The first video classes in Bengali and Odia are ready.

This is the first public record of the Translation Project's progress — and it begins with something concrete: the first video classes of the Interdenominational Theology Course are ready in Bengali and in Odia. These aren't samples or proofs of concept: they are complete classes, in the exact format Indian pastors will study — a short video, in their own language, to watch on a phone.

It's worth explaining how each class comes together, because that's what makes the project viable. The course already exists, finished, in Portuguese. Each class is translated with the help of artificial intelligence and then goes through review by local pastors, who read everything in their own language before the class goes to recording. AI provides speed and brings the cost per class down to a fraction of what a fully manual translation would cost; human review makes sure the theological vocabulary lands correctly — not merely "correct in the dictionary," but in the vocabulary the church in that region actually uses. No class is published without both steps.

Choosing Bengali and Odia as the first languages wasn't arbitrary: they are the languages of West Bengal and Odisha, the two states where the partner church network already exists and where the first groups of pastors will be formed. Hindi, despite being the country's most widely spoken language, is the last of the three on the roadmap — precisely because the project prefers to begin where relationships of trust have already been built in the field.

Translation and production are coordinated from Brazil by Paulo Henrique P. Cunha, who served in India between 2001 and 2005 and returned to the country in November 2024. The names of the pastors who review the translations and lend their voices to the classes are not published, for the safety of each of them.

The next step is August's meeting with the partner network's leadership, to work out the practical details — and the goal of completing the course's entire first subject in Bengali. You can see that plan in detail in the August update. Please pray for the perseverance of the pastors reviewing the translations in the middle of an already full ministry, and follow every step through the monthly newsletter at the Prayer Center.