Header at bosnianbible.org
Two days ago, a colleague decided to do some work in a coffee shop… just for a change. At the next table were a couple who had raised finance and prayer support so that the entire Bible could be translated for the people of Bosnia. Had this “accidental” meeting not happened, I would not have known that the Bosnian Bible now has its own website!
On 24 September 2013 I wrote a post telling the story of my tiny involvement in the story of the translation of the full Bible into the Bosnian language.
About 10 or 11 years ago, I helped some people to make contacts with colleagues in Wycliffe Bible Translators. These people, in N. Ireland and Bosnia, set out on a dream. Yesterday I held the fruit of that dream in my hands.
The Bible in the Bosnian language
Back then, linguistic wisdom declared that Bosnians, Serbs and Croats could all understand the Bible in Serbo-Croat…
However the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s, and the subsequent independence of Bosnia-Herzegovina, has resulted in a nationalisation of all three languages.
While linguistically, there was no pressing reason for a translation of the Bible into Bosnian, there were very strong socio-linguistic reasons for doing so. Bosnian Christians, with clear memories of Serbian war crimes, wanted a Bible of their own.
The text from my original blog appears on bosnianbible.org
The English translation of the Introduction to the Bible says:
It is our prayer that God Almighty would speak through the pages of this translation and bless everyone who reads it, whatever religion they belong to.
Take a look at this video which also appears on bosnianbible.org
Over the past 3 years I have had 51 responses to my original blog from people wanting to know how they could get a copy either for themselves or for Bosnian friends – now I can easily direct them to bosnianbible.org
Please pray that this will not simply be an interesting book in bookshops and on people’s shelves, but that it will introduce Bosnian speakers to Jesus Christ.
John 20:21 