OMT is More Than Just Bible Translation
Have you ever imagined it?
What if we had grown up without a Bible in Korean? How would we have come to know Jesus?
Today, 1.5 billion people around the world still live without a Bible in their own language. And still, 4,564 languages are waiting for Bible translation.
How much longer will it take for God’s word to be translated into all these languages?
OMT (Oral Mother Tongue) is not just about Bible translation. It is a ‘spoken Bible translation’ movement designed for communities that communicate through words and sounds rather than writing.
OMT helps communities who speak in their mother tongue to:
- Worship God in their own language,
- Hear God’s word in their own language, and
- Live as disciples following Christ.
This method is both efficient and practical. Communities using their mother tongue can translate the Bible themselves, and by using applications, they can spread God’s word faster and more widely.
Translation can begin with just three people:
- Someone who reads the Bible in a common language,
- Someone who translates it into their native language,
- Someone who uses an app to check the translation.
With such a simple structure, translation can happen much faster than expected.
OMT is also about disciple-making.
Recently, I went to Nepal with a team. Nepal has 118 different dialects. We met “Nepali people” who didn’t know how to read or understand Nepali.
For them, we had to preach the gospel in their mother tongue. They needed the Bible in their own language.
So, we played the Bible in their native language for them. For the first time, they heard the gospel in their language, and they cried. God’s word reached deep into their hearts.
When I first heard about OMT, I thought only about how much of the Bible we could translate. How many languages were left? How much time and money would it take?
But after seeing the translation process firsthand, a different question came to mind:
How will the community receiving the Bible respond?
We took the audio Bible to a village. With our Nepali coworker, who also spoke the local dialect, we met with sick people and asked, “Can we pray for you?” We prayed right then, hoping for miracles, just as the early church experienced.
And miracles happened.
We shared with them who Jesus is, and a person accepted Jesus into their life.
We spoke to them in their own language, telling them, “Jesus is the one who healed your illness and is the Creator who made you.”
That day, in their language, the gospel and truth were proclaimed in that village.
OMT is not just about Bible translation. OMT is a bridge for souls to meet the Lord, a pathway to worship, and the first step toward a life of discipleship.
Revelation 7:9 says:
“After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”
God is still working to fulfill this vision. The day will come when every nation, tribe, people, and language will worship the Lord in their own tongue. OMT is preparing for that day and joining in God’s mission.
Would you like to join us in this movement, too, and help all nations meet God?
ㅡPark Hee-Jin, Training Team
