Christ through the Ages; God’s Word here and now

Pamala wrote and directed our children’s Christmas program, “Christmas: Christ through the Ages.” We’re thankful for all the children and adults who participated and trust that Jesus was glorified. Many Scripture passages outlining the OT promises of a coming Savior and NT passages in fulfillment were read, sung, and acted out by our young performers. We’re thankful for everyone in our church who worked hard for this ministry through music, props, art, and refreshments. See the pictures below.

Our Roma Bible translators were able to travel to Slovakia recently to witness a very important event. The Word for the World Bible Translators (TWFTW) dedicated the newly translated, full Bible in the Eastern Slovakian Roma language. This Roma language is similar to the languages we are currently translating (but different enough to need its own translation). We are so thrilled about this amazing accomplishment of completing the Bible in 15 years.

The team that completed that translation is now helping us with our translations. We are blessed to glean from their wisdom and years of experience and are thankful for the teamwork with them. It greatly encouraged our translators to see another language get a completed full Bible! We have finished 56% of the New Testament and none of the Old, so we have a long way to go, but seeing their success encourages us to press on. See the pictures below of the dedication and distribution of this new Bible.

In our three Roma languages, we are currently translating the Gospel of John and are over halfway done, presently in chapter 13. We’ve been working on it since early September and are very thankful for the good progress and the excellent work the translators are doing. So far this quarter, I have checked 1,572 verses in John with them.

We are so grateful for your prayers and support. We’d appreciate prayer for the remaining $365 we need in monthly pledges for our missionary support to be fully pledged. If you would like to give or increase your monthly giving, please see below for how to give. Thank you!

Jonathan will come from northern California, and Matthew from Atlanta, GA, to be with us for two weeks over Christmas break! We look forward to spending time together as a family with all seven of the kids together in KC!

Merry Christmas, and may Christ be praised!

Todd & Pamala

Our daily prayer calendar for December 2023

To get this prayer list formatted as a calendar for printing, click “download” below:

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December 1 Pray for $365 more in monthly pledges for our missionary support (due to inflation & increased insurance premiums)

December 2 Praise for Daniel & Ariela using their skills for God in the Christmas play (sound & singing/acting, respectively)

December 3 Pray for Pam teaching girls’ youth Sunday school on Exodus 13 today

December 4 Pray for each of our children to follow Jesus closely today and every day & to saturate their minds with the Scriptures

December 5 Pray for Todd & the other elders to serve & lead our church wisely & for fruitful elders’ meetings

December 6 Pray God will use Todd teaching a weekly men’s Bible study through 1 John, for good attendance & edifying learning

December 7 Pray for Todd & the Chergash Bible translators for wisdom as they edit the Gospel of John in their language

December 8 Pray for Todd preparing to teach 1 John at church on Wednesdays & theology for Sunday adult Equip Hour

December 9 Pray for dress rehearsal to go smoothly for the play, esp. for preschoolers singing as Ariela & Pamala lead

December 10 Pray for God to be glorified through the Christmas play Pam is directing at our church tonight

December 11 Pray for improved health for our team in Croatia: Andy’s back & Lim’s rheumatoid arthritis

December 12 Pray for Todd & the Arli Bible translators for wisdom as they edit the Gospel of John in their language

December 13 Praise God for Matthew’s new job with benefits with the same firm; thank God for his kindness to him again

December 14 Pray for Todd as he studies & checks the translations of John in Arli, Chergash & Gurbet

December 15 Pray God would draw to Himself for salvation our family members who need Christ

December 16 Pray for a good visit with Jonathan visiting us for Christmas today through Dec. 31

December 17 Pray for Todd teaching adult Equip Hour on the will of God at our church this morning

December 18 Pray for the salvation of Roma in Slavonski Brod & Sisak, Croatia. Praise for the recent good conversations with our team.

