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Jamaican Creole Translation Project

By: Bertram Gayle (Project Co-ordinator)

Date: 8th July, 2010

Quarterly Report

Financial Year: 2010

Quarter: 3rd (April—June)

Gad Wod iina fi wi LangwijGad Wod iina fi wi LangwijGad Wod iina fi wi LangwijGad Wod iina fi wi Langwij

Bible Society of the West Indies (BSWI)

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

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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 Activities that Took Place During FY10 Q1

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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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.”

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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/

Project Impact: How God’s working in lives through the project

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.

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Mieri Sang 46 Mieri se:

“Mi priez di Laad wid aal mi aat, 47 Mi suol priez Gad we siev mi; 48 kaaz im si an memba mi

im puo sorvant.

Fram nou aan, evri jinarieshan a go se

mi a Gad-bles uman, 49 kaaz di muos powaful Gad du

da mirikl ya fi mi—

im uoli! 50 Gad gud kyaahn don,

an kain tu evribadi

iina evri jinarieshan we rispek

an priez im. 51 Im tek im an du

som powaful sitn;

im skata skata buosi piipl. 52 Gad aal dong ruula

aaf a dem ai chuon

an lif op piipl we nobadi neva tingk se mata.

53 Im gi onggri piipl uol iip

a gud sitn

bot rich piipl im sen we wid dem tuu lang an.

54 Gad elp im sorvant dem,

Izrel. Im memba fi bi gud an

kain tu dem 55 jos laik ou im did pramis

Iebraham an im pikni dem, fi bi gud an kain tu dem

fi eva." 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:

68 Priez di Laad, Izrel Gad,

kaaz im kom an frii im piipl. 69 Im sen wan powaful smadi fi siev wi.

De powaful smadi ya, kom fram di fambili a Gad sorvant

Dievid. 70 Jos laik ou im did taak chuu im uoli prafit dem

wie bak wen an se: 71 im a go siev wi fram wi enimi dem

an fram di wan dem we iet wi an av powa fi ort wi.

72 Im se im wuda gud tu wi faada faada

dem an im memba im uoli

pramis; 73 Di pramis im mek tu wi

faada Iebraham, 74 fi siev wi fram dem we iet wi.

So wi kyan du we im waahn

wi fi du an no fried; 75 So wi kyan liv

wan gud an kliin laif

til wi ded. 76 Mi pikni Jan, piipl a go kaal

yu wan prafit fi di Muos Ai, kaaz yu a go gwaan til im kom

an get im piipl redi fi im; 77 Yu a go mek Gad piipl nuo se

di laad a kom fi siev dem; Im a go paadn dem so dem kyan

get siev. 78 Siek a ou Gad gud an kain tu wi,

di maanin son a go

shain dong pan wi. 79 It a go shain pan di wan dem we a liv

iina di daak an we fried fi ded.

An im a go shuo wi ou

fi liv iina piis.”

LUUK 1:46-56, 67-79

24 Hagley Park Plaza

P.O. Box 146, Kingston 10, Jamaica W.I.

Phone: (876) 926-2772, Fax: (876) 926 - 0334

E-mail: biblehouse@biblesocietywi.org

www.biblesocietywi.org

BIBLE SOCIETY OF THE WEST INDIES