The pilot phase of Psalms That Sing has come to a close. The team translated sixty-three Psalms, composed songs from them and recorded the readings, well past what anyone expected given the conditions the work was done in.
What the community did with them
The Psalms did not stay on the page. Pastor Nkain Evarate, who brought a different instrument to every workshop, set them to music, and the recordings travelled — first through the Kom community in Cameroon, then through WhatsApp to Kom people in Europe and the United States.
I received this from my sister in the US last night. She says it is making rounds on social media here in the States.
Chia Joy, on a recording of one of the Psalms
What we learned
The Kom New Testament already existed and the Old Testament project had been running three years. What the Psalms work taught the team was how to translate biblical poetry — a different discipline from narrative, and one the Old Testament will need a great deal more of.
It also taught us who was in the room. Several members of the group turned out to be musicians, which nobody knew when the team was assembled.
- Psalms That Sing
- Kom