Advancing Church-Based Bible Translation: Technological Insights from Papua New Guinea Field Visit

In May 2023, a field visit was organized and hosted by the United Church Papuan Islands Region (UCPIR) as an opportunity to share how they have implemented the Church-Based Bible Translation (CBBT) quality assurance recommendations from the ETEN Innovation Lab. Two of UCPIR’s active translation projects were invited to work through the first few stages of translation in a public setting with the ETEN Innovation Lab observing. These projects utilized the Audio Video Translation Tool (AVTT) software as a critical component to the implementation process. Observations of the early stages of translation suggest this will be an effective process for flexible and scalable, quality-assured Bible translation. Though early stages demonstrated promise, the Innovation Lab and attending partners noted key technological challenges which may require continuous iteration of processes.

United Church Papuan Islands Region (UCPIR)

The UCPIR is the largest region of the United Church in Papua New Guinea (UCPNG).  According to their website, http://www.ucpng.org.pg/who-we-are, UCPNG has “a membership of 600,000 organized into 2,700 congregations, 260 Circuits and 11 Regions.”  UCPNG has invested strongly in theological education, having “one Theological College, one Lay Leaders Training College, one Teachers College, and five Regional Pastors and Bible Colleges.”  The UCPNG is also heavily invested in the communities it serves. They have “six provincial high schools, 400 primary and community schools, three vocational schools and many more elementary schools”. UCPIR’s commitment to education means that even small and remote language groups have qualified, well-trained members.

Languages & Translation Projects

Currently, Global Partners (GP) and the ETEN Innovation Lab support two projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG): Eubone in Milne Bay province and Wanbel in Madang province. The lead partner for Eubone is UCPIR; for Wanbel, the lead partner is BATTLE Inc. This field visit was to the Eubone project, but leadership from BATTLE participated as well.

UCPIR plans to engage in translation work in the 54 languages in Milne Bay within the next few years. UCPIR is the largest denomination in the region, representing 30 of the 54 languages, and will partner with the Kwato, Anglican, Catholic, and Seventh Day Adventist denominational expressions in the remaining 24 languages. The Kwato and Anglican churches represent the majority of remaining languages without Scripture in the region.

During May 2023, GP and the Innovation Lab observed translation of the following languages:

• Dobu [dob] was one of the first Bible translations completed in PNG (1926). A modern translation of the New Testament was also completed in 1985. These translations were used as references in the workshop. As one of the first evangelized communities in the country, Dobu has a prominent place in the region and in worship. The United Church hymnal was translated into Dobu, but (to our knowledge) no other language.

• Galeya [gar] is a much smaller language with an estimated population of 2,620 in 2000AD (ProgressBible). The Team Advisor shared with us that until Bible translation work began, the community was ashamed of their language and had to whisper their language because they were embarrassed to speak it in front of others.

The diagram below illustrates the translation process with adjustments gleaned from this experience.

The visitors were able to observe the first four stages during a five-day span:

• Preparation for Translation

• Familiarization and Internalization

• Drafting, Review, and Revision

• Review and Revision within the Church and Community:

  • Other Translators

  • Community

  • Church Ministry

  • Scripture Authentication Elder (SAE)

Audio Video Translation Tool

This second stage of translation, “Familiarization and Internalization”, is the process the Scripture Authentication Elder (SAE) and Team Coordinator undertake to deeply understand the meaning of the Scripture passage in focus.

In most established OBT models, exegesis and background knowledge are led by a trained external (to the language community) Translation Advisor or Translation Consultant. In Church-Based Bible Translation, the SAE and Translation Coordinator – both of whom are speakers of the language – work together to familiarize themselves with the meaning of the passage. For this process, it was observed that UCPIR relies heavily on the CBBT-ER (Narrative Visual Bible Commentary) resources developed by SRV and available to the team via AVTT.

AVTT is audio-video software developed by ABS and UBS, facilitating Bible translation based on Oral Bible Translation principles. AVTT currently helps project team members to produce digital recordings (audio or video) and text transcriptions of newly translated Bible portions by enabling and guiding them through an incremental, iterative process of Bible exegesis, oral drafting, digital recording, peer and community reviews, checking, and revisions. In addition, portions of the Bible in audio/video and text formats that are produced in AVTT are published to engage the target audience directly. This can be for soliciting feedback for ongoing translation work, as well as for Bible engagement. Distribution will be done through AVTT’s own companion applications, as well as through various modes of internet delivery (e.g., web snippets and pages, email, SMS, etc.) and through existing channels of Bible translation and Bible Engagement tools (e.g. Paratext registry, Digital Bible Library, API.Bible, Faith Comes By Hearing, Scripture App Builder). We seek to bridge the gap between the best practices in Bible translation that would lead to meeting All-Access Goals (AAGs) and the lack of Bible translation tools that would facilitate such approaches.

Technological Barriers

As the Innovation Lab continued to observe the project, it became clear that many of the challenges in the process originate from technological barriers.

The market for technology in Papua New Guinea is expensive and sporadic, even in the capital, and availability of equipment in smaller provinces such as Milne Bay is yet more infrequent. Mobile networks were accessible via the sale of scratch-off cards, however, network connectivity in the outlying islands of Milne Bay, where most of the translation projects are ongoing, was often sporadic due to weather and accessibility. Geographical and infrastructural challenges presented themselves in supply chain efficiency, routine transportation between islands, and access to reliable power. A small constituency of the population owned mobile phones, and among the translation team, only those who had access to higher levels of education had experience using a computer. Similarly, IT support poses its own challenge as a single staff member of the United Church in Alotau has IT expertise and AVTT training, and he must travel hours by boat to get to the teams. Finally, very few people had access to Biblical material apart from easy to read Bibles (e.g. GNT, NLT).

These are realities for many communities that must be considered in any translation project, but demonstrate to be especially challenging in Church-Based Bible Translation. The visiting team is actively working towards technological solutions, with the local communities, with the current working goals as follows:

• Move to making AVTT an offline-first tool. This includes the intent to make resources easily available offline.

• Simplify, simplify, simplify the UI/UX

• Make as many Biblical resources as possible available in AVTT. Include in-depth training material providing how-to’s and simulation of real projects, captured in video and installed on the AVTT devices. Licensing remains the biggest hurdle.

• Utilize computer equipment purchased from outside PNG and brought in, with enough spares to accommodate failures.

• Test AVTT on touch-based devices, such as tablets or Chromebooks.

• Provide and distribute more Biblical resources on paper at intermediate level English and with helpful illustrations. E.g. Bible dictionaries, concordances, exegetical book summaries, etc.

• Train dedicated IT staff that can be available to visit and troubleshoot technical issues in a timely manner.

This field visit demonstrated efficacy and potential in flexible and scalable quality assurance processes and the local communities were able to utilize AVTT as a critical tool for the initial phases of translation work. As the challenges observed are considered, the project team remains optimistic that creative yet simple solutions exist to empower and equip the Church and community to do Bible translation.