What gets you excited when you work with others in Bible translation? Learning from the Word, others and fellowship excite me the most. The Word we translate teaches and transforms us personally. While working with teams, I usually encourage the teams to reflect on the Scripture portions that we have worked on and share their thoughts in the group. This activity encourages each one to realize the various ways that God speaks through different people.  Furthermore, working with others contributes to a deeper understanding of many cultures and groups, and the greater impact it brings on Kingdom purposes.

What is your consulting philosophy? Each translation project and community is different. I see myself in the role of a facilitator to guide the team to do a quality translation. Many times, consulting sessions are also training sessions.  I make an effort to be thorough and specific when working with the team, rather than making them feel that I am an expert. Usually, I request the team to share their translation brief (if they have one) and I then consult based on that. If they don’t have one, I would discuss with them the background of the project and try to find the prominent features of the language family and their culture. Having said so, if I strongly feel that the team’s position on certain issues is not agreeing with the intended meaning of the text or their translation brief, I encourage them to do more research with the community and reconsider their position on that issue/topic.

What translation resources do you really value? It depends on the books that I work on. I value the resources available mostly in Paratext and Logos. I also prefer BibleWorks and Accordance when there isn’t much help available for some of the OT books.

How do you share your translation discoveries with others? I share via things like Training Workshops, Consultant checking sessions and Community of Practice sessions.

Can you share about a time when you realized you were wrong and what you learned from it? Once I finished working with a team on 2 Samuel and a few months later, one of my colleagues sent an email seeking help on translating 2 Sam 12:30. I noted that there is a textual variant and that I need to do further research on this. 

(a) Was this the Ammonite king's crown or their idol, Molech's crown that David took? (b) Was it one precious jewel on the crown or plural- jewels? (c) Was it the precious stone that David took and put in his crown?

While doing the study on this verse, I realized that I overlooked the textual variant while working with the team. The team had followed the LWC translation. So, I wrote to the team and shared my findings and suggested to keep a footnote, as another LWC version has translated differently. The lessons that I learned was to check with the team's LWC versions available for them especially when there are textual variants, different possible interpretations - majority or minority views. Also, that I should get back to the team with the correction even at a later stage.

What are your top tips for someone starting on a career path in Bible translation?  Understand that many years of learning, teamwork and hard work are involved in this career. Results may not be seen immediately. So be encouraged, humble and patient.

Share something that you learned from a mentor or from a mentee. A mentor is always approachable, with whom you can relate and share your concerns confidently and who will encourage, pray, and stand with you. Most of the things that I shared above, I have learned from my mentors and continue to do so, as I still approach them for my learning and growth. A mentee should be teachable, willing to accept positive criticisms, work hard and persevere without giving up.

What would you say to young/aspiring translators? First, keep in mind that God has called you to translate His Word into your language. This is a greater call. Be faithful to your calling. I started my involvement in Bible translation as an Other Tongue translator for a NT project in India, then moved to the role of Translation Advisor/ Facilitator for the same OT project, then to a CiT role, and now am a Translation Consultant and trainer.

So, if you are determined, willing to learn and persevere, there is greater impact. Be confident that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil. 1:6)