By Mo Siegel, President, Urantia Foundation, USA
On numerous occasions Jesus gave his followers detailed instructions to go into the world and share his teachings. Those mandates from two thousand years ago apply directly to the publication, translation, and book distribution work currently taking place at Urantia Foundation. Said the Master, "Go into all the world and preach the glad tidings of the kingdom. Liberate spiritual captives, comfort the oppressed, and minister to the afflicted. Freely you have received, freely give." (1584.1) 140:9.2;
“…go into all the world proclaiming this gospel to all nations, to every man, woman, and child." (1824.6) 165:6.3;
"Go, then, into all the world proclaiming this gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men to all nations and races and ever be wise in your choice of methods for presenting the good news to the different races and tribes of mankind.” (2042.1) 191:4.4;
“Go, then, into all the world telling this good news to all creatures of every race, tribe, and nation. My spirit shall go before you, and I will be with you always." (2053.4) 193:1.2.
And so it shall be with the Urantia Revelation. At Urantia Foundation we are committed to methodically, patiently, carefully, and persistently translating the book and disseminating it throughout the world. Today The Urantia Book is available in 16 languages. You can read it in Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. By 2025 we anticipate that 80% of the world’s literate population will be able to read The Urantia Book in their native language.
The translators deserve our deepest appreciation for dedicating thousands of hours preparing these gifts for the world. Like the early leaders and followers of previous revelations, these men and women are the early heroes of the fifth epochal revelation. Most of them have worked for free and with little recognition. They have taken complex ideas and concepts and artistically translated them into their native tongues. Over many years and even decades, the translators and their supporting teams have generously and patiently utilized their talents so that others might grow closer to God by reading and living these ennobling teachings.
To be specific we thank Antonio Moya for the Spanish European edition, (what was the company that did the 1993 version?) Luiz Carlos Dolabella Chagas for Portuguese, Urs Ruchti for the German, Jacques Weiss for the French, Michael Hanian for the Russian, Seppo Kanerva for the Finnish, Joel R for the Swedish, Paul and Gosia Jorworski for the Polish, Algimantas Jokubenas for Lithuanian, Gábor Cseh for the Hungarian, Peep Sõber for the Estonian, Guglielmo Z. for Italian, Dan Sorin Chiaburu for Romanian, Kwan Choi for the Korean, and Nienke Begemann-Brugman for the Dutch.
All efforts of this magnitude have many people working behind the scenes to make things happen. Editors, revisers, proof readers, book formatters, fund raisers, donors, and supportive friends and families all deserve our gratitude. Thank you. In addition two people need to be singled out for their vision, management, and undaunted determination to fund and create translations. Almost every translation in the last 18 years was prepared under the supervision of the former Manager of Translations of Urantia Foundation, Trustee Emeritus Seppo Kanerva. It is hard to imagine how these translations would have occurred without Seppo finding, encouraging, and logistically supporting translators and their teams. Likewise, Trustee Richard Keeler, in good and lean times, kept the Board of Trustees focused on preparing and funding the translations. No matter how difficult the challenges facing Urantia Foundation, Richard kept translations at the top of the priority list. To both of these men we extend our deepest soul-felt thank you!
The publication of The Urantia Book in 16 languages represents a tremendous step forward in the long process of seeding the Urantia Revelation and its life-changing teachings throughout the world. We now enter a new exhilarating stage where building and maintaining book distribution will occupy a great deal of our time and money. Keeping the book in circulation at convenient locations, at affordable prices, and in a financially sustainable way will challenge the best in all of us. It may sound easy but making the books available from China to Nigeria, from Germany to Ecuador, and from Russia to Mexico is no small task. Finding and managing book distributors, attending book fairs, warehousing and shipping books, placing and keeping the books on bookstore shelves, billing and getting paid for books shipped, reprinting books, revising translations, and providing the book for audio, internet, and digital distribution will take dedicated efforts for decades to come. We’re up for the task and ask you to join in!
To all of you who, in one way or another, have furthered the cause of translations, thank you! To the donors who generously provide the money to make translations and distribution possible, thank you. To our office team at 533 Diversey Parkway, which handles the many day-to-day tasks so translations come out on time and on budget, thank you. To our planetary supervisors and other unseen friends who have the permanent responsibility for the success of this revelation, we hope you are pleased.
Upward and inward,
Mo Siegel, President