I recently watched the BBC series, Seven Wonders of the Industrial World (which I highly recommend). One particular story of the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse resonated with me and with Wycliffe's goal of getting the Bible into the languages of the world. Psalm 119:105 says "thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" but many cultures, people groups and languages of the world are still walking around in the dark, their lives and eternities being wrecked by jaggered rocks hidden below the waves that could have been avoided if only they were seen.

Roughly Two Hundred years ago, (August 1807) worked started on the Bell Rock Lighthouse off the coast of Scotland. Over the centuries, before the lighthouse was built, Bell Rock had claimed thousands of lives, as vessels were wrecked on its razor-sharp serrated rocks. The Bell Rocks were hidden under the waves for 20 hours a day making construction of a lighthouse an incredible challenge.

The workmen could only work during the calm summer months, and even then their work was limited to around two hours each low tide. In between they waited, living on a ship moored just over a mile away - and all of them, (with the exception of the chief Engineer Robert Stevenson), were almost constantly seasick. Work was slow and laborious. They used simple pickaxes, which needed constant re-sharpening by a smithy, who often worked up to his knees in the freezing water.

One of the first tasks undertaken was to build a beacon house on tall wooden struts, so the men would have a place to stay on the island. The foundations and beacon legs were raised during the first season. During the winter, stonemasons cut rocks for the lighthouse out of Aberdeen granite.

During the Spring of 1808, work resumed. The beacon house barracks was completed and the first three courses of stone were laid. In the whole of the second season, there were only 80 hours of building work completed on the rock.

During the Spring and Summer of 1809 good progress was made on the Lighthouse and by the 25th August 1809 when work finished for the year the solid part of the building had been completed. The height was now 31 feet 6 inches above the rock, and about 17 feet above high water of spring tides.

1810 saw the height of the tower increased to 80 feet before work had to be temporarily stopped due to bad weather. "Once again heavy seas lashed the Beacon and Lighthouse. It so alarmed the men that had the bridge between the beacon and tower been remotely passable, some may well have taken refuge in the tower. As it happened, the tower would have afforded little comfort. The waves were crashing over the top, and the water came gushing down through the interior of the building and out through the entrance door!"

Work was restarted in July and it was with due ceremony that the last stone the lintel of the lightroom door, was laid by Robert Stevenson: “May the Great Architect of the Universe, under whose blessing this perilous work has prospered, preserve it as a guide to the Mariner.” This brought the height of the masonry tower up to 102 feet 6 inches.

On the 27th Dec. the ship "Smeaton", having managed a landing at the Rock, found everything in a very prosperous state. The workman who had stayed on to finish the lightroom had finished their work. Mr Slight had completed all that was proposed to be done to the interior finishing of the apartments for winter; so that Mr Forrest, with Messrs Reid, Bonnyman, Leask and Fortune, the keepers, were now left in possession of the Light-house. In all, 2835 stones were used in the construction of the Lighthouse.

Now, when I think about Bible Translation and this amazing story I find so many connections.

Bible Translation is not for the faint hearted. As we launch out into cultures and languages that have never had the Bible there is often fierce opposition. Many of these people are steeped in superstition and fear often causing themselves and others much suffering and needless death. (One example is William Carey arriving in India and fighting against the practice of Sati - burning widows on their husbands funeral pyres). The linguistic foundations can take years to complete as languages are learnt and taken apart and understood and scientifically described. Alphabets and literacy materials are often developed alongside translation work, not to mention healthcare and community development that usually also demands time. This all happens before much "light" shines out into the surrounding sea of culture. Many lives have been lost in the effort of Bible Translation but many many more have been saved making it well worth the effort.

When we finish a Bible translation it makes it possible for the light of the gospel to shine into the culture for hundreds if not thousands of years following. There are no examples of enduring indigenous churches down through church history without the Bible in their language. Take the church in China in the 6th century or in Mongolia in the 13th century as obvious examples that didn't last without scriptures in the local language. And if taken seriously, the Bible can bring amazing transformation in individual lives as well as society wide. We owe much of our Western freedoms to the legacy of Christian reformers who took the Bible seriously and worked to set the captives free. William Wilberforce and the abolition of slavery is one notable example, but the existence of hospitals, schools, child labour laws, prison reforms and individual rights are all due in large part to people believing that humans are made in God's image. May the rest of the languages and peoples waiting for their Light, not have to wait too much longer.

If you want to read more about the Bell Rock Lighthouse check out the website: www.bellrock.org.uk or Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Rock_Lighthouse