Mr. H (pseudonym) lives in Southeast Asia and works with unfoldingWord’s Whole Bible Whole Nation partner in a country village. Like many church-centric Bible translators around the world, Mr. H discovered that Church-Centric Bible Translation (CCBT) is about more than just producing a Bible in his heart language. It’s about life change. This is his story.

“I am part of a translation team for my people group. At first, I thought translation was simply language work—choosing the right words and checking grammar. But over time, I realized it was shaping my own faith.

When we worked through passages about forgiveness, I had to wrestle with them personally. I had a conflict with a relative for years. Translating those verses made me uncomfortable. I knew I could not faithfully translate and teach God’s Word if I was unwilling to obey it. The text confronted me before it could ever bless others.

Our team also records audio portions of Scripture. When I hear my own voice reading the Bible in our language, I feel both fear and joy—fear because it is the sacred Word of God, and because people may recognize my voice and hold me accountable to the holy standard of the Word I am reading. But the joy is greater. I know that my children and their children will hear the Word of God in our own tongue long after I am gone.

Recently, leaders in a nearby village started a new house church. Our team leader invited them to participate in a community check of the translated scripture passages during their gatherings. That process will begin next month. Even before it starts, just knowing that the Word we labored over is now being heard, preached, and lived out in villages we have never visited gives us strength to continue.”