East Barnet Baptist Church
Come from all nations to Celebrate and Worship God
Togo
TOGO, West Africa
Sheila Crunden, one of our church members, has been working in Togo on Bible translation for the past 35 years. She works with Wycliffe 
Bible Translators who are based at Horsleys Green, near High Wycombe. See their website for further details of their work.
Sheila writes:
35 years! It's a long time. Actually, I have spent some time in England during that time, particularly when I was looking after my mother. I first went to Togo in 1969, and was assigned to the Bassar language in north-west Togo . There were a couple of churches there already, but there was no one to do Bible translation work, or literacy, which are essential if
people are going to be well established in the Christian faith. My co-worker and I worked with Bassar Christians to translate the New Testament into the Bassar language, and it was published in 1991. Work is well under way on the Old Testament, almost all of which is now in first draft.
Since 1985, I have also been helping translation teams in other languages, working in a consultative capacity. My job is principally to see that their translations are faithful to the original text. I enjoy doing this, and also helping teams to plan their translation programmes. I have also enjoyed teaching a course on how to find out what the Bible text means (exegesis), and another, putting the principles into practice, on I Corinthians.
Since 2001, I have been given particular responsibility for the 
Lama Old Testament translation and literacy project. Their New Testament was published in 1994. For this project we work in collaboration with the Bible Society and the local association of churches called ACPLL. The main focus of the work in the last three years has been the training of the team. Two of the translators have studied Hebrew in Jerusalem , and all of them have followed courses in different aspects of the work, such as using a computer, 
at our Centre in Kara. They have translated Genesis, Exodus, Ruth, I Samuel, I Kings, Esther, Daniel, Jonah, and other books are in progress. A literacy programme has been started in the town of Kante and the surrounding villages, and it is planned to reach Lama people scattered throughout Togo and beyond. ACPLL wants to build a Centre in Kante with offices and training facilities as a means to this end.
I am in England for a few months to have a change of climate, to be with the church, to have more training myself, and to share with
people in the UK what the Lord is doing in Togo . It is very exciting, and a great privilege, to be part of a worldwide movement to bring the Word of God to people in the language which they understand best - their own.
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