December 19 Pray for a good visit with Matthew visiting us for Christmas today through January 3

December 20 Pray for Todd & the Gurbet Bible translators for wisdom as they edit the Gospel of John in their language

December 21 Pray for one-time gifts of $10,000 to send our family on our Croatia mission trips this summer

December 22 Pray for comfort & joy for missionary families who aren’t home with their families this season

December 23 Pray for powerful music team ministry this weekend as Pam sings at church

December 24 Pray for God’s Spirit to powerfully work in hearts bringing salvation through the church services

December 25 Praise for Jesus showing us God & giving us faith in Him as Savior. Merry Christmas!

December 26 Pray that we will model God’s character in all our interactions & conversations

December 27 Pray for Pam’s mom’s health to continue to be good (93 years old)

December 28 Pray we can be a blessing to Todd’s mom as we visit her in Oklahoma City today & tomorrow

December 29 Pray for good health & for safe travels this winter

December 30 Pray for enough summer teamers to go with us to Croatia in June 2024 & for their needed finances

December 31 Pray for the Gospel to be clearly understood in each of the Christmas outreaches around Jan. 6 in Croatia & Serbia

Our new prayer card

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this Bible translation ministry! Above is our new prayer card. Special thanks to a member of our church, Sydney Evans, for taking the picture and to our son, Matthew, for designing the card. We will be mailing out copies soon. If you don’t receive one in the mail in the next few weeks but would like one, let me know, and I will mail one to you.

We praise God for what He is doing in Bible translation. By His grace, our translation teams have completed over half of the NT in three Roma languages.

Each week, I meet with the Roma Bible translators on Zoom (see picture below) and check their work in the Arli, Chergash, and Gurbet languages, helping them ensure that their translations are accurate and clear and that they sound natural and appropriate. We are currently working on John 9.

We need $365 more per month in financial support pledges. We also need $10,000 in one-time gifts to send our family to Croatia next summer to take a team to run a VBS in a Roma village and host a teen Bible day camp. If you would like to give a one-time gift for our Croatia trip (account 151420), give monthly or increase your giving for our monthly support (account 110250), please use the giving information below. Thank you!

Being a Bible translation consultant involves staying educated about best practices in Bible translation theory and principles, as well as staying informed about advances in the study of Greek, Hebrew, linguistics, theology, and biblical studies. In light of that, this Fall, I had the privilege of attending a Bible translation conference in Dallas and two conferences in San Antonio (the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature). In addition to listening to many engaging papers, I was able to purchase some helpful books. Many books and journal articles are very expensive to purchase, and because I am not a student or teacher at a seminary, until now I have not had access to many of these resources online. However, at this last conference I attended, I learned about a new online service that gives me access to over one million books and journal articles, all for $10 per month. This will be a great help to me in the ministry!

Please continue to pray for God’s wisdom and empowerment as we work to translate God’s Word for Bible-less people.

Gratefully,
Todd & Pamala (Daniel & Ariela) Price

Celebrating Timothy’s 33rd birthday

Celebrating Thanksgiving with Pam’s mom & sisters

In San Antonio

Thank you for your faithful prayers. I have been in San Antonio, TX, for the last eight days, attending annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature. It has been a very profitable time of learning as I’ve listened to numerous lectures on various topics related to theology, as well as to biblical Greek, biblical culture and backgrounds, and linguistics. I trust I am coming away even better equipped for our continued Bible translation work.

Regarding family life, we enjoyed celebrating Timothy’s 33rd birthday (pictured below), visiting Todd’s mom, watching Elizabeth finish a half-marathon, and a mother-daughter sleepover for Pamala and Ariela with American Heritage girls.

