Dr. Elsa Tamez was the first special speaker of the BT2009 conference. She is a Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Latin American Biblical University, Costa Rica. She is also a UBS Translation Consultant and a theological advisor for the Latin American Council of Churches.

Tonight she looked at the effect of the book of Mark being written in the context of a time of war. She then placed this reading beside the task of translating the book for the faith community in Colombia who currently find themselves in a time of war. In particular she highlighted the “silences” of the book and why, in her opinion, a time of war finds people being silent.

Many good choices for sessions tomorrow (and for the next 4 days).

Interesting tidbit: there are four different sign language interpreters translating at the sessions (American Sign Language, Costa Rican Sign Language, Finnish Sign Language, and Japanese Sign Language).