LEAD STORY Bible Translation


Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testament (JNT) THE NEW TESTAMENT IN JAMAICAN CREOLE


by Faith Linton The New Testament in Jamaican Creole/Patwa (JNT) is a reality.


We are holding it in our hands, we are reading it aloud, marveling at it, delighting in it. When and how did this book come into being?


In the early 1980s the United Bible Societies (UBS) reported


an “astonishing” finding. A language survey had revealed that in Jamaica, the largely Patwa-speaking population of two million had no Scriptures in the mother tongue. However the Board of the Bible Society of the West Indies (BSWI) felt that the time was not right for such a translation project. In fact, members of the Board reacted with dismay when one of their colleagues persistently raised the matter of a Patwa Bible. This was not surprising. Traditionally, Patwa has been frowned upon as “bad English.” Until recently, it was deliberately ignored in the education system, and was despised by those who associated the language with intellectual and moral weakness. But God knew better; and He had a plan. The turning point came in 1985 when the General Secretary of


the BSWI, William Edwards, heard from a social worker who was finding it much more effective to communicate with our people in Patwa instead of Standard English. He concluded that the translation project was a necessity in order that the Word of God might be effectively communicated to the Jamaican people. Eight years later, in January 1993, the project was officially


launched, with the late Harold Fehderau as the UBS-assigned translation consultant. Then in 1994, work started on the translation under the supervision of the new General Secretary of the BSWI, Courtney Stewart, who succeeded William Edwards. Two years later an audio cassette of Patwa Scripture readings was released to the public, titled “A who run tings?” – meaning, the sovereignty of God. It provoked a vigorous, sometimes heated debate in the media that lasted for months. There were several outbreaks of controversy during the 20


years that the project lasted. A major outbreak followed the launch in November 2003 of the CD titled “Di Krismos Stori” – meaning, “The Christmas Story.” It was described by newspaper columnist, Devon Dick, as an “engaging dramatic audio presentation of the birth of Jesus Christ;” and he noted that the audience enjoyed every moment of it. On the other hand, another columnist declared that “Jamaican” is not a language!


An audio cassette of Patwa Scripture readings was released to the public, titled


“A who run tings?” — meaning, the sovereignty of God. It


provoked a vigorous, sometimes heated debate in the media that lasted for months.


6 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE


Looking back, we recognize that much good resulted from these discussions. First of all –


§ They were cathartic, releasing strong emotions


relating to historical issues of identity, self-esteem and class consciousness; and exposing the misconceptions and prejudice arising from ignorance of modern findings concerning language learning.


§ They were also enlightening and transformative. The public became increasingly aware that our bilingual situation needed specialized attention in order to deal with chronic problems such as illiteracy and the widespread failure to master Standard English.


These issues presented an unexpected challenge for the


BSWI. Fortunately we were not alone. Our partners and supporters included church leaders of various denominations, many of whom


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