Pamala is team-teaching Ariela’s Sunday school class, going through the book of Exodus, and I am teaching a men’s Wednesday Bible study through 1 John. I recently taught an adult Equip Hour class on “The Knowledge of God” as part of our church’s study through R. C. Sproul’s Everyone’s a Theologian. You can listen to the audio of my class at https://www.crosswaybible.org/mediaPlayer/#/episodeaudio/65

Our daily prayer calendar (November 2023)

For this prayer list formatted as a calendar for printing out, click “download” below:

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November 1 Pray for Todd teaching men’s Bible study on Wednesday nights on 1 John, for God’s empowerment & guidance

November 2 Pray for wisdom for Todd as he prepares to consult on the translations of John in the Arli, Gurbet & Chergash languages

November 3 Pray Todd will be a blessing to his mom, Geri, as he visits her in Oklahoma City this weekend & for safe travels

November 4 Pray for spiritual growth for Daniel, Ariela & other church youth at a conference today

November 5 Pray for God to speak through Pamala as she teaches Exodus 13 to the youth Sunday school girls this morning

November 6 Pray as Todd & Daniel attend our monthly men’s book study on godly manhood, to be blessed & be a blessing

November 7 Pray for Todd & the other elders of our church meeting tonight, for God’s Spirit to lead us

November 8 Pray for Todd and the team as they check the translation draft of the Gospel of John in the Gurbet language

November 9 Today is Timothy’s 33rd birthday. Pray for God’s presence to be very real to him & give him courage for God’s glory

November 10 Pray for excellent teaching & learning at the American Heritage Girls mother/daughter sleepover, studying women of faith

November 11 Pray for Todd as he prepares & teaches Equipping Hour at our church tomorrow on the knowledge of God

November 12 Pray for a unifying & edifying evening tonight for Pam and me with the elders of our church & their wives

November 13 Pray for Todd flying to San Antonio & for fruitful meetings over the next 8 days

November 14 Pray for a solution to Daniel’s tinnitus & for his hearing test today

November 15 Pray Todd will learn much at the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society this week

November 16 Pray for $450 more in monthly pledges for our missionary support (due to inflation & increases in insurance & taxes)

November 17 Pray Todd will learn much at the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature over the next several days

November 18 Pray for a really good practice today for our Christmas program Pam is directing on Dec. 10

November 19 Pray for our kids who know Jesus to be faithful in daily Bible reading & regular church attendance

November 20 Pray for God to soften the hearts of family members who need salvation & give them the gift of faith in Jesus

November 21 Pray for Pam’s mom’s (Barbie, 93 years-old) heart procedure to be successful, preventing blood clots

November 22 Pray for missionaries worldwide to feel God’s comfort, not being with family at Thanksgiving time

November 23 Praise God for salvation & so many other blessings, as we celebrate Thanksgiving with Pam’s extended family

November 24 Pray for a special time for Pam with her 3 sisters & families visiting for Thanksgiving

November 25 Praise God that Todd’s sister in OKC is nearby to visit & help take care of their mom, Geri Price

November 26 Pray as we speak this morning at First Baptist Church, Chariton, IA, to encourage them in missions & service

November 27 Pray for Todd’s mom in Oklahoma City nursing home to feel God’s peace & joy each day

November 28 Pray for Todd and the team as they check the translation draft of the Gospel of John in the Arli language

November 29 Pray for good winter health & safety in winter driving for our family

November 30 Pray for Todd and the team as they check the translation draft of John in the Chergash language

How much of the pie is eaten so far?

Thank you for your faithful prayers for the work of Bible translation! The pie chart above illustrates how much progress the teams have made in completing the translation of the New Testament in three Roma languages (Arli, Chergash and Gurbet). We’ve completed 56%, are in the middle of doing another 11% and have 33% that we have not yet started. The breakdown of individual NT books is given below.

We are thrilled with the progress and thankful for the Lord’s strength to keep working day in and day out on the joyful task of translating God’s Word.

Each week, we meet as translation teams over Zoom with a goal of completing 62 verses in each of the three languages. We are currently working on the Gospel of John and are in the middle of chapter 5.

As each book is completed, it is published online in the YouVersion app. Above are screenshots from Matthew 6, including the Lord’s prayer, in the three languages. Additionally, the books are being recorded and will be published in audio format online soon.

