The SE Guide is Now an App and Website
By Peter Brassington

The SE Guide is Now an App and Website

By Peter BrassingtonTranslating the Bible in order for it to be used isn’t just about translation. Creating great media resources to help people engage with God through scripture isn’t just about creating great resources.

For over 40 years, SIL and our partners have learned that there is a lot that goes into seeing translated Bibles used effectively. It’s not just about understanding language and translation, but about understanding people and understanding the many things that help and hinder people in connecting with God through His Word.The Scripture Engagement Guide was created as a participatory assessment tool to help communities and churches explore many of these issues for themselves.

It began as an interagency tool outside of the department structures. The assessment part is now fully under IMS in terms of ongoing development, while the resources catalog is managed by EMDC. In 2024, the guide moved from being a web-only resource to being available as an app that can be used offline. It provides some short, simple scenario videos that can be used to spark discussion along with some helpful questions to explore.

While anyone can view and use the material, it will usually work best with a facilitator and follow-up conversations with experienced scripture engagement (SE) consultants. 

We’ve met the following requests of users: make it available offline, make it easy to translate and adapt, and provide more guidelines on how to use it. People have also said, “Can you make it simpler?”Can You Make it Simpler?

At one level, yes we can. A conversation can be sparked around a single issue. Watch a two-minute video and discuss how it applies to your specific context. But be careful. Hurried and shallow discussion is likely to give shallow results and lead to ineffective solutions. 

As it says in this video, “There are many things that you'd expect someone else to have checked before you get in a plane.” Which preflight checks would you prefer them to miss?Some Technical Details 

The app was built using Reading App Builder, so new versions can easily be translated in other languages. The main content is a series of video discussion starters (created by the IMS Animation team) and shared on the website, on YouTube, and in highly compressed form within the app. 

SIL’s Scriptoria team helped in bringing the app to the Google Play Store, as well as making it downloadable in a form that can be copied to phones without the need for internet connection.Peter Brassington has recently joined IMS as a Digital Scripture Engagement Consultant. He is based in the United Kingdom. For more info on the new app or any other inquiries, you can contact him at peter_brassington@sil.org.

You'll Want to Hear This One

The latest episode of "Media Frames," our IMS community of practice (CoP) is up on the website. Click the image below to watch and listen.