Empower the Church

00:00
Sarah Esala
And so we see right here a taste of that. And it’s the church that is owning this and doing this, which is exciting. We’re joining them. We’re joining the spirit of God and the work that’s being done there. 

00:21
Rich Rudowske
Welcome to the essentially translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible translation readers. I’m Richardoski. 

00:26
Emily Wilson
And I’m Emily Wilson. And we want to wish you a very happy International Bible Translation Day. 

00:31
Rich Rudowske
All right, tell us more about that. 

00:33
Emily Wilson
Yeah, so St. Jerome in the late 300s translated the Bible into what was at the time, the vernacular Latin finishing up in 404. And it was a way for people to engage with scripture, what God was saying in their language, reducing those barriers, that they could be able to grow in their faith and understanding. And we’re continuing that vision into the 500th anniversary year of Martin Luther’s New Testament. So the vision is continuing to go. 

01:02
Speaker 4
Forth, and we have a real treat today. We are going to talk with Sarah Essala, who serves as one of Lutheran Bible translators, regional directors overseeing project work in southern Africa, East Africa, and parts of the Pacific islands. You got to sit in the interview with Sarah. Unfortunately, I did not have the privilege. 

01:21
Emily Wilson
No, I felt bad for mean. It was something to be jealous over. No, Sarah is just an awesome example of how God is using us. And she started off with a nursing background and where God led her both as a pastor’s wife and a missionary wife, and moving into a role of, like, okay, taking care of my family is also helping me in my current. 

01:50
Speaker 5
Role of what it looks like to. 

01:53
Emily Wilson
Partner alongside different language communities and coordinating with partners and just being able to manage all of those things. So just giving a fresh perspective, and you’ll also see Sarah’s great heart for people who may have been pushed to the fringes. Sarah has always been an advocate for people who are looking for their voice and being able to be able to partner alongside people and to just celebrate their voices. So we hope you enjoy this interview. 

02:32
Speaker 5
Today we have Sarah Esla on the podcast, regional director for Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, Papua New guinea, and Southeast Asia. That’s a lot. And we want to welcome you to the podcast. 

02:48
Sarah Esala
Thank you very much. I’m glad to be here. 

02:50
Speaker 5
So you’ve been with Lutheran Bible translators since 2002, so it’s been a while. Can you share a little bit about your journey of Bible translation ministry, how you got here, and the different roles that you’ve had with us? 

03:03
Sarah Esala
Yeah. So I would have never imagined that I would be in a Bible translation organization in my early life, I went to school for nursing, thought I would do medical missions work. And then I met Nathan, and he had an interest in Bible translation. And then I would say through a process of discernment for what we wanted for our lives and where the doors seemed to be opening, Bible translation seemed to be something that really caught our attention. We were really impressed with how it empowered people with their word, how churches could be strengthened, that missionaries could leave, and they still have the Bible. So that was powerful. 

03:42
Sarah Esala
And really the word of God is so precious in our own lives and was so important to my own lives that to be part of that seemed something worthwhile, even if it was a change of course for myself. 

03:53
Speaker 5
Right. Going from empowering people with their health to empowering people in their spiritual health, of equipping people to be able to grow. That’s awesome. So the different roles you’ve had in the organization, they’ve been quite varied. Can you break down a little bit of the history there? 

04:12
Sarah Esala
Yeah. So I would say my primary role in the early years was I was just a mom and a wife on the field. I did get training. Lutheran Bible translators does have the spouses get training, too, even if they’re not primarily going to be part of the work. So I did language and culture learning, learned about grammar, project management, some scripture engagement stuff, and it was all really interesting. I actually enjoyed a lot of it. That was really great to be a part of. And I did start imagining myself, like, could I do scripture engagement? But life on the field doesn’t work like that all the time. And were in a pretty remote village setting in Ghana, and survival was necessary. So I sometimes would say I fed the translator or the advisor so he could go do the work. And so we did. 

05:07
Sarah Esala
We have five kids now, but we had four kids that were living in Ghana. So just getting meals on the table and homeschooling and doing all that was a major part of my work. But I did have to live in another cross cultural context, and I loved working with the people there and having those relationships. So I think I kind of got some on the ground experience. And then eventually when we returned to the United States, I was asked to do something called member care, which is looking at caring for the personnel in our organization and thinking about needs. Are there things that we can help with that we can anticipate? We can do some education on or support? And so I was part of kind of starting that department here, and then eventually I got asked to do the regional director role. 

