On June 25, the Bible Society of Kyrgyzstan hosted a meeting in Bishkek to explore the potential of oral Bible translation into the Kyrgyz language. At present, the Bible Society of Kyrgyzstan, in collaboration with the organization LinguaService, is engaged in rendering the Bible into high literary Kyrgyz.

The gathering brought together: Bron Cleaver, Director of the Institute for Bible Translation  in Moscow (IBT); Mergen Chenkurov, IBT exegetical adviser; Chingis Irgit, IBT trainee exegetical adviser; Roman Fedyanin of the Bible Society of Kyrgyzstan; and representatives of LinguaService. It was decided to launch a one-year pilot project that will apply oral translation methodology to produce a common-language Kyrgyz version of the book of Jonah. The resulting translation will be released in multiple audio formats: a single-voice recording, a multi-voice dramatized recording with music and sound effects, and a version specially adapted to the dastan – a traditional Kyrgyz epic genre. In Kyrgyz culture, the dastan is a lengthy narrative chant performed by master storytellers (dastanchis), who recount heroic deeds and legendary or historical events, typically to the accompaniment of the komuz, a three-stringed musical instrument.

Upon completion of the oral version of Jonah, the project team plans to test it and compare it with the existing literary translation. If the response from listeners proves favorable, the initiative will be expanded, ultimately providing Kyrgyz-speaking communities with a complete, clear, and accessible common-language version of the Holy Scriptures.