Oregon man makes Bible breakthrough with translation
The Oregonian ran a great profile on a local Oregonian who made Bibel translation breakthrough to a tribe in Panama. Fifty-three years. That’s how long it took for Dick Scott to translate the Bible into the Emberaˊ language of the Choco Indians of Panama. Scott, a former pastor of Beaverton Foursquare Church, began the work in 1960 at age 24, after graduating from Life Pacific College followed by two years at the Summer Institute of Linguistics. He found the remote rain forest settlement of 35,000 had no roads or running water and the main religion was witchcraft. (Four of the seven witch doctors eventually converted to Christianity).
Since there was no written language for the Choco, Scott learned the language with the help of his assistant, Jose Cabrera, then developed an alphabet on his manual typewriter. Scott spent six years initially, then returned home to establish a career. But other mission trips followed and he has spent a total of 13 years living among the Choco. Completion of the translation is expected in the next few months. Beaverton Foursquare will publish and distribute to the Choco people copies of the Bible in their own language – the finished lifelong work of a dedicated man.
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