KINGDOM MATTERS
Bible Society brings
Inuit translators
together
BIBLE TRANSLATORS FROM Inuit
communities in Canada, the United
States and Greenland gathered in
Toronto in January for the first-ever
Inuit Bible translation conference.
The Canadian Bible Society sponsored
the event for professional development
and encouragement. The translators
represented five different Inuit
languages. The event highlighted the
need for Bible translations in indigenous
languages, says Myles Leitch, director of
Scripture translations.
The society is working in Inuktitut
(Nunavut, eastern Arctic), Inuinnaqtun
(Nunavut, central Canadian Arctic),
Inuttut (Nunatsiavut, Labrador) and
Inupiaq (Alaska). Communities in
Labrador and the eastern Arctic have
the complete Bible available. The
Inuttut translation was completed
in 2008 and the Inuktitut translation
finished in 2012.
But work continues. Earlier this
year the society reprinted the New
Testament and portions of the Old
Testament for Alaskan Inuit. It is also
working on translating the entire Old
Testament into the Inupiaq language.
Individual books of the Bible are printed
as their translations are completed.
The society has translated the Bible
into various First Nations languages,
and is also working with the Plains
Cree in Saskatchewan and the Coastal
Cree in Quebec.
“There’s great desire to preserve
languages and cultures, and in some
cases the language use is very, very
strong,” says Leitch. Some communities
already had portions of the Bible in
their language, but translations were
dated – the equivalent of the King
James Version – or weren’t available in
digital formats. Translating the Bible
and providing Bible literacy materials
such as children’s Bibles strengthen
language skills. –MEAGAN GILLMORE
FAI TH TECH FOUNDER James Kelly
wants the Waterloo Region of
Ontario to become a hub for the
intersection between faith and
technology.
“About a year and a half ago, I
heard a speaker say, ‘In the midst of
devastation there’s an opportunity
for innovation,’ ” recalls Kelly. “Two of
my worlds collided in that sentence.”
on the margins of society. He
wondered, living in a region known
for tech innovation, if anyone was
using technology to help struggling
people. Beginning in January 2016
Kelly met with people in the tech,
faith and charitable sectors, asking
how they could intersect.
“I had some fascinating
comments from people in the tech
field such as, ‘I don’t know my place
in the Church,’ or ‘When I told the
pastor I was in tech, they asked me
to run PowerPoint,’ ” says Kelly. “I
was meeting with people who built
BBM [BlackBerry Messenger] or
were senior developers at Google
. . . [people] who could be building
technology to advance the gospel.”
The meetings led to Faith Tech’s
first event in April 2016 where 35
people met in a coffee shop to talk
about faith and technology. This
and subsequent meetings helped
Kelly shape Faith Tech’s role.
They facilitate Faith@Work
groups where participants look
at questions like, “Why do I
work?” and “How do I keep Christ
in work?” Faith Tech LABS helps
tech companies create Kingdom-
minded solutions, such as Text to
Tithe, which “reaches
a demographic
that otherwise
isn’t giving.” The
organization also
hosts innovative
events including
a “hackathon”
where two program
developers, a
communications
manager and a
psychotherapist
began working on a
positive answer to the common
Google search question, “How do
I kill myself?” Kelly explains, “They
bought the domain name www.
How ToKill Yourself.org so that the
first search response would replace
the garbage on page one with a site
that says, ‘You’re not alone.’”
Kelly hopes Faith Tech expands
beyond the Waterloo Region. Plans
include a launch in Toronto this
spring and an event in Vancouver in
May. He’s already looking at other
North American cities including
Boston, New York, Denver and
the Silicon Valley area near San
Francisco. Eventually, if God leads,
he hopes to see Faith Tech expand
worldwide. –ROBERT WHI TE
“They bought the domain
name www.How ToKill Yourself.org so that the first
search response would
replace the garbage on
page one with a site that
says, ‘You’re not alone.’”
2008
YEAR THE INUT TUT
BIBLE TRANSLATION
WAS COMPLETED
New company combines faith
with technology
Tech intelligence meets social problems
2012
YEAR THE INUKTI TU T
BIBLE TRANSLATION
WAS COMPLETED
