Rev. Dr. Paul McLean spends most of his days behind a computer screen, surrounded by piled Bibles, biblical commentaries and translation notes. From his Canadian office, where he works during eight or nine months of each year, he keeps in touch with his Hakka-speaking colleagues in Taiwan through email and software that allows them to share translated Bible passages. By the end of 2010, the team hopes to release a complete edition of the Bible in Taiwanese Hakka. It will be the culmination of nearly 25 years of work.
There are about three million Hakka people in Taiwan – about 17 per cent of Taiwan’s total population – making them the country’s largest ethnic group. Most who are Christian are Presbyterian, and are part of a fledgling Hakka presbytery.
“In 1982, my family and I felt the call to Taiwan,” says McLean. “In conversation with ministers in the board of world missions, through our own reading of scripture and through an invitation to come and help, we felt a deep sense in our hearts that God wanted us to cross cultures, learn new languages and offer gifts to God and the church in Taiwan.”
His wife and then 18-month-old son set off for the island in the China Sea. His second son was born in Taiwan, and his third in Canada when he and his wife were on furlough.
After more than two decades of translation work, McLean says his Hakka is “pretty good,” but his main focus is double-checking Hakka translations against the Bible’s original Hebrew and Greek.
“There are very few Hakka Christians,” McLean says. “Only two or three in 1,000 are Christian. But those who are Christians are very devoted to God and to the mission of church, devoted in faith and Christian action. It’s been a joy to me to work with a team of translators with unity of mind and heart to make the scriptures available to the church, and for their sacrifices and commitment to the task.”
McLean heads to Taiwan a few times each year to compare notes and see his colleagues in person. Now that a complete version of the Bible is in sight, he says enthusiasm is high among the members of the team, especially in the heart of Liau Tet-thiam, a 90-year-old elder who has been working on the translation since he was 65.
McLean’s work is funded by Presbyterians Sharing, and is conducted in partnership with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the Bible Society in Taiwan.
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