Thank you all for praying for me while I attended the biennial Bible Translation Conference in Dallas, TX. My replacement computer arrived at our house just hours before I needed to leave for the airport to travel to the conference. This was a huge answer to prayer since my laptop had died, and I needed a computer at the conference so I could learn and explore the new Bible translation software that was being presented.

The conference was a fantastic time together with 500 people from around the world, as we gathered to worship, pray, and attend seminars and panels on the subject of quality assurance in Bible translation. It was a privilege to get to meet some amazing people, find out about some new software tools, and learn many good principles to equip me in my work of Bible translation.

We are currently praying for an additional $525 per month in monthly pledges, whether from new donors or from our current individual supporters and churches who will increase their current pledges. (Our needed budget has increased from rising insurance premiums, taxes, and general inflation.) We’d appreciate prayer for that. If you would be interested in giving or increasing your giving, please see the information below on how to give, and please let us know so we can update our records.

We so appreciate your partnership in this work. There is no way we could do it without you. All we do is for His glory, and as our prayer partners and supporters, you will also share in the eternal reward that our kind and gracious Father is laying up for us.

Gratefully,

Todd & Pamala

Report on teaching exegesis in Serbia to Roma Bible translators

Thank you for praying for my recent trip to Serbia. I met with the three Roma Bible translation teams I consult, and a new team starting on a Bible translation for Roma in Albania, and taught them a course on “Biblical Exegesis”. Exegesis is the process of studying and discovering the meaning of a text, in this case the meaning of the original Greek text of the New Testament, and communicating that meaning to others through our translation and teaching.

We met at a church campsite up in the hills of Jagodina, Serbia. Each morning we met for devotions and worship. Then for three hours each day I lectured on exegesis, and another teacher taught the students semantics (the study of meaning) for three hours (he and I took turns in the order of class sessions, starting around 9 a.m. and ending around 6 p.m. with breaks in between). We had all our meals together and one evening went walking in the nearby city.

Jet lag and a head cold took a lot out of me, but God was merciful and we were able to complete the class. It was good to be with my Roma friends in person; we see each other weekly on Zoom, but being face-to-face is always better. It was also encouraging to meet the believers from Albania and hear their testimonies.

In the US we no longer hear much about it in the news, but for years there has been tension between Albanians and Serbs over the conflict in Kosovo. It was a joy to see one of the Roma believers from Serbia bring this up in devotions, apologize that he and other Roma from Serbia were forced to fight Albanians, ask forgiveness and tell them how much he loved them in Christ. The fact that these believers from “enemy countries” became immediate friends and enjoyed close comradery from the beginning, is a powerful testimony to the Gospel.

I was also reminded of how Albania used to be closed to the gospel. It was the first nation in the world to proclaim itself an atheist country, and I remember a great prayer emphasis in the late 80s and early 90s, praying that it would open up for the Gospel. One of the men from the Albanian team shared his testimony and mentioned how he became a believer when one of these new missionaries that came to Albania from the US in the 90s in answer to these prayers shared a Bible verse with him. (People had been working on translating the Bible into Albanian for years so it would be ready for the time for when the doors opened politically.)

My classes went well. I loved hearing some of the “aha” moments as we talked about various aspects of exegesis and practiced together on many verses in James (which we had recently translated together) and the Gospel of John (which we are currently translating together). It was also helpful that I could share with them about some reference materials and Bible translation tools they did not know before how to use, and other books they did not know they could get access to. At the end they told me, “I wish I had had this class a long time ago!”

Below are more pictures from my trip there. Thank you again for your faithful prayers and financial support!

