Naomi

by Karen Weaver

“I am very happy to work in Bible translation because the Bible is the Word of God and the foundation of life,” Naomi testified. Although she had made some poor choices in life, God called her to himself at a women’s conference. Five years later she had the privilege of joining the Nali translation team. She was thrilled to study God’s book during translation because it opened her mind to things she had never understood about how the Bible relates to daily life.

In November, Naomi and her co-translators checked the book of Luke with local speakers of the language. The people would read a section of Luke and then answer questions about it to help the translators see if the meaning of the passage was communicating clearly. In one passage they evaluated, Jesus told a parable about building in a way that pleases the Lord.  When one church elder read this passage during the checking session, he was convicted by the Scriptures that he should not demand extra money for the church building and then use it to benefit himself.

Like this church elder, Naomi is also quick to apply God’s Word to her life. She testifies, “The more I translate, the more it translates me. It gives me understanding of how to be wise as a young single lady. I am blessed to work in Bible translation.”

Although Naomi firmly believes that being involved in translation is the best thing she could do, not everyone on her island shares this conviction. In fact, some taunt her for spending her days at the translation desk and wrongly accuse her of doing it for profit. She didn’t know how to handle these accusations until she helped translate the book of Acts. In this book she learned how the apostles faced persecution and it changed her perspective. She tells, “Peter was stoned with rocks, but I am stoned with words. Translating Acts encouraged me greatly. I saw Peter’s faithfulness to God through persecution.”

Naomi looks to the future with hope. She says, “It is my heart’s cry that God will change the way people think and help them understand that the Bible is the Word of Life.”