August 2021
Romanian Deaf Church Discovers Grace Translation
Consultant Story
The Deaf church community in Romania was working on translating the story of the crucifixion in Luke into Romanian Sign Language. The Deaf translators completed a draft of the section where the thief next to Jesus pleads, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom” and sent a video draft to their consultant. They had translated the passage as, “Lord, when you get to your kingdom, remember how good I am so when I get there, you’ll let me in.”
The consultant reviewed this verse several times, confused, but then asked, “Why did you translate it this way?”
The team leader responded, “Well, that’s what it means, doesn’t it? The Deaf translators were confused because that’s how they had always understood this phrase from the written Romanian version of the Bible.
The consultant explained, “No, it doesn’t! That thief wasn’t good. There was nothing that he could have offered Jesus at that moment. He was only asking to be remembered, not thinking he could ever make it to paradise. The verse before says, ‘We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”
The team leader looked confused and asked, “But Jesus said the thief would be with him in paradise… so how does that work if he never gets a chance to do anything or change his life at all?”
The consultant answered, “That’s grace. None of us can do anything to earn God’s forgiveness. This story is an illustration of simple grace.”
The whole team was watching the conversation as tears welled in their eyes. “Is that what the story means? We never understood it that way before!”
The Deaf translators corrected their draft and brought it to their church Bible study a few days later. After showing the rest of the church this passage, one of the translators stood up and asked, “Do you see what that means? That’s what grace means! God forgave us while we were still sinners!” Again, understanding dawned on the faces around the room, and several had tears in their eyes. “I never understood that before… are you sure that’s what it means? But if that thief went to heaven, that means that God’s forgiveness is enough…” The discussion went on for at least an hour as they grappled with the huge truth that was being presented to them.
These Deaf believers, who had access to the written Romanian Bible for years, missed this crucial aspect of the gospel until they had it in a language and format they could understand!
Moore Notes:
We are off and running! We have completed two weeks of Equip Training Online and two weeks of “Virtual” Equip. This 4 week program was to “equip” us for service in the field. We have also been in Orlando for a week of Global Education & Care Orientation, for Lori to be better prepared to work with Missionary and Third Culture Kids.
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