We asked Dave HuYoung, our T-Net Asia Continent Director, to explain the importance of translating T-Net International’s disciple making curriculum in the context of working to finish the Great Commission.
What does T-Net International’s curriculum teach?
T-Net’s curriculum trains pastors and church leaders how to transform existing churches into disciple making, church planting hubs that become part of a nationwide network focused and united under a strategy to finish the Great Commission in their country.
Why do you train indigenous pastors?
Pouring our time and investment into local pastors ensures that each country more quickly develops an indigenously-lead national ministry with an indigenous identity. As soon as feasible, we at T-Net want to move from a leading and training position into a coaching and supporting position for an indigenous national ministry. Furthermore, from a strategic perspective, local pastors don’t need to earn or justify platforms to live, work, and minister in their home countries. They can remain and invest in the long-term relationships required for true disciple making. They also don’t have to learn a new language, culture, or how to present the Gospel in a culturally relevant way. They understand the pain points of people within their countries, and they can minister to the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs as only a local can. Locals are the best missionaries for their own context.
What is the potential impact of one new T-Net translation?
An entire people group is the potential impact of one translation. Then it depends on the size of the population. For example, a new translation we’ve just begun in a Southeast Asian language will potentially serve the entire country, which would be over 100 million people. If these people can learn in their language, this one translation may serve at least the majority people group of the country. Minority groups are less assured, but the only likely trade language in each Asian country is the majority language there. So, we target the majority language first.
What does the translation process look like—how do you make sure it’s accurate?
The translation process is our largest capital investment in any country. It costs around $30-$35,000 per translation of our roughly 3,000 pages of curriculum over approximately three years. For our tier one curriculum, we train 10 courses in a trimester format over three and a half years. All our translation work requires validation by readers who can translate what they read back into English to verify accuracy. And continual validation takes place in our training centers as facilitators walk students through the material. Facilitators and students work together to ensure that what the curriculum contains is as close to what is intended as possible over multiple generations of training. This validation feedback is regularly communicated to T-Net’s Dean of Translation, and suggestions for the source English curriculum are communicated to T-Net’s Dean of Training and Curriculum.
Why should all of this matter to the Church right now?
If the Great Commission is to be finished, we must have a clear and effective strategy to reach the parts of the world that remain inhospitable to Christianity and the Gospel. By God’s grace, every country in the world has an expression of the evangelical church present within its borders. The western church has strong theology, tested methodology, and experienced practitioners that are well suited to partnering with and raising up local pastors and churches to take responsibility for redeeming their own cultures and countries in culturally relevant and God-honoring ways. The Great Commission belongs to the global church. It is our collective mission as Christ’s body, and we see this as the most strategic way to invest ourselves toward that end.
TRANSLATION MATCH CHALLENGE
You can make an impact in the Great Commission by joining the Translation Match Challenge. Inspired by a committed T-Net partner who gave $100,000 toward translations, we want to raise an additional $100,000 to fund the development of 31 different translations of T-Net’s curriculum.
By giving towards the Translation Match Challenge, you are equipping indigenous pastors and church leaders with the necessary tools to train disciple makers in their own languages.
Help us finish the Great Commission by making disciples of all nations.
Choose Translation Match Challenge from the Fund drop-down tab
