translation reflections

I contemplated my experience as I did sermon translation for the final combined chapel. It was definitely an interesting experience — one that I can only declare that it was truly God’s mercy that led me through, and God who spoke through me.

I would usually begin working on the sermon script as early as possible, and finish it the night before the sermon. It is actually a rather tedious task because I would translate and transcribe the entire sermon of usually 10-pages from Chinese to English, so that I will allow the sermon to speak to me, and also have a physical script ready when I am actually doing the verbal translation. This time it was no different, except that I received the script much earlier as requested (we were nearing assignment and exam time). I also managed to finish preparing it in advance because I knew I had other activities and could not leave it to the night before. So I sent the transcript to my own email account, ready and waiting to open it on Thursday before combined chapel. That night, I slept a little late, but took time to pray and commit the next day into His hands.

Strangely, all the preparation (even choosing my outfit the night before) seemed for naught on Thursday morning itself. Thirty minutes before chapel I realised my iPad was left with 5% of battery so I hurriedly plugged it in. I rushed through my shower and arrived in the worship hall with five minutes to go with my hair still quite damp and I missed the preparatory prayer. I greeted the speaker, sat down, turned on my iPad and downloaded my script. Error. The file could not open. The speaker comforted me and told me to just do my best. All alternatives ran through my head, including rushing back to my room to get my laptop. But I did not want to be rushing up and down either, so I could only do one thing: Pray and commit the entire time to the Lord. I was at His mercy, through and through. I hurriedly prepared the Bible verses and opened the Chinese script in my email, and we were on.

It began well enough. The keywords in the script was still fresh in my mind, and I tried to hang onto every word the speaker said. Then I fumbled at a word that was supposed to be “gazelle” (I said “shepherd”), and the kind community corrected me. I stuck out my tongue in sheepish reflex and immediately told myself to put myself together. And for Lord to have mercy. It was a sheer test of my translating skills (and concentration!), as this time I had no script, no safety net to fall back upon. Once or twice my mind lapsed and I fumbled, and I found myself thinking that this was surely the worst attempt ever and everyone will now think that I did not prepare myself. Worse still, it could possibly reflect that the speaker did not give me her script in advance so I did not have ample time to prepare — hence the fumbling! So much for asking for the script ahead of time and for her to rush it out for me! But again, I tried to knock these thoughts out of my head and focus on bringing God’s Word to the congregation. Interestingly, this felt quite short as compared to the other times I translated. When we got off the stage, I did not dare to make eye contact with anyone. I sat down and prayed for the Lord to recognise my effort put in behind the scenes, and that I would remember that I was doing it all as unto the Lord, and not for man. I knew that I am one who tends to get defensive when it comes to things that I put in effort for, and prayed that I would not be tempted to defend my fumbles. Yet when the opportunity came, I still felt that I had to apologise to the speaker, and also tell her that I was still very disappointed with myself for my carelessness, and for letting her efforts down too. However, she encouraged me and told me that I did well for one who did not have a prepared transcript before me. Mercy has been shown.

The final act of mercy was what came after. What I thought was my worst attempt ever was actually praised! The non-Mandarin speakers told me that they were blessed by the sermon through my translation. Most of the feedback that came to me was that “you are really improving”, “this was really much smoother and better than previous times”, and “the flow was good”! At this, the Lord reminded me that He recognised my efforts, and I was a vessel/vassal of His (O the privilege!). And indeed the LORD has spoken.

I was so, so humbled — and the next time I received praise I could only share my experience with them and made sure that it was the merciful God whose name was glorified. It was no longer an embarrassing or defensive statement when I would share the background for today, but an experience that once looked bleak to me was transformed into one for God’s glory. And the most beautiful thing? That — was the exact message of the sermon.

All glory be to God.