05:58
Sarah Esala
That’s awesome. 

05:59
Speaker 5
I mean, that’s all that shifting and transitioning and going from nursing and that training to, okay, I’m now in an entirely new context. And I’m sure quite a bit of your training helped on the field as you were just making those adjustments of like, okay, what is it that my family needs health wise? Maybe not all of it was familiar, but being able to pivot. But then the member care of. I remember one of our mission exploration events of talking about emotionally healthy spirituality and what an advocate you were for what does health look like holistically? And I think that you bring that into your regional director position as well. Can you talk a little bit about that concept of holistic health within missions? 

06:48
Sarah Esala
Yeah, kind of. Practically speaking, people can’t even do their work and their role if they are struggling with their health, if they are in and out of clinics, if they’re sick at home. And so from a physical standpoint, we are going to look at making sure that their health is supported. Sometimes that’s just making sure they get connected to the right doctors and resources. We’ve had things like food allergies that have emerged on the field or other dietary issues, and then you have things like malaria and encountering some of the issues and challenges. And so that over time can actually become almost a trauma when you’re trying to deal with your health on the field. And so trying to be as supportive as possible to look at what is needed to meet those needs. And then you have like, emotional health and spiritual health. 

07:43
Sarah Esala
So emotional health. We are very pro counselor here. We want people to be connected to professionals who can help them and have tools to equip them so that they can just deal with things as they come up. Sometimes it’s stuff in the past, but oftentimes in the cross cultural dynamic or the pressures of the work, on the stress, they need a place to process it as well as, like I said, get some tools. And then the spiritual development. We can’t live on old stuff, our knowledge, we need to be abiding in the word and in Christ. And sometimes you can get so busy doing the work of God that you kind of lose sight of your own spiritual care. So it’s just like keeping all of that in balance. 

08:28
Sarah Esala
And so we wanted to make sure we brought attention to that and weren’t neglecting really any of these areas. And then, of course, relationally speaking, team dynamics are so critical. Whether you’re working with a translation team or team members on a field, other missionaries, or with other agencies, with your own family, we do something for missionaries where we give a book to their parents called the parents of missionaries. And sometimes there’s just a lot of challenges. If your family is going overseas and it’s taking your grandchildren with them, that can be very hard on parents. And so we are just trying to think through what are the challenges that people face and we want them to have the full support. 

09:14
Emily Wilson
Right. 

09:15
Speaker 5
Being a preemptive, almost like this wellness of like, let’s put this on the forefront. And I’ve heard people will engage with these resources over and over for each transition that they face, being able to say, like, how am I doing? Where is there a pitfall? How can I be finding resources with my brothers and sisters in Christ to strengthen me and being able to point people in that direction? So how have your experiences in the nursing and in this member care and being a mom on the field, how have all those pieces come together to better inform your position as regional director? What kinds of connections has it drawn for you as you kind of assemble from all of that past experience that’s usually on a resume cover letter. 

10:08
Sarah Esala
Right? 

10:09
Speaker 5
Like drawing from past personal experience. That’s a lot of experience since 2002. 

10:14
Sarah Esala
Yeah, it is. And remarkably probably, my mothering and parenting experience has been the most valuable. 

10:23
Speaker 5
Wow. 

10:23
Sarah Esala
If anybody would have told me that, I would have been shocked. And it’s not that I’m mothering and parenting the people I’m working with. It’s not like that at all. It’s because I care so much for my kids and I want them to do well. And sometimes that means we have to make tough decisions. They don’t necessarily like it. So I have to kind of work with that communication and work to find those solutions and ways forward as well as just thinking about the relate. I mean, because you’re in relationships and that’s what kids are, and having to prioritize, having to look at not just one or two people. But how does this impact the whole of the family in the mothering case, but the whole team, the whole field? So I didn’t really realize it until that happened. 

11:14
Sarah Esala
As well as I think that holistic piece. I want my family to thrive, not just survive. And sometimes when it’s your own family, you’re kind of more invested in that. And I think I really want that for the fields that I’m working on. I tell the people I work with, I don’t want us just to get a job done. Ideally in the process, there would be flourishing. That’s the word I love to use. Where people are getting to use the gifts that God has given them, which is once again one of those parenting things. I have these five different kids that are really different and so wonderful and differently gifted. And when we come together, I feel like our family can do amazing things. And it’s the same thing with teams. It’s like team working with a team. 

