WORSHIP IN THE HEART LANGUAGE:
"Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him." Psalm 33:1, NLT

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY IN BELIZE

Music is the heart language for many.  Ethnomusicology is the study of the music of a culture.  By studying the music of a culture and creating songs that contain translated scripture, that language is closer to having a completed translation.
Last fall staff at the Wycliffe Mobilization Center in Orlando held a lunch-hour benefit concert to help support Jo-Ann’s work in the Caribbean. Funds raised were sent to help conduct ethnomusicology composition workshops like the one Jo-Ann led in Belize.

SIL Ethnomusicologist Jo-Ann Richards’ mission is to tap into the “heart” music of a people group to share the message of God's Word in song. Her ministry in South and Central America and the Caribbean is to train local believers to compose translated Scripture into contemporary songs that fit their culture.

Once the songs are composed, they are recorded and made available for use in local churches. Promoting worship in the heart language encourages churches to use and accept the translated Scripture, often helping to overcome a low esteem for their language.

At the workshop in Belize, all of the 26 participants were involved in music in their home churches. Still most had never composed a song and were not sure that they could. But by the end of the first day each of the four groups had composed a praise song based on passages of Scripture in Belize Kriol.

On the second day the groups worked on longer songs that told a story, like Lov Yu Nayba (The Good Samaritan) and Jeezas Kyaam di Staam (Jesus Calmed the Storm). The third day groups composed songs based on the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John. They recorded the sixteen songs that were written during the workshop, and on the last night, hosted a concert to present the songs to the public.

Jo-Ann was then able to build vision for the use of the Scriptures in Belize Kriol through TV interviews and guest lectures about the workshops. The Belize Kriol translation team saw the workshops as a giant step forward for the translation process.