HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies (May 2013)
Vision 2025 and the Bible translation movement
Abstract
Complex questions have arisen about how Christian mission agencies function within a globalised context. The changing context has impacted on how the missio Dei has been worked out within these agencies and this has had implications of a theological and missiological nature in particular as to how the agencies have interacted with the church worldwide. This has lead to new paradigms of how mission is conceptualised. The growth of the church worldwide in newer soil has forced mission agencies such as the Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA) to re-evaluate their place in the world. It has been assumed that as resources have decreased from parts of the world where the WGA has had its traditional roots, there are missiological factors in determining how this impacts on the WGA. There are many missiological implications for the WGA that come from influences in church history on the importance of the translatability of the gospel especially in the context of Bible translation. These have impacted the WGA’s understanding of itself and in particular of how it has interpreted and reinterpreted its Vision 2025. When the missio Dei converges with outcomes of globalisation there are numerous implications for an agency such as the WGA. Consequently, the article concludes that none of these matters can be ignored. Instead they must be explored and lessons learnt from them that can be passed along to others in similar situations.
