At our last Board Meeting, we celebrated the finished publication of the Chaldean New Testament, and the following observations were made by someone attending this meeting which we think defines the spirit of ABT

Fruit - Ripening, Harvested and Celebrated

 "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose…" (1 Cor. 3:7,8a)

A reverent hush fell across the room as the translator of the Chaldean New Testament opened and read from this freshly-published book of Scripture. Listening to the reading were the Board, staff and guests of Aramaic Bible Translation, Inc., assembled in Chicago for the organization's semi-annual Board meeting. The atmosphere in the room was hope-filled and joyful as this fruit of much labor was revealed and celebrated. Many of those in attendance had played very different, yet important, roles in bringing this moment to reality. Following a grateful prayer of dedication, the members of the Chaldean translation team presented complimentary copies of the New Testament to the members of the Board.

A short time later, another translator began his report to the Board on recent progress with the translation work going on in the Suryoyo-Aramaic language. He opened his report by saying, "I can announce it to you, that the whole New Testament is done, it is translated." In the meantime, work in a closely related dialect, Mardini, was reported as nearing completion.

The Chaldean team celebrated the addition of a very capable new member who will lead the effort to translate the Old Testament into Chaldean. This translator, prepared from childhood to be a scholar in the Church and brought through many dangerous trials-what he calls "so many miracles that, if I wrote them down, it would make a book"-emigrated from his homeland in western Asia to the United States. He spent a good deal of time asking God for direction. What did the Lord want him to do? One day he heard a radio announcement over the Aramaic Broadcasting Network (ABN), presenting the need for additional staff to work on the translation project. He said to himself, "This is for me. Nobody can take this job from me." Commenting on this man's qualifications for the job, the Lead Translator said, "He has two good things in him: humility and the call of God. This is all we need."

Fruit. Some still ripening; some harvested; all celebrated. The Board, staff, and guests of ABT (as they are fondly called) had much to be thankful for at this meeting, as they saw that God had indeed been busy making things grow!Aramaic Bible Translation, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 with the aim of bringing together the technical and support resources needed to produce entirely new translations of the Bible into various modern dialects of Aramaic. An ancient language, the language of Jesus and many of the Biblical patriarchs, Aramaic has changed and evolved over time-as all languages do. One of the earliest translations of the Bible ever produced, known as the Peshitta, was the source of spiritual nourishment for those who were among the earliest Aramaic-speaking converts to Christianity between the first and fifth centuries. But today only a very few scholarly churchmen know this antiquated form of the language, and its use is mainly restricted to church liturgy.

Aramaic-speaking people are today spread over a broad region, including states of the former Soviet Union and the area encompassed by such ancient empires as Assyria and Babylonia-and are émigrés to numerous other countries around the world. The current translation work is being carried out in five dialects of the language, with team members living in four states of the U.S. as well as in homeland areas in the Middle East.

There is also a great deal of breadth in the area of partnership: organizations lending their personnel and financial resources to this common effort. Members of the ABT team (the Board, staff members, translators, advisors, and supporting partners) come together under a common vision from agencies such as Wycliffe International, SIL International, The Seed Company, Lutheran Bible Translators, Aramaic Broadcasting Network (ABN), and the Assyrian United Assistance Foundation. Numerous patriarchs, churches and monasteries around the world contribute their time in checking translations and promoting the finished works among their people.

A subtle, yet persistent, subtext of the ABT Board Meeting was that of encouragement and praise. It was not in any way forced or overdone. It was genuine and generous, flowing from all sides to all sides. One gets the impression that the remarkable unity and productivity of this team, despite wide geographical dispersion most of the time, is largely due to this genuine (and often-expressed) sense of respect and appreciation that the members have for one another.

A highlight for all present was the prayerful commissioning of two members of the ABT team to new roles. A linguist-translator who had served in the Philippines for many years was officially recognized as Project Advisor to the Assyrian translation project. Jean Gouwens was installed as Associate Director of ABT, working to assist Executive Director, Jim Leonard. Jean continues her work, as well, as Advisor to the team working on translations in three Syriac dialects.

Executive Director, Jim Leonard, presented his Report to the Board, summarizing key accomplishments and events since the last Board meeting in October, 2006. Besides recognition and celebration of recently completed translations, he also: welcomed a new Board Member to his first full meeting; congratulated another Project Advisor on his completion of the Kono New Testament (Sierra Leone) after 20 years of work on that project; and highlighted the fact that ABN is now broadcasting Christian programming 24 hours per day.

ABT's Exegetical Consultant and Supervisor of their Technical Studies presented a report to the Board on activities and challenges connected with his responsibility to maintain both exegetical and linguistic quality in the translation work.

Board Chairman Forrest Zander ably guided the proceedings of this meeting, closing this session in prayer at about 3:30 in the afternoon.