Making Psalms come alive in northern Mozambique
By Natalie Holsten
A woman kneels to the ground and uses sidewalk chalk to draw a stick-figure king. She hands off the chalk to the next person, who draws a bow and arrow.
You might not guess by watching them, but the two are taking part in a Psalm translation workshop in Mozambique, working to capture the main ideas of Psalm 45, a psalm about a royal wedding.
The chalk drawing is just one step in a translation project called Psalms that Sing, which incorporates poetry, music, and drama to help believers understand and internalize the truths found in the Psalms.
The recent workshop was held in Montepuez, a city in northern Mozambique home to 1.2 million people who speak the Meetto language. Psalms that Sing project consultant June Dickie led the workshop for a group of Meetto speakers, which included Bible translators, musicians, a poet, and teachers.
“We did eight psalms in ten days, which is unbelievable,” June said. “The Lord really blessed us.”
A translation team finished the Meetto New Testament two years ago, and the Old Testament translation was launched, beginning with the Psalms.
The Psalms that Sing method of translation has multiple steps, starting with listening to the psalm and getting the big picture. Then participants use games and chants to come up with key words and phrases from each psalm.
They also write the psalm down and do a line-by-line check against the original Hebrew with translation consultants. They make sure the translated psalm fits in with the poetry of the local culture. Lastly, they turn it into a song, using all the verses, then another song that uses the main points along with New Testament examples.
“Yesterday we finished Psalm 23 and checked it again,” June said. “We were happy with it, then we said, go off now for an hour and come up with a song. An hour later, they had it. Music just bubbles out of them!” (Don’t miss the video clip of this at the bottom of the story.)
They also incorporate drama, so that it’s clear who is speaking in the psalm, and to whom and about whom.
For Psalm 45, June brought costumes props and enlisted the translators and even children of the local missionary to play parts.
“Then they know who’s speaking in the psalm,” June said. “That’s why we act it out. It shows the participants in the psalm, because most psalms are not flat speech, they are speaking to God, they’re speaking to enemies, they’re encouraging the congregation.”
One participant, who found this method especially helpful, said, “I realized for the first time that each psalm came out of a real-life context, and was not just a piece of writing, but served a real purpose in a real situation.”
In an area frequently rocked by insurgency violence, translating psalms of lament was especially meaningful and brought comfort to the participants, June said.
“Laments—bringing our pain to God and trusting Him to respond—is a sign of faith. God knows we need laments. There are more laments than praise songs.”
Moses, another workshop participant, said his family had fled insurgency violence the previous week, making the lessons of the lament psalms immediately applicable. “I learned that when I am in difficulty, I should hand it over to God. He answers all requests.”
Another participant, Riquito, said he was particularly impacted by Psalm 121, which begins with the words, ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.’ (NIV)
“It is not the mountains that are big, but it is God,” Riquito shared. “God does not only protect us, but He is the Protector.”
On the Sunday during the middle of the workshop, Napoleão a local church leader, went home and preached on Psalm 12, using the text they had just translated. “My community was very touched by this lament, and how fitting it is to our situation.”
To get to the workshop, June traveled up from her home in South Africa to Nampula, where MAF (known as Ambassador Aviation in Mozambique) flew her to and from Montepuez.
Overland travel can be difficult, June said. On her last workshop trip, she had to go by car, a journey that should have taken just over three hours, but instead took seven and a half, because of a roadblock and car breakdown. “The road is appalling. Thank the Lord for MAF!”
Supporting the work of Bible translation projects like this one in Mozambique is at the heart of the vision of MAF—to see isolated people, including Meetto brothers and sisters—changed by the love of Christ.
Enjoy this short clip of Psalm 23 in the Meetto language.