God’s Word Prevails

God’s Word Prevails : An Interview with Jim Laesch

In celebration of the 60^th Anniversary of Lutheran Bible Translators, I interviewed Jim Laesch. Jim spent his 48-year career with LBT in multiple roles and had the joy of seeing  more than 45 translations completed. I asked him to share some translations that stuck out in his memory. 

“Kisi* in Liberia had both remarkable New Testament and Bible publications. I have known most of the Kisi translators and missionary advisors through the years. The project started in 1973, based in Liberia, with the key advisor, linguist and consultant Larry and Mae Johnson.  The New Testament was completed during the Liberia Civil War (1989). The first shipment got lost in all the chaos of war in 1991. A second printing was done and arrived in 1993. 

When the full Bible was completed, a different disruption happened: the Ebola Crisis! The Bibles arrived and were dedicated, but LBT personnel were unable to travel to those events. The printed Bibles did arrive, Praise God! Read more about the story of the Minnesota Kisi Bible dedication. 

Another is Krio in Sierra Leone. This translation work, which began in the early 1970s, was somewhat controversial at the time. In that era, languages whose origin was ‘a mixture’ of languages were often seen as ‘crude dialects’ or ‘not a language’ or ‘not worth writing or learning.’ Krio was a ‘pidgin language’ that developed when many populations were mixed together in and around Freetown at the end of organized slavery of the 19th century. 

This ‘pidgin’ subsequently became the mother tongue of new generations. When that happens, the linguistic term is that a pidgin has now become a ‘creole’. Hence the name Krio! 

Over the next 25 years as LBT worked with the community the writing system became more functional, books of the Bible became available, and it became feasible to learn to read Krio. Eventually, the general population accepted Krio as a language! It was a very joyous event to see the Bible available for this formerly unwritten language. 

Another reason this language is important is that it is a ‘steppingstone’ educationally for people. Many have learned to read as adults in their mother tongue, and then Krio, and then move on to English. 

Lutheran Bible Translators still supports Krio Literacy through The Institute for Sierra Leonean Languages (TISLL). TISLL continues to be a hub of local language expertise and practical promotion and teaching of literacy skills.”