Dr Bliese oversees Scripture translation projects there including Aari, Afar, Amaaro, Anuak, Gumuz, Gurage, Kafa, Konso, Me’en and Wolayta – and is also closely involved in projects run by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL).
Dr Bliese also preaches in local churches once a month and spends a few hours per week teaching Old Testament exegesis at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church – Mekane Yesus (EECMY) seminary, and he finds this a good opportunity for discussing Bible translation research and experience. The following is a summary of his report.
The Konso four Gospels were launched last year in January, and the Oromo Bible (Roman script) is ready for publication.
The Borana (Oromo: South) New Testament, which was lost in transit some years ago, has also been revised and is now being printed in the Ethiopic script. A revised edition of Matthew’s Gospel in Anuak was published locally in the Roman script, along with two revised New Reader Portions.
Prior to manuscript checking in Nairobi, the Aari New Testament was typeset last July by the Society for International Ministries’ (SIM) printshop in Soddo, southwest Ethiopia.
Work on the Afar Bible translation has also progressed, with translator Moussa Mohammad having finished the recording of Acts with the songs he composed for each chapter. He is now doing the same with the Book of Romans.
Visiting the Kafa-speaking region in February 1996, the two translators organised literary classes in the churches and as a result of their work, efforts using specially-developed flash cards are being made among the Manja hunters, who are considered ‘unclean’ within the Kafa culture.
The South Ethiopia Synod of the EECMY continues to sponsor the interdenominational revision of the Oromo (Borana) Bible, published in Kenya in 1995, to serve the Boran, Gujji and Arsi speakers of southern Ethiopia. This involves changing proper names, loan words and the Roman script system to the Ethiopic script, and accommodating the Gujji and Arsi dialects by finding common vocabulary or adding footnotes where necessary.
Dr Bliese says that preparation work began last year on the following languages – Alaba, Gurage:Silti, Koore, Majang, Surma – and future projects are planned for the Basketto, Dizi, Gawwada, Male, Shakacho, Sidaama, and Yem languages.
Of these, the Sidaama language, being the language of an estimated 1.5 million speakers, is seen as a prime project for Bible translation, and because the Ethiopian authorities have also been teaching Sidaama in the elementary schools in the Roman script for more than two years, there is a need to focus on readers who are literate in this system.
The New Testament was first published in the Ethiopic script in 1990 and distribution is improving, largely due to the efforts of the churches and SIL literacy personnel who have been promoting the use of the language by producing reading materials and a transition primer for Amharic readers to learn Sidaama.
The South Ethiopia Synod of the EECMY, which sponsored the New Testament project, has agreed to support the Old Testament translation and to provide office space as well as the translator [in this case, the Rev Yohannis Balcha, who translated the New Testament].
Through meetings with other churches it is hoped to make this project an interconfessional one, including, among others, the Roman Catholic, Word of Life, and Light of Life Churches.