Recently the Eastern Lisu version of the Bible is published in Yuanmou Church, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. Local Church staff said that believers of Eastern Lisu have waited for 21 years to have the Bible in their own language. More than a century ago, the first church was established by the ethnic group.
The translation work started in 1992 and the version is translated comprehensively based on the local pronunciation of the group. From 1992 to 1997, thirteen pastoral co-workers managed to translate the Bible into Eastern Lisu language. In the following four years, the translation team worked in the translation in a church of Wuding County. In May 2002, the team moved in Wuding CC&TSPM to continue the ministry.
During the translation, Yunnan CC&TSPM invited some experts of the United Bible Societies who instruct the team translation-skills and helped with proofreading and finalizing the version. Besides, the team used Today's Chinese Version (TCV) as a reference and the experts referred to the Greek Bible and other English versions for the final version .
In November 2003, one thousand copies of the four gospels of the New Testament were printed by the provincial CC&TSPM. In July 2006, two thousand copies of Acts and the books from Romans to Philemon were issued and distributed to the Eastern Lisu Christians in Chuxiong and other countries. Meanwhile, advice was welcomed. On July 12, 2009, Yunnan CC&TSPM and UBS held the issuing ceremony of the Eastern Lisu version of the New Testament was conducted in Wuding. A total of 10,000 copies were published. In November 2010, another 2000 copies of Psalms and Proverbs in the native language were issued. About two years later, the team requested the provincial CC &TSPM to print 2000 copies.
During the parts of review and finalizing the version, transliteration has been avoided. For example, the words "lajia" (Raca) and "moli" ("You fool") in Matthew 5:22 have been translated into "feiwu" and "chudongxi" in the version. The word "mamen" (money) in Matt. 6:24 has been translated into "qiancai" (Chinese pronunciation of "money").
The version has used TCV as a reference for the units of measurement, divisions of hours, names, maps, paragraph divisions, paragraph headings, punctuation, notes of the biblical words and the table of biblical chronicles. Some punctuation has been determined according to the grammar of the Lisu language. It may be confusing that the words "he", "she" and "it" share the same sound and character in their language. So the team has translated them into the things or personal pronouns they mean in the verses during proofreading.
A member of the team shares that he not only learns the bible knowledge but also practices the obedience to the Lord's will and commitment to the Lord. Meanwhile, the ministry revives the church of the minority.