12:00
Sarah Esala
And I want to see everybody be able to flourish and bring their strengths. If they have weaknesses, if there’s other people that can come alongside and help them. It’s essentially being the body of Christ. So that’s, I guess, mothering the nursing thing. I always tell people nursing is maybe the best background to have as a missionary. 

12:21
Speaker 5
Yeah. 

12:21
Sarah Esala
And so that I’ve been able to help, I guess, negotiate some health issues and have a sense of what’s going on and how you would proceed. So it’s been fabulous to have that nursing background and I take it for granted. Honestly, it’s awesome. 

12:37
Speaker 5
You’re a huge asset to the team. And can you share with our listeners what does the day to day look like? What are some of the programs, the language communities that you work with in your role and what does it mean to be a regional director? 

12:54
Sarah Esala
Okay. So I feel because I have so many different areas and we are pretty good about contextualizing what’s going on and how we’re working in different settings. So I do feel like every project is different, every field is very different, but I would say it requires a lot of coordination supporting the work that’s there, communicating with people, developing, helping develop strategy and processes. We’re on several fields. We’re kind of at a crossroads. The missions world has changed, Bible translation kind of is changing and we’re trying to figure out what is the way forward now. How do we look at the current situation and move forward in good ways. 

13:39
Sarah Esala
So I do a lot of that and I’m working with both missionaries and then I do a lot of work with our national partners, whether it’s a church partner or like a partner in an organization like the Bible Society. 

13:51
Speaker 5
So can you share a little bit about some of the exciting things happening with the different language communities that you’re working in? Is there something in particular? Like, I know that you’ve made quite a few international visits even since you’ve become regional director. I know to member care, you made some visits to different field contexts. How has it been different for you of Ghana and that experience and then member care and that experience versus what you see on the horizon as regional director? 

14:21
Sarah Esala
Yeah, I think the biggest difference is that, and I’m more realizing it now, but that people listen to me, that they really want to know what to like. I’m working with Tanzania and some church partners there. Bible translation is new to them. I am their expert. Okay. Dr. McGahn, who is the consultant and working there, is really the expert, but we really are doing different functions. He’s doing a lot of the specific consulting training in the project and stuff. And then he wants me to come along and I help with the administration piece. I help with some of the other, working out the memos of understanding, talking through some of the strategy and processes and how it’s going to be rolled out with the church and also to implement some of LBT’s values that we’re wanting to have there. 

15:16
Sarah Esala
And he just likes, he’s on the ground and he’s casting vision and doing an excellent job, but it’s been wonderful to work with him. So for the exciting programs in Tanzania, we have a project there that has had a strong start. We had the Olsen family part of that, and they did a good job kind of being part of getting that off the ground. And I kind of told Andrew at that time, you’re working yourself out of a know. And what we didn’t know at that time was that the church would assign someone who had the skills to be an exegete in that project. And so that project is actually doing quite well and will hopefully start getting into what we call the stage where they really are making marked progress. They’ve gotten their training done and they’re excited about it. 

16:03
Sarah Esala
But I think the exciting part is that they have a vision to be mentoring and training other people. So there’s three other projects that will probably start or be initiated in 2023. And the current team is like, no, bring them to us or we’ll go to them. And we want to support them, we want to encourage them. We know how hard it is. All of these communities will likely struggle with computer stuff and paratex, the program we use. So while we can send them to training this team, they get it, they understand, and they’re like, we’ll go. And we want to keep helping them and walking alongside of them. 

16:42
Speaker 5
That’s awesome. 

16:43
Sarah Esala
So I think that’s the exciting part, is seeing that type of mentality of we’re not just separate, but how can that expand out? And likewise, we’re already identifying people who might be consultants for the future. So as this work unfolds in the past, we would have to think, where do we get the missionary to do this work. And now from within the country and the context, the people that know the culture, they know Swahili. Tanzania speaks Swahili as their national language. How can that work out? And so for me, that’s really exciting to be moving in that direction. 

