Banditry and Bible translation

Translation office

The bandits entered one of the translator’s home, stole his project phone and kidnapped one of his children (later released). Then a week later, the bandits returned to follow where the people had scattered up their sacred mountain to hide in holes and caves, risking the snakes to try and hide from the bandits. People are truly terrorized. Imagine, this is a very rural and even remote area devoid of most government services including police and military protection. Will the Bible translators be able to return to work and concentrate on the task of Bible translation anytime soon, while worrying about the safely of their families?

We have an audio Scripture recording workshop scheduled this month in another project office. But in the nearby town, people have been robbed and terrorized recently… So, what do we do? The plan was for the few recording personnel to travel to the project for the workshop so the many voice actors wouldn’t need to travel. Do we move the workshop to the head office or possibly to another safer area? All these security precautions take a stress toll on the people involved as well as adding to the monetary cost of translating the Bible.

In another project that cannot be located in the area where the language is spoken due to security issues, we are seeking Bible translators to work in a safer location… But recruiting personnel is proving to be very difficult and running behind schedule. Some potential workers are displaced in a neighboring country. Some who went to interview a potential worker were stopped at an illegal road block and thankfully saved by the military.

Surely this is affecting more than Bible translation! If you're interested in reading about how terrorism is affecting students and education in Nigeria, this article is quite sobering. Here's an excerpt:

"Attackers stormed schools in Nigeria’s north three times in the past five months, kidnapping at least 667 children. The abductions have instilled fear in students and teachers, leading to a wave of dropouts.

The attacks are chipping away at an already fragile education system. More than 600 schools in the region have shuttered this year — some temporarily, some indefinitely — and 3 million fewer children are in class, government data show. Experts blame a combination of coronavirus pandemic closures, extremism and organized crime."