Todd

Our daily prayer calendar for October 2023

To get this prayer list formatted as a calendar for printing out, click “Download” below:

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October 1 Pray Todd will quickly get over jet lag & adjust to the US time zone & stay healthy after his trip to Serbia

October 2 Pray for Todd & Daniel attending monthly book study with other church men, to be a blessing to them

October 3 Pray for God’s guidance & empowerment for Todd & the other elders of our church (meeting tonight)

October 4 Pray for Todd teaching men’s Bible study Wednesday nights on 1 John at our church

October 5 Today is Barbie Hughes’ (Pam’s mom’s) 93rd birthday. Praise God for her health & her faithful sharing of the Gospel

October 6 Pray Todd & Daniel will be a blessing to Todd’s mom, Geri, as they visit her in OKC this weekend

October 7 Pray for Christmas program rehearsal today & 10/28, that songs & script will help participants see God’s trustworthiness

October 8 Pray for safety as Todd teaches Daniel to drive & for good progress to fulfill the mandatory number of practice hours

October 9 Pray for good health for our teammates in Croatia, Andy, Lim, Sergej & Želka & for the encouragement of spiritual fruit

October 10 Praise God for progress in piano lessons for Ariela & for her teacher being so good & kind

October 11 Pray for Todd and the team as they check the translation draft of the Gospel of John in the Gurbet language

October 12 Pray for Todd traveling to Dallas & attending Bible translation conference through 10/17

October 13 Pray for Pam & Ariela at a campout with American Heritage Girls, for godly mentoring

October 14 Pray for Todd to learn much thru Bible translation conference & have fruitful meetings with other translators there

October 15 Pray for Pam as she teaches Sunday School for Jr. High & Sr. High girls, for good learning in Exodus 7

October 16 Pray that many Roma will read & listen to the Scriptures now translated into their languages

October 17 Pray for donors to pledge $545 more monthly for our missionary support (due to increase in health insurance & property taxes)

October 18 Pray for wisdom as Pam writes the curriculum for next summer’s VBS in Croatia incl. crafts to prepare ahead of time

October 19 Pray for wisdom for Todd as he prepares to consult on the translations of Gospel of John in the Arli, Gurbet & Chergash languages

October 20 Pray for adults & teens in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, to come to know Christ personally

October 21 Pray for Elizabeth as she runs a half marathon this morning & for a growing daily walk with Jesus

October 22 Pray we can reconnect well as we speak at North Cedar Baptist Church, Cedar Falls, IA, this morning

October 23 Pray for God’s mercy of salvation for family members who need it

October 24 Pray for Todd and the team as they check the translation draft of the Gospel of John in the Arli language

October 25 Praise God for giving us good health, safety & energy to serve God & love others

October 26 Pray for Todd and the team as they check the translation draft of John in the Chergash language

October 27 Pray for Pam hosting a Sunday school girls’ event, for good connecting & mentoring of the girls, along w/ the two other teachers

October 28 Pray as we speak at the missions conference of The Master’s Community Church this weekend in Kansas City, KS

October 29 Pray for our kids who know Jesus to have a growing delight in Christ & God’s Word

October 30 Pray for salvation of Roma in Sisak, Croatia, the village where we did VBS this summer

October 31 Happy Reformation Day! Pray for revival & reformation among the Roma of former Yugoslavia

Flying out to Serbia tomorrow (The Prices Write)

Dear praying friends,

Tomorrow I travel to Jagodina (which means “strawberry”; shown on map above), Serbia, to teach a class on biblical exegesis for a week. The Roma translators I consult are taking this course on how to discover the meaning of a Bible passage as part of their training, and they will be joined by a new team from Albania. That team is launching a project to translate the Bible into another Roma language spoken in Albania. I will lecture three hours per day, Monday through Friday, teaching in English and being translated into Serbian and Albanian. We will be looking at principles that will help the Roma translators find the original meaning of the verse they are translating, introduce them to reference materials that can help them in that process, and also practice together on numerous Bible verses.

Todd’s 57th birthday

We recently finished checking James in the three Roma languages, and have started on the Gospel of John. James took about three weeks and we anticipate that John will take about four months.

Last weekend we spoke in Sully, IA, (pictured above) where we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Sully Community Church, one of the churches that has faithfully supported us in prayer and monthly financial support for about 30 years! We enjoyed seeing many friends and getting to know our host family, who took us kayaking (pictured below).

