Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Translating in Iasi

 


In 1993 I took a group of Americans to Romania to distribute New Testaments that we had purchased and shipped in by truck.  The Scriptures arrived in Iasi, Romania on the same day that we arrived, and we were able to help unload them.  Pastor Dino Pope and several of his church members helped us with the unloading.  The truck was driven by two Czech drivers who spoke neither English nor Romanian.  They did speak German, and one of the church members who were helping us unload the trailer spoke German.  So, when I wanted to ask one of the truck drivers a question, I spoke to Pastor Dino, who translated it into Romanian for his church member, who translated it into German for the Czech driver.  The Czech driver then answered the question in German, which the Romanian church member translated into Romanian for Pastor Dino, who translated it into English for me!  Wow!  It took two extra people and three languages, but we could communicate.  What confusion was done at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:9, “Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”  God had a purpose in confounding the languages at Babel.  But God also gives many people the gift of languages.  I’m glad that we can just communicate.

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