17:20
Speaker 5
That’s awesome. And just that, as you mentioned before, the body of Christ and that beautiful image that we’re given in scripture and how you’re seeing that played out in these translation teams and that sharpening up for one another and know it’s when they’re hurting, all of the body is hurting, and when one is growing that they’re able to help the others grow and flourish. And some of that I’ve heard from you with the New guinea multi language program with the warrior river. Can you share a little bit about that? 

17:57
Sarah Esala
Yeah. LBT was approached by someone from Papua New Guinea, Stephen was his name, and he said, look, we’re finishing up my translation for my language. We’ll have the whole Bible. And for a while we thought that could be used for a lot of languages, but it can’t be. And the church is recognizing that. And really, the whole story is really miraculous. Essentially, the spirit of God was calling all these individuals to this need for Bible translation and saying, this is what you’re called to. And when it got voiced out loud, they all kind of looked at each other and were like, that was exactly what God was speaking to me, which gave them energy and motivation. And then they coordinated meetings and eventually they came up with this project of six languages that are kind of related. 

18:45
Sarah Esala
They’re in the same family and training is being provided for them, but they have come up with a plan for the church to carry this out. They identify the people, they are supporting it. I mean, what they’re not able to support so well is buying the computers and sending people for the training, because that’s very costly, but they are trying to do it within their context and keep the cost very low. And these are very difficult places to reach to live in. There are hundreds of languages in Papua New guinea and I think for many years Bible translators have been trying to think, how are we going to meet this need? And so we see right here a taste of that. And it’s the church that is owning this and doing this, which is exciting. We’re joining them. 

19:36
Sarah Esala
We’re joining the spirit of God and the work that’s being done there. Recently we’ve had people reach out to us, even through the Internet. Someone from Papua New guinea reached out to Lutheran Bible translators and said, hey, I’m here. I’m doing Bible translation work. I want to partner with you. And then through another organization, are reaching out. We found out that they actually are connected to the same area. So we’re trying to figure out what to do with so many languages. In one area where there’s a lot of Lutheran churches, there’s like 80 languages where the churches are saying, we tried to start some work, we’ve done some work. We need this for our lives and for our church. Please come help us. So we’re investigating that. 

20:22
Sarah Esala
So this is stuff I never expected when I took this job that is just coming out of the woodwork, but is really exciting to see. 

20:30
Speaker 5
So how have you seen Lutheran Bible translators grow, expand in these 20 years? I mean, you’re kind of, like, sharing a little bit about that, of like I would have never expected even. Has it been like a year or so since you assumed this regional director position? So, like 20 years, a lot has transpired. What is it that you’ve been encouraged by in the growth of the organization? 

20:59
Sarah Esala
Yeah, maybe going back to even that idea of empowerment and how powerful the word of God is, I think in our organizational vision that we are moving towards that empowerment to a greater degree. We are doing a lot more investing in capacity building in various countries so that they’re not as dependent upon us or someone from the west to come over and meet that need. We’re seeing that they have the vision, and so we’re helping equip them to carry it out. So I think that is a big difference. 

21:33
Sarah Esala
The mentality was just different 20 years ago, and you kind of, like, when I was envisioning it would be our family would go to this language community, and we’d live in the community, and Nathan would go every day to work and kind of help the team where now when I’m working with our missionaries, I am telling them, you’re the exegete right now, but I want you to train an exegete here. So you’re pulling away from that. If you’re helping coordinate and do administration work, you are really training and you’re passing the baton a lot earlier. So that gives us a lot more flexibility. So if something happens with a missionary or something, the work can continue without as much instability for it. 

22:19
Sarah Esala
But also, once again, like the Korea way, they feel empowered and they can go and help other people because they actually have been trained really well. So this emphasis on training is really great. I think another thing that I’m seeing is really the involvement of the community and how important that is. So instead of just saying, oh, there’s a need for this language to get translation work, we are doing a lot more conversations up front to nuance that, to understand. What do you want to use the Bible for? So for our Bible translation projects, the new ones that are getting started, they actually look really different. Sometimes it’s selections of scripture. We have one where they said, we are really using it in our home. Please translate portions where the parents can use with their kids in the home. Start with that. 

23:12
Sarah Esala
So our starting points are just different every place. We can’t just say, okay, we’re just doing a new Testament, and we do a, b, and c. And I think that’s wonderful. It’s very community led, community driven, and there’s a lot of energy behind it. Okay, I’m going to say a third thing, too. I think we’re understanding the need for people to get access and to use scripture earlier on. 