Ariela (12)
Daniel (15)

I’ve had the privilege of teaching a couple of Equipping Hour classes at our home church. One was on how the New Testament was copied, and another was on Belonging (and Loving Your Church). You can hear the audio of these messages at: https://www.crosswaybible.org/equip.

Due to inflation, an increase in our property taxes and an increase in our health insurance premium, we currently lack $545 in monthly pledges. We are very grateful for two new individual monthly supporters and for one of our supporting churches and an individual supporter who increased their monthly pledges recently. Please pray for the remaining pledges we need. If you would like to give or increase your giving, please see the giving information at the bottom of the page.

Thank you to all of you who faithfully pray for us and financially support us in the work of Bible translation for the Roma!

Todd & Pamala (Kirsten, Daniel & Ariela)

“Don’t eat strangled animals” (Lost [and Found] in Translation, Installment #16)

Screen shot from a recent Zoom session checking the Bible translation into the Gurbet language

We recently finished checking Acts in the Arli, Gurbet and Chergash languages. It was a four month process, fun to do, but also with many challenges.

One of the challenges in Bible translation is what to do when there is implied background information that we know was clear to those who read the New Testament in the first century Roman empire, but which we think that our 21st century Roma in Eastern Europe will not know. How can we make sure that they understand through our translation what was clear to the original readers, but will certainly not be caught if we make a very literal translation?

“Godfearer” mentioned in a mosaic inscription at the synagogue of Sardis, ca. AD 365 (c) bibleplaces.com

For example, in several places in Acts, reference is made to “those who fear God” or simply “God-fearers”. What may not be clear to today’s readers is that this was a semi-technical term that referred to Gentiles who worshipped the God of Israel. These Gentiles had not fully converted to Judaism (perhaps they had not been circumcised) but they worshipped in the synagogues and sought to obey Yahweh.

A literal translation of Acts 13:16 would say, “Then Paul stood up and made a sign with his hand and said, ‘Men, Israelites and those who fear God, listen.” What might not be clear to contemporary readers is that Paul was addressing a crowd with two groups of people, Israelites/Jews, and Gentiles who were favorable to Judaism. To make this clear in our translation in the Roma languages, we translated it as “Israelites and you others who fear God”.

Meat offerings depicted on bell-krater, late 5th century BC (c) bibleplaces.com

Another passage which sounds strange to our ears, but would have made sense to the original readers is Acts 15:29. In the Arli language, the translators had made a draft that said, “to abstain from food which is intended for idols, from blood and from meat from strangled animals and from fornication”. As modern readers, we might wonder what was wrong with eating an animal that had been strangled. But their are two important points: First, under the Jewish law, the throats of animals had to be cut and the blood drained out before an animal could be eaten; if an animal was only strangled, and not slaughtered, the blood would not have had a chance to drain out. Secondly, strangling and eating an animal was often used as part of pagan idol worship. Thus it makes sense for this to be forbidden since Gentile converts to Christ would need to make a clean break with pagan idol worship which often involved eating a non-slaughtered animal, drinking blood and temple prostitution, thus fornication.

Now, we can’t bring all of that out in a translation (since we are not producing a study Bible with notes). But we did adjust the Arli language draft to say “to abstain from food which is sacrificed to idols, to not drink blood and to not eat meat of strangled animals whose blood was not shed/drained and to not commit fornication”. But making that adjustment to the translation, it makes clearer some of the cultural background which our modern Roma readers would otherwise surely miss.

Roma translations of Luke & 50 Bible stories in 5 Roma languages

Stay tuned for more “lost (and found) in translation” installments. And please pray for the Bible translators and for me as the translation consultant to have much wisdom and insight to know the best way to translate, especially in situations like those I’ve just mentioned. We want the Roma of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina to hear God’s word with understanding. We are just finishing up James and beginning the Gospel of John. We appreciate your prayers.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for Bible translation!

Todd