pramis iina di daak
Iebraham an im pikni dem, an we fried fi ded.
fi bi gud an kain tu dem An im a go shuo wi ou
fi eva." fi liv iina piis.”
56
Mieri tan wid Ilizibet bout chrii mont an den go
bak a ar yaad.

Zakaraiya Sang
67
Di Uoli Spirit tek kanchuol a Jan faada so im
staat fi se: BIBLE SOCIETY OF THE WEST INDIES
68 24 Hagley Park Plaza
Priez di Laad, Izrel Gad,
kaaz im kom an frii im piipl. P.O. Box 146, Kingston 10, Jamaica W.I.
69
Im sen wan powaful smadi fi siev wi. Phone: (876) 926-2772, Fax: (876) 926 - 0334
De powaful smadi ya, E-mail: biblehouse@biblesocietywi.org
kom fram di fambili a Gad sorvant www.biblesocietywi.org