The Translator's Creed

We believe that:

1. In the past, God sent his Son - His Word - into this world to save us.
2. Today, God wants to communicate with us by means of his written word, the Bible.
3. The diversity of languages is compatible with the plan of God. He likes unity in diversity.
4. As a vehicle to transmit God's message, no language is superior to another.
5. The incarnation shows the way in which God communicates with us: he adapts to our level to reach us.
6. To fully know our identity in Christ, we must integrate our past into what we are becoming in Christ - this includes our language, the symbol of identity.
7. Christians cannot mature in their faith unless they have access to the Word in a language they understand.
8. The Gospel must penetrate deeply the world view of each Christian, and that is most effectively done through the vehicle of culture - the mother tongue.
9. No church can last for long without the written Word of God in a language understood by the believers.
10. The more the Word of God is taught and used in the mother tongue by Christian communities, the stronger and more solid their faith will be. The more church leaders encourage the use of Scripture in the mother tongue, the more church members will take the initiative to read it, meditate on it, and share it with others.

(by Harriet Hill & Margrit Bolli, in: Ethno-Info No. 36, publ. by SIL AFA Anthropology Dept.)