About Us

We are a group of people who believe that the Bible is God’s Word. We are passionate about seeing God’s truth overcoming language and cultural barriers to communicate with the peoples whose languages relate to Turkish. We are dependant on individuals, churches and other organisations who share our vision and pray for us and provide resources to see the task completed.

We have also built up a network of people with the expertise and Biblical scholarship to make sure that the translations are of the highest quality.

The Translation Trust was set up in 1984 to facilitate the translation and distribution of the Scriptures in Turkey. This was a very important project since the vast majority of the population of Turkey had yet to hear what true Christianity is all about. The aim was to support an initiative by workers in Turkey to produce a new translation of the New Testament following radical changes in the language over previous decades. This translation took from 1979 to 1986. In the absence of any publisher who would publish the New Testament, the translator then established a Christian publishing house (New Life Publications) in Istanbul to handle production and distribution. The Translation Trust and New Life Publications continue to co-operate very closely.

In 1988 The Translation Trust and its partner New Life Publications joined forces with the Bible Society to work on the Old Testament and revise the New Testament. This culminated in the modern Turkish Bible which was launched in 2001.

Much has happened in the intervening years. The number of evangelical believers in Turkey has grown from an estimated 2,000 to over 4,000. Churches and groups have been opened in many more places. But this still represents a tiny minority of the 70 million plus population. But a mature Turkish leadership and a maturing Turkish church can rise to meet the challenge as the church world wide joins with them in prayer.

For further insight into our history please read the article “History of Turkish Bible” and then read the other pages about the projects we have completed and those we are currently involved in.

If you would like to be involved please read the “Partnership” page.