Warm Bali was once again the space for an international gathering of Bible translation organizations in Southeast Asia. The meeting, facilitated by the United Bible Societies in March 2025, discussed ideas and commitments for collaboration in translation. The meeting, which was attended by representatives of Bible Societies in Southeast Asia, SIL, Pioneer, Global Recording, and others with the Indonesian Bible Society as the host, was filled with discussions full of collaboration ideas.

Some examples of collaboration ideas include the Global Bible Catalogue which is a list of published Bible catalogues from around the world. Through this list one can trace the history of Bible publication years around the world.

Another interesting idea is the making of a documentary film on the history of Bible translation in China where the film explains that the translation is not only the work of Western missionaries but also the work of local Chinese people. The Chinese translation of the Bible would not have been completed without the help of the Chinese people. The filming of the movie, which requires substantial funding, is still in progress. But the idea of putting the history of Bible translation in Southeast Asia into video form is one of the things that was also discussed together.

One of the important things that was also discussed at this meeting was the concern about translation programs that tend to pursue certain yearly targets set by funding so that the quality of translation is less of a concern. Therefore, it is also important to build and maintain good relationships to share data through Rev 79, share resources, agree on good translation standards and consultants as GAPAI is trying to do in the Indonesian context. Some ideas that were seriously discussed in this regard were collaboration in translation trainings across institutions, including in terms of sharing translation consultants given the great need for consultants in the midst of a shortage of translation consultants. For the sake of a healthy collaboration, a joint commitment was renewed to increase collaboration based on the spirit of equal cooperation to carry out quality Bible translation.

The meeting was then closed with a communion served by pastors from various countries including by Arun Sok Nhep who will end his service at the United Bible Societies. (lady mandalika)