A man living to translate God’s WordWith the launch of the complete Wichí
Bible in prospect, World Report looks at the stories of two of
the translators
JUAREZ, Formosa, Argentina — Isidro Vilte says he is alive today for one purpose: to translate the Bible into his native Wichí language. Mr Vilte has been working on the Bible since 1981 and it is due to be delivered later this year. But he believes God’s special purpose for his life was first shown in a turn of events which took place long ago, when he was just a baby.
“When I was seven months old I had a fatal disease,” he explains. “My parents were working in a sugar refinery at the time, and the harvest being over, they were walking the 120 kms (75 miles) back home. Died“When they got half way home, they thought I had died. So my father got hold of a shovel and dug a grave and my mother wrapped me up in rags. My father was standing in the grave, and when my mother handed me to him, she prayed, ‘God, I am giving you my son because he is yours,’ and my father laid me in the ground. But then I started moving and they realised I was alive! “They were scared! My mother shouted, ‘Give him back to me!’ So my father passed me back to her and she unwrapped me and began nursing me.” At his mother’s suggestion his father left the hole he had dug for the grave open and they continued their journey home. BuryYears later when he was 13 years old, his mother showed him the spot where they had intended to bury him. “At that point,” he says, “I realised that God stopped short of taking my life because he had a purpose for me. Now I know he meant me to translate the Bible.” The need for a new Wichí translation was clear. The existing translation at that time was taken from the Spanish Reina-Valera version dating back to the end of the 16th century. (The New Testament was published in 1596 and the complete Bible with Deuterocanon in 1602.) One in contemporary language was therefore needed. Work on a translation of the New Testament began in 1981 and there was little doubt then that in time the project would include the Old Testament as well. Not complete“Some Old Testament books had been translated, but it was not a complete translation,” says Mr Vilte. “The Wichí needed to have both the Old and the New Testaments, because the roots of the New Testament are in the Old.” Anglican missionaries were the first to see the need for the Bible to be translated into the Wichí language. They duly created the first Wichí orthography which was swiftly followed by the first Portion of the Bible, the Gospel of Mark, which the British and Foreign Bible Society published in 1919.
Mr Vilte’s involvement as one of the translators dates from the work which began in 1981. This, naturally, was not without its challenges. “One is that there are eight dialects of Wichí,” Mr Vilte explains. “Although we understand each other, there are differences. So we formed a reading committee with a member from each dialect group. This committee had the duty to approve what we decided to use.” Even so, when the New Testament was published in 1992 the approval from the Wichí people was not unqualified. “Some of them had little complaints,” he says. “So we had to make some changes. We needed to make sure we had a version that all the dialects could use. So far the new translation is being accepted pretty well. The only remaining problems are very small, such as typographical issues.” DesperateNow the Wichí are eager for the next stage. “For the past few years they have been desperate to get a complete Bible in their own language,” he says, “so I think there will be a tremendous reaction and demand for it. Many people said they wanted to have the whole Bible before they died. Sadly, many of them did not do so.” Mr Vilte says the new Bible is badly needed because the Wichí church is growing rapidly. “Everyone is waiting for it,” he says, “and I am so very happy because this work was assigned to me by God.” Even from the moment he was taken from his own grave. (WR 370/9 - 9.02) [PHOTOS] |
