By Judy Van Cleave, secretary, Urantia Foundation, Idaho, United State.
1. The Indonesian translation was published at urantia.org/id/buku-urantia/bagian-depan [2].
2. The 2019 Annual Report was published and distributed in four languages. If you haven't read it, you can see it here: urantia.org/sites/default/files/docs/annual-report-2019.pdf [3].
3. Nine more translations were added to the Multi-Language Book at urantia.org. In total, there are now 17 languages. This book allows a user to select an available translation and compare it side by side with any other translation in the book. Click here to see the book: urantia.org/MultiLanguageBook [4].
4. The Foundation received a sizable estate gift that will be placed into the Revelation Bridge Fund designated for future generations. If you are interested in planned giving that supports the long-term viability and work of Urantia Foundation, please visit urantia.plannedgiving.org [5], or call Tamara Strumfeld at 773-525-3319 ext. 217.
5. With the final development stage of the Spanish revision completed, it now enters the quality assurance phase. We expect the completed book in April 2021. A warm-hearted thanks to the team for their decade-long labor of love. Víctor García-Bory and Gaétan Charland continue to plan for the release of the new revision, which has received high marks from our external evaluators.
6. New tenants moved into the third floor and coach house apartments. The income from these leases covers the building expenses, providing Urantia Foundation with more funds for book distribution, translations, and education.
7. Work is continuing on the new Android app of The Urantia Book. While it is taking longer than anticipated, we are now debugging it in hopes of a winter launch. The difficulty of making the Android app highlights the excellent work and endless hours spent creating the Urantia Book Apple app. If you have an iPhone or iPad and want to read the book from either device, here's the URL for the free app: apple.co/33SR5cg [6].
8. The enhanced English e-book is in the final phases of quality control testing which will further your study of The Urantia Book. At our board meeting Ashley Parratore gave a presentation on the e-book’s features including The Urantia Book, an interactive index, a pronunciation guide, a term list, and a list of all corrections made to the original 1955 text. If you use an e-reader, you'll want this new study tool. We expect to launch it this fall.
9. The April 2020 trimester for UBIS concluded. Fifteen courses were offered, seven in English, four in Spanish, three in French, and one in Portuguese. Classes were completed by 193 students. The trustees approved the addition of Timothy Duffy as co-director of the school.
10. Urantia Foundation's website, urantia.org, is the most visited Urantia website in the world. On the site, you can read the book in 24 languages; use its new and improved search engine; view in-depth studies, videos, and side-by-side text comparisons; link to the UBIS website; and so much more. We are in the process of expanding and modernizing the site. You should be seeing many improvements over the next 18 months.
11. JeanMarie Chaise translated The Urantia Book into Esperanto and generously donated his work to Urantia Foundation. A team will be revising it, and it will be published on the website when ready.
12. Creating translations and revisions is a challenging, lengthy, and expensive process. It can take up to 40 years for full completion. In translating and revising, standards and guidelines are vital. The board approved the Translation Committee's guidelines so current and future translators have a road map to follow. Those guidelines are:
• Preserve the voice of the authors of the English text by eliminating elements of personal style and interpretation from a translation.
• Maintain the accuracy of the meaning and intention of the English text while using the grammar, syntax, and semantics of the target language.
• Retain a translation's faithfulness to the inviolate English text by prioritizing it over the beauty of the target language; even while continually enhancing the text's beauty and readability.
• Integrate feedback from target language readers, professional evaluators, and the Manager of Translations to improve the quality of a translation according to the guidelines listed above.
Urantia Book Business
With Audible and some European sales unreported, Urantia Book sales are up 21% for the quarter and 7% for the year. When fully accounted, the quarter should finish up 29% and up 11% year to date. English book sales are up 7%, German up 167%, Polish up 5%, and e-books up 9%. Spanish, Portuguese, and French books are down Year-to-date (YTD).
Downloads of The Urantia Book and its translations for Q2 were 31,116 books, up 41%. YTD downloads were 55,819, up 23%.
• Spanish was the most downloaded with 23,106 YTD.
• Portuguese was next with 8,778 YTD.
• English followed with 8,212 YTD.
Due to the unexpected increase in English paperback sales, and the need to print high volumes to receive reasonable pricing, the following English books are being printed: 7,000 paperbacks,1,000 hardcovers, and 2,000 LeatherSoft Cambridge books.
The Untold Story of Jesus—A Modern Biography from The Urantia Book [7], published by Urantia Press, sold 735 copies.
In September, the Spanish translation of The Urantia Book ranked #1 on Amazon's Mexico best seller list in Christian Philosophy. An exciting milestone for our Spanish translation!
Financial Information
Responding to the economic challenges of the coronavirus crisis, the board and staff felt it wise to reduce spending in the 2020 budget without compromising valuable programs. Committee chairs and the office team are cautiously spending money. Thanks go to Marie White for keeping accurate records and reporting in a timely way. Here are the financial details:
Budget: The objective was to stay at or below the revised 2020 budget of $735,307 in operating expenses. YTD expenses were down 14% from 2019 and below the revised budget by 8%.
Donations: The fundraising objective is $630,000 in unrestricted donations, $25,000 in restricted donations, and $250,000 in estate contributions earmarked for the Revelation Bridge Fund. So far, unrestricted donations are $205,010, up 13% from 2019. Estate donations were $1,561,115 compared to $212,297 in 2019.