"Let the Many Islands Rejoice"/AS TOLD BY GEOFFREY JACKSON

SOME HISTORIC DECISIONS

Now let me return to that presentation mentioned at the outset.  By the year 2000, the Governing Body saw the need to strengthen translation teams worldwide. Up to that point, most translators had very little training. After we made that presentation to the Writing Committee, the Governing Body approved a worldwide training program for all the translators.  The program included training in English comprehension, translation techniques, and the cooperative team approach.

What has resulted from all this emphasis on translation?  For one thing, the quality of the translation has improved.  There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of languages in which we now publish literature.  When we arrived in our first missionary assignment 1979, the Watchtower magazine  was available in only 82 languages, most of which appear simultaneously  with the English. Spiritual food now available in one form  or another in over 700 languages.  This is something that we could only dream about years ago. 

In 2004 the Governing Body made yet another landmark decision-namely, to speed up Bible translation.  A few months after this, Bible translation work, thus opening up the opportunity for the New World Translation to be made available   in many more languages. As of 2014, this Bible has been printed in whole or part in 128 languages-including a number of languages spoken in the South Pacific. 

One of the highlights in my life was the privilege of being assigned to attend the convention in Tuvalu in 2011.   For months, the whole country had been in  the grip of an extreme drought, and it looked  as if the convention would be canceled. However, the evening we arrived, the drought was broken by a tropical downpour, and the convention was held after all! I had the inestimable privilege of releasing the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Tuvaluan-the smallest language group ever to receive this beautiful gift. At the end of the convention, there was yet another downpour.  So everyone finished the program with an abundance of spiritual and literal water!

Next time: "Let the Many Islands Rejoice"/AS TOLD BY GEOFFREY JACKSON - Conclusion  of  SOME HISTORIC DECISIONS

From the Watchtower magazine