23:36
Emily Wilson
Right. 

23:36
Sarah Esala
So we’re printing smaller portions of scripture, the gospel of Luke, when it’s finished, and we’re trying to get it into people’s lives, their hands, as we like to say here, much earlier. And then we just see that continues to nurture that vision and the involvement of the community. 

23:54
Speaker 5
That’s awesome. And I mean, in that, I’m sure that in your travels, you have seen all kinds of community dynamics. What have you been really encouraged by? Have you been able to witness any of these community checkings or, like, being able to gather with some of the leaders in the committees? 

24:12
Sarah Esala
Yeah, I just recently was with the Kareewe project in Tanzania, and I was at a reviewers workshop, and what they tried to do there is have people from every different church type of church body or denomination. And we had 25 people at this project to review, John one through six. And so we had 25 different people. We had eight women, two babies, old people, young people, a nice variety. And then they split them up into three groups, and they each gave them a couple of chapters to read through, to talk through together. It was amazing. It was just amazing, the excitement, the dialogue. When they first started this process a couple of years ago, they were doing it, and then the translators would feel really defensive, like they had to defend it. Then the consultant said, wait, you’re not here to defend it. 

25:05
Sarah Esala
You’re just here to listen. So they really removed the translators from being part of that process. Okay. As these smaller groups kind of talk through stuff and dialogue, then they bring it back and they share it with the whole group. And then the translators listen and they take notes. That’s all they’re supposed to do. Well, the result is that there is an improvement in the translation. There’s consensus among the churches in the community and there’s also a lot of encouragement for the translators because this community is like, you’re doing a great job. So they’re getting it that way. So everybody’s growing in the process and that’s really exciting to see. And they love it. I mean, the energy and the excitement. 

25:47
Sarah Esala
And those people from the various churches were going to take their copies, they’re taking them back and they’re going to start reading them. Even though it’s not official translation or anything, they’re going to keep reading them and keep getting feedback so that maybe more tweaks can be made or it’s just another way to get scripture out there a little bit sooner. So just that community involvement and we’re just a few years in, we don’t have a lot of material translated and we’re just thinking if we can keep this going, it’s going to make for a strong project for the whole Bible, which is their ultimate goal. 

26:19
Speaker 5
Wow. And John one through six, what a piece. To be able to share with the community. Words of hope. We all latch on to John 316 and 17 and to be able to hear that for the first time in your own language and see how that was coming together and being able to have that voice, what an empowering thing, right? It’s all kind of coming together of like, okay, you started out in nursing and this empowerment and then seeing how that joy that you have of the empowering of the community to be able to have that equal voice in a translation program and that’s awesome. So your joy is contagious, but what has been challenging in the midst of your role, I mean, obviously Covid that is still affecting travel and just how to approach and procedures and processes. 

27:21
Speaker 5
But what’s been something that has been especially like, oh, I wasn’t expecting that. 

27:26
Sarah Esala
I think for me the biggest challenge maybe currently is just all the new things that are happening, all the changes. There’s not a lot of stability in some ways. We have a lot of emerging work in Tanzania and so there’s a lot of mentoring and working with partners and new partners there to help them understand maybe some best practices, but also to have that dialogue. Papua New Guinea, I actually thought that field, were kind of ending a project there and that one would be off my plate. And now it looks like it could be going crazy, like in so many ways. So instead of some of the areas where I thought we might be retracting, it’s actually expanding significantly. Botswana. We’re at a crossroads there. We’re finishing up a couple projects, which is super exciting. 

28:16
Sarah Esala
And now we’re thinking about what we want to do next. How do we utilize the gifts of the people that are there? We have a consultant there, an exegete and a scripture engagement specialist that are all in that country. And we have some wonderful partners there. So how can we work together to think about what the next phase looks like in addressing the remaining languages in Botswana that need attention? And what is our strategy? Before, we would take one language at a time and it would become its own thing. But we’re trying to maybe think about a team approach and how we can work more as a team and help meet the needs of these various projects. And then, of course, capacity build within these communities. 

29:00
Sarah Esala
This is new thinking and new strategy that I don’t necessarily think was being done before, and we’re doing it on the go. So I love a challenge. I like this type of challenge and innovation, but it’s working out. The details is significant, right? 

