If you were dying today without the gospel, would getting God’s Word today be “too fast?”
The latest issue of Christianity Today includes an encouraging initial report on the emergence of a new trend that is accelerating Bible translation called MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation). 
I say an “initial” report because MAST is beginning to spread virally within the global church. Today’s report on the mustard seed may be tomorrow’s report on the mustard tree forest!
The top priority in Bible translation must be accuracy. This was reinforced by everyone mentioned in the article, and accuracy is at the heart of every Bible translation we support at Wycliffe Associates. We should also note that Bible translation accuracy is the top priority for all of the people that are still without Scripture in their own language. Sloppy translation serves no one, and no one is more committed to accurate Bible translation than those who have been called by God to translate the Bible for their own people.
MAST emerged because people without Scripture, people with no hope of receiving Scripture from others, decided that in good conscience before God they could no longer wait. Slow Bible translation strategies were not meeting their needs. Their people were dying without hope. So they took action. In the first MAST project, the persecuted community actually mobilized close to 10% of the known Christians in their language group to work together on Bible translation, and the results were tremendous!
Regardless of whether Bible translation takes 20 years or 2 months, it is essential to evaluate the accuracy. As the CT article describes, the MAST strategy includes multiple accuracy checks. During MAST, accuracy checks begin at earlier stages, occur more frequently, and include more involvement of the local church than in many Bible translation methods. As MAST has expanded into more than 100 languages, each typically involving multiple churches and dozens of church leaders, and an expanding group of experienced partners in Bible translation, we have further refined the checking process based on experience and the collective wisdom.
A well-known business principle says that in any human enterprise speed, quality, and cost are always tradeoffs. But Isaiah 55 tells us that God’s ways are “higher”. The Church is absolutely committed to high-quality Bible translation, and they are also unwilling for additional generations to die without God’s Word in their language. They are investing their time, talent, and treasure to speed God’s Word to their families and friends. They are moving forward in faith, trusting God’s strength to overcome their weakness.
For the rest of us, those of us who already have God’s Word in our languages, this opens an unprecedented opportunity for us to serve the global body of Christ with the resources God has entrusted to us. Go to wycliffeassociates.org for information on how you can help assure that no one remains beyond the reach of God’s Word.
