Category: Public Information (PID)

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Endangered Indigenous Languages Find a Home on the World’s Most Translated Website

Some of Maddy Sturman’s fondest childhood memories are painted with the colors and landscapes of her home on a Navajo reservation.

Maddy Sturman spent the early part of her childhood on a Navajo reservation in northern New Mexico.

She spent long days playing outside with her cousins, surrounded by the rocky canyons and vast mountainsides of northern New Mexico. On Saturdays her family explored a nearby flea market where local artists sold their wares, including traditional jewelry, pottery and paintings.

“Navajo is a very tight-knit, family culture,” said Sturman, now a resident of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. “Life is simpler.”

Although the culture and traditions remain very much alive, Navajo is one of many Indigenous languages considered endangered. 

“I worry it could die out because a lot of the older people speak Navajo, but not the younger generations,” Sturman said.

Her worries are well-founded. According to UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, the threat of extinction through a shift to the use of English is significant since “each year fewer and fewer Navajo children speak the language fluently.”

The linguistic loss could serve to compound the feeling of being “forgotten” that Sturman said she commonly observed among those living on a reservation.

But the most translated website in the world — jw.org, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses — has not overlooked Indigenous populations. It provides content in more than 1,065 languages, including Navajo, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Choctaw, Hopi and Central Alaskan Yupik.“

Translating Indigenous languages is a labor of love for all those involved and for our organization,” said Robert Hendriks, the U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “The work is challenging and time-consuming. But our goal isn’t to make a profit, it’s to provide the Bible’s comforting message clearly and accurately to as many people as possible.” 

Maddy Sturman has been able to share Bible-based content from jw.org in Navajo with her grandmother.

Sturman saw firsthand the powerful effect having Bible-based printed and video content available in Navajo had on her grandmother, who still lives on a reservation. “She would be brought to tears when she would see or hear it in her own language,” she said. “It resonates very differently.”

The time and energy expended to translate the Bible’s message into Navajo and other Indigenous languages has had a profound impact on Sturman, too. “It’s deepened my faith,” she said. “God really cares about every single person, even in the most tucked-away house or hogan on the reservation, and he wants all people to learn about him.”

For more information on the beliefs and activities, including translation efforts, of Jehovah’s Witnesses, visit jw.org.

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Stop BullyingFamilies Find Solutions to Bullying From a Surprising Source

For many children heading into the new school year, making friends and getting good grades aren’t the only anxieties looming large in their minds. The fear of facing a bully all too often becomes an unwelcome reality. 

That was the case for one Hillsboro, Wisconsin, boy whose mother, Heidi, described as a happy child, always singing at home. But then, at just 7 years old, he began to be bullied at school.

Courtesy Public Information Department of Jehovah’s Witnesses-Madison, WI

“Bullying really made his confidence go down,” Heidi said. “He started becoming quieter, not answering or participating in class. He eventually got to the point where he didn’t want to be at school. It made me sad.”

His experience is far from unique. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than one in five students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied during a recent school year. And in a national study by the Cyberbullying Research Center, nearly 21% of tweens said they had been a target, aggressor or witness to bullying online or by other electronic means. 

As parents search for ways to protect their children, a growing number of families are turning to a surprising source for practical guidance: the Bible. 

Heidi regularly shared verses with both of her children to show how “not returning evil for evil” and staying calm and mild — principles the family endeavors to live by as Jehovah’s Witnesses — can defuse a tense situation when encountering a bully. “It’s good to practice what to do if someone offers you drugs, but it’s just as important to teach them what to do if someone is saying cruel, unkind things to you,” she said.

The family also went to jw.org, the Witnesses’ official website, where a search for the term bullying brings up a wealth of free resources including videos, articles, worksheets and other online activities on topics young people face at school. Those resources include a whiteboard animation entitled “Beat a Bully Without Using Your Fists” and an animated cartoon about the powerful effect of prayer for those who are being bullied. 

The support from Heidi and the tools on jw.org had a beneficial effect on her son, now 19. She said, eventually, “his confidence went up, and he just started shrugging his shoulders like, ‘I don’t care what you’re saying; it’s not going to knock me down.’”

Madison Bechtle of Clifton, New Jersey, also turned to the Scriptures when a cyberbully started harassing her in the eighth grade with dozens of disturbing notifications on her cellphone. “It was really crazy. He was sending me pictures of my house. I was really paranoid all the time,” she said. 

Reading the Bible and praying calmed her anxiety. “It’s just you and God, and you’re just talking one-on-one,” she said. “It’s very comforting, and it works.” 

She also followed the practical steps outlined in the jw.org whiteboard animation “Be Social-Network Smart” to protect herself. She told her parents and teachers about the situation and deleted the social media account her bully had targeted. “I still don’t have that account to this day,” said Madison, now 21. 

“Not every situation resolves so easily. But applying the Bible’s advice and focusing on the big picture can help individuals cope and maintain their sense of self-worth,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“The Bible has proven to be a practical resource for many families to navigate difficult situations in life,” Hendriks said. “The principles found in this ancient book can help adults and children resolve conflict and maintain peaceful relationships with others.” 

Heidi agreed, saying, principles like the so-called Golden Rule of treating others as you’d want to be treated, showing love and being slow to anger, as well as the Bible-based resources on the jw.org website, have helped her family in many circumstances.

“I can’t say enough about the website,” she said. “There’s so much advice that can benefit kids and parents, information they can trust and try for themselves and see that it works.”