A Matter of Life and Death
“Óva virklich is Kristus up-léft fona doura, zou is hai dai aaist fo déa vat xlópa.” (1 Corinthians 15:20 in the Pomerano language of Brazil)
“But Christ was raised from the dead, and He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (Translation back into English)
“But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.” (1 Corinthians 15:20, NLT)
Hilbert translated this verse. And he believes it. Jesus hung on a cross but has been raised from the dead, and that changes everything.
So, when Hilbert goes about his days in his country of Brazil, he walks in hope. When he interacts with people he meets, he looks for opportunities to share the gospel. When he is with his family, he encourages them to study God’s Word and show Christ’s love to others. When he works, he dedicates himself to the hard task of bringing understandable Scripture to the Pomerano community.
Or at least, he did.
In 2024, Hilbert died unexpectedly, leaving behind a translation team, family, and friends who suffer the loss. But that is not the end of the story. Christ has been raised from the dead, and Hilbert believed that.
After his death, the other Pomerano translators continued his work on 1 Corinthians. “There were moments of longing and laughter of satisfaction,” says a team member, “because Hilbert believed so firmly in the resurrection of the dead, guaranteed by the work of Jesus.”
While they mourned, Hilbert’s legacy also motivated the group in their effort to finish the Pomerano New Testament and then the full Bible as soon as possible. “It reinforced the importance of the Word of Life and the difference it makes in the great crises of human life,” says one translator.
This becomes especially clear during Easter, when the Bible in the language of the people can offer the good news the world so desperately needs. On Easter of 2025, Grandma Frida arrived at her local church to celebrate the holiday. A Pomeranian speaker in her 90s, she heard translated Scripture she could understand. The message from 1 Corinthians was clear:
“Yezus is up-lévt, un dat yift ous dai zichaheit dat vi ouk up-léva vara.”
Jesus is risen, and this gives us the certainty that we, too, will rise again.
She smiles with hope. Frida believes like Hilbert did.
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