Thanksgiving to the Churches in Karnataka

On the 18th of August 2024, in the combined meeting of the church in Bengaluru along with the responsible brothers of the churches all over Karnataka, we were given an opportunity to thank all the saitns for their prayers, offerings, and volunteering for the Kannada proofreading project of the New Testament Recovery Version. 

The burden of Kannada New Testament translation was conceived in 2014 when two Kannada translators signed up for a Greek course. Two years later, these two became the main translators to embark on an eight-year and six-month translation journey. The Lord had been faithful through all these years of translation and now the final work was completed. 

God has a plan. Much more, for His plan to accomplish, He needs man to carry out His plan. This divine thought is expressed in this verse.  

And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up — for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the ground, (Genesis 2:5, RecVer)

Thank God, He found Kannada translators who would cooperate with Him! Though this burden was impossible at the beginning considering the number of Kannada-speaking saints and the situation of the churches in Karnataka, but with the Lord nothing indeed is impossible. This work also seemed to be difficult, but the grace of the Lord led us through in the translation of the New Testament, word by word, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book. Finally, the difficult task was accomplished!  

There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done. Hudson Taylor 

Even after the completion of the translation work, there still need to be the final stage of proofreading and typesetting to make it printable. From the beginning of this year, a brother and I in coordination with the serving ones in the churches in Karnataka called for volunteers. After much prayer, calling, and fellowship, we finally got half the number of volunteers required for the proofreading. But the Lord blessed all that we had in our hands. Later, a few more volunteers joined in. We simply made some changes to meet the need by working extra hours and working harder than we generally should have. Day by day, week by week, from stage one to stage two through the final, all the works were completed well before the due date! The Lord took our five loaves and two fish and blessed them! 

And He said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they found out, they said, Five, and two fish. And He ordered them to have all recline by companies on the green grass. And they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve full handbaskets of the broken pieces of bread and of the fish. And those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men. (Mark 6:38-44, RecVer)

Now that this work was completed, all glory to God. Apart from Him, this is an impossible task. 

Because out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36, RecVer)

As of August 2024, there are approximately 44 million native Kannada speakers in India. Now, we prepare ourselves for the printing of this New Testament Recovery Version in Kannada and plan to reach the Christians speaking Kannada first. One day, it will be a blessing to the 44 million native Kannada speakers in India and a few more lakhs abroad.

Lord, bless Your move among the Kannada-speaking people especially in Karnataka for Your testimony even through the release of the Kannada New Testament Recovery Version!