29:19
Speaker 5
It’s not a simple task and it feels like there’s always different elements changing. Like you were saying, like, I thought this was going to happen, but actually this is going to happen, but ultimately how it’s all in God’s timing and that he’s revealing different parts. And also hearing previously about Suare and Ponso on their podcast, episodes of that, their involvement along the way in the Shikalahari translation program, everything felt longer, like they had to wait in order to be involved, but how it has not only changed them, but the community. And that involvement of just his timing is awesome. So why are you passionate about getting people involved in Bible translation ministry? 

30:09
Speaker 5
I mean, you’ve been doing this work with our organization since 2002, and you’ve been able to partner with people in prayer in sharing the story of Bible translation around the country and overseas. Why are you passionate about getting people involved? 

30:28
Sarah Esala
It probably goes back to empowerment once again and how precious the word of God has been in my own life for sustaining me, strengthening me, helping me find my ways in dark times, as well as really just nourishing me along the way and in my journey life. So I want that for other people, I want people to have access to it. And one thing about scripture is it is for every person and it is accessible. You do not have a few elite that are the gatekeepers. And that can sometimes happen when you are depending upon your pastor in a church and you don’t have scripture that you can access and explore yourself. You have to wait for somebody else. 

31:10
Sarah Esala
So I would say the empowerment of every person, man, woman, child, old people, young people with disabilities, all those on the margins, and maybe for the work that we are currently doing in Bible translation, we really are going to the margins. The people that do not have scripture are the people that their group is really small, or they may be in the cultural hierarchy. They just haven’t been privileged enough. And so to say that your language is worthy to have attention and for them to hear God speak their language is powerful to me, and it’s something that I want for every person. 

31:50
Speaker 5
How can we be praying for you? And I mean, the beautiful ministry that is in your regional director role, how can we be praying for you? How can we encourage the listeners to pray for you? 

32:03
Sarah Esala
I can always use wisdom. There just is a lot unfolding and we can’t see everything fully ahead. And so it’s that idea of having the wisdom to make good decisions now that lead to where we can see the next few steps ahead to make the next decisions. So that’s probably my biggest prayer. Just the diversity of context. When you’re talking Southeast Asia to PNG, to Tanzania, Botswana, and other areas that also reach out, every context is so different, and I want to honor those contexts and the people there. 

32:43
Speaker 5
Well, we will definitely be keeping you in prayer. And thank you so much for your faithful service and your joy in serving and empowering others in God’s mission. So thank you so much for joining us, Sarah. 

32:58
Sarah Esala
My pleasure. 

33:03
Speaker 4
So, as a leader in lutheran bible translators, I have to say that Sarah embodies for me this idea that somebody that you move into a leadership position is not always like the person who is the best at the technical role that they are now overseeing, but rather somebody that has unique administrative gifting and vision, which is what we saw in Sarah as she worked in member care and worked with folks. And when it was time to make a change, she was the person that I thought, this is really the best person to put in this position for where we are right now and where God’s mission is going in the changing paradigm. 

33:37
Emily Wilson
Yeah, no, absolutely. And it’s contagious when you’re talking with Sarah about the growth of the church and all that they are doing to empower one another in language communities that are more remote, like what’s happening in the Warria river region in Papua New guinea, or what’s happening in Tanzania or even in like her regions are so diverse, but that there’s so much happening and just that excitement that she has that vision that she is able to cast with whomever she just it’s contagious. So if you’re feeling that contagious spirit of having a vision for Bible translation in some of the areas that Sarah Esla is overseeing in her management and her coordination, we encourage you to go to the programs page of lbt.org slash programs. 

34:33
Emily Wilson
You can scroll through the list and maybe some of those names are going to be recognizable, but definitely want to encourage you. If you have any questions where you can be praying, where your financial gifts might be needed most, where Sarah and her partner team is working, you can contact communications@lbt.org thank you for listening to. 

34:54
Rich Rudowske
The essentially translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible translators. You can find past episodes of the podcast@lbt.org Slash podcast or subscribe on audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow Lutheran Bible Translator’s social media channels on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Or go to lbt.org to find out how you can get involved in the Bible translation movement and put God’s word in their hands. The essentially translatable podcast is produced and edited by Andrew Olson. Our executive producer is Emily Wilson. Podcast artwork was designed by Caleb Rotewald and Sarah Rudowski. Music written and performed by Rob Weit I’m Rich Radowski. So long for now.