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A SELECTED "NORTHERN LIGHTS"
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
(from Issue #486)
Dogrib New Testament Dedicated
by Jim Stauffer
 The
long awaited Dogrib Language New Testament has been published! Various
groups involved in the translation held a public dedication service on
August 23, 2003 in Rae, Northwest Territories.
The dedication was part of the larger Dogrib Nation Annual Assembly,
the highlight of which was the signing of their Land Claim and
Self-government Agreement by Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
It seemed fitting that these two historic events be celebrated
together. As the Dogrib people explore their self-determination, what
better guide could they have than the Word of God?
Wycliffe Bible Translators has had teams working in the Dogrib
language off and on since the 1960s. Although we were not directly
involved in the actual translation, we are a part of the distribution
and promotion of the newly-translated New Testament.
Since the completion of the Dogrib Language JESUS Movie in 1998, I
have been working on literacy aids to help people read their own
language. This has included the production of various audio CDs and
tapes of the Dogrib Scriptures as well as computer-based interactive
Bible Stories (a sampling is available on the Internet at http://denefont.tripod.com/bible.htm).
It has also been my privilege to develop the cover design and the
computer font (typeface) used for printing the Dogrib New Testament.
And there is much more to do! With the publication of the New
Testament, most of the recordings done from preliminary versions of the
translation are now obsolete. So, along with the Wycliffe Bible
Translators team, I am in the process of recording the entire Dogrib New
Testament.
This will be an invaluable companion to the printed Word, both for
those learning to read Dogrib as well as for those, mostly elders, who
will never learn to read it.
(Just recently some have shown renewed interest in learning to read
the Bible and we have been asked to help teach the classes.)
We appreciate your prayer support. We need a sensitivity to what God
is doing among the Dogrib people.
We ask prayer for people to read and listen to the Bible in their own
language, so that many would be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ through
His Word.
Jim & Lois Stauffer live in the Northwest Territories, where
they are also involved with regular Bible studies and children's
clubs.
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