Matthew, a former tax collector who wrote the first book of the New Testament, meticulously chronicles the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a story that continues to shape the mission of illumiNations Asia. His account, rich with references to the Old Testament, focuses on Jesus as the promised Messiah, and laid the foundational call for His followers: To go forth and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded (Mt. 28:20), a calling reflected across many Impact Stories of Bible translation.
In a nation where faith runs deep shaping the very contours of daily life, Philippines presents a unique landscape for the enduring endeavour of Bible translation, similar to challenges shared in stories such as Continuing to Sow in Different Ways. While the presence of a large Catholic population might suggest a widespread familiarity with Saint Matthew, the reality for many Filipinos, particularly those in remote and linguistically diverse communities, is far more complex. The true story lies in the largely unseen work of dedicated Bible translation teams striving to make God’s Word accessible in all 162 languages echoing across the archipelago, an effort often highlighted during movements like Pentecost 2025 and supported by those who choose to join the movement.
The translation of Matthew’s Parables of the Sower (Mt. 13:3-9), clear and comprehensible to Jesus’s original crowd, may confuse various indigenous ethnic language groups living in the mountainous regions of Philippines, a challenge familiar to teams featured in Impact Stories from Indonesia and across Week 5 reflections. In areas with extreme rainfalls, rocky soils may be desirable in providing drainage, and in reducing soil erosion and thus, preventing deadly landslides. On the other hand, good and fertile soil that supports healthy pest population and invasive plant species is not always beneficial. Without Bible translators’ help to find relevant local analogies that could be intuitively understood, the impact of Jesus’ parables would be lost, underscoring principles of contextual translation widely recognized by organizations such as the Wycliffe Global Alliance.