Along with his wife Erica and four children, Matt Dodd serves with the saints at Lakemba Anglican Church in Sydney, where he is Senior Pastor. Recently the ACR spoke to him about a long-term project to translate the Epistles into language that is accessible for kids.
Matt, thanks for speaking to the ACR. Can you tell us how this project came to be and what prompted your work?
My first position after Bible College was in children’s ministry. I was leading the Kids’ Church on Sundays and we had a philosophy that whatever teaching series the adults did in church, the kids would do the same. A few months in, that meant teaching the book of Colossians.
My first instinct was to read Paul’s letters with the kids. But even with the older kids, and even using a children’s Bible, it immediately proved difficult to do. The grammar was dense, the language was unnecessarily complex, and the four columns of tiny font (the ‘great wall of text’ as one Bible lecturer coined it!) made it a very alienating experience for a child.
So that week I went looking for translations and adaptations of the Epistles for kids … and I found nothing. There are lots of great child-friendly adaptations of some sections of the Bible, and there are some translations of the whole Bible for kids. But I found that no one had adapted and translated the Bible for children at the same time—and certainly not the New Testament Epistles.
And in practice this means that children end up having little to no exposure to these letters at all, which was my own experience as a Christian kid.
And this led you to create The Epistles for Kids! I read on the website that you have now poured over 10 years of effort into this project. In what ways has this been the case?
That Kids’ Church experience in Colossians was back in 2014. Within a few weeks I felt convicted that I needed to give this project a real go. So, for the first few years I trialled some quick translations of Romans with the kids in church. When that went positively, I spent a few years working slowly on a proper translation of Philippians. I sent a basic printed version of that to 20 families and had excellent feedback.
Coming out of Covid lockdowns I thought, ‘It’s now or never!’. 18 months of work and fundraising led me to begin the partnership with Thom Bransdon as the full-time illustrator. And now for the past 2.5 years, we’ve been making the first 3 volumes of the project. They’re nearly ready for release, and we’ve got more volumes planned.
It seems like alongside this important and fresh translation, beautiful illustrations are a priority for you in this project. Why do quality illustrations matter?
Illustrations are one of the best ways that children learn to read and understand text. In this way, illustrations in a children’s Bible act as a commentary. They aren’t Scripture themselves, but they are interpretations of Scripture. So our goal is to use whatever illustrative storytelling we can to highlight the incredible adventure and drama that is already there in the text of the Epistles.
Thom is a brilliant artist, and from the beginning of the partnership our mantra has been ‘do it once, do it well’. Our goal is to create captivating and timeless illustrations that can be read globally and enjoyed by adults and children alike.
What encouragements have you received (from others and in general) as you’ve pursued these books?
Personally, as I’ve worked slowly through Philippians, Colossians, and 1 Peter, I’ve been so encouraged by the pastoral hearts of Paul and Peter. I’ve had the privilege of seeing them passionately lay out the gospel for churches, and then watching them carefully and pastorally call those communities to live out new gospel-shaped lives. That encourages me as a pastor in my own ministry in the local church, but also has given me the privilege of seeing how clear, personal, and compelling these letters were, and are.
I think we often treat the Epistles like theological textbooks, and modern readers can struggle to know how to approach them. But they are heartfelt pastoral letters to living communities; letters that were understandable to those receiving them, and which can be easily understood by us today too. That’s a great encouragement to me.
Over the past 10 years I’ve been spurred on by the many ministry colleagues, church members, and families who have said to me, ‘We can’t wait for these to be made’. I’m encouraged that so many have caught the vision for what we’re doing. One long-term kids’ minister said, ‘I’ve been waiting 40 years for this project … this is the missing piece’. But the best joy of all is just to see a young child reading a New Testament Epistle for the first time.
What have been the greatest challenges?
There are many challenges. Bible translation is slow, hard work, especially when translating for children. I’ve been committed to a strict ‘schoolyard English’ policy: if a child doesn’t understand a word, we can’t use it! So how do you translate ‘holiness’, ‘faith’ or ‘righteousness’? It’s hard, but very rewarding, because it forces everyone to slow down and really grapple with the truths and realities beneath such words. No translation is perfect, every verse is always an interpretation at some level. But there is such joy in seeing God’s life-changing message shine through a kid-friendly verse that I’ve laboured over for weeks.
Another challenge is the publication side of things. Having an illustrator working full-time like Thom on a kids’ project is rare. It’s what makes it really special, but it also makes it harder to fit into a traditional publishing model financially. That’s why we’ve been exploring self-publishing. It gives us the freedom to pursue our vision, but it also means learning a whole new world of printing and distribution. It’s a steep learning curve!
Can you tell us a bit about the Epistles for Kids Kickstarter campaign? I imagine the results have been a huge encouragement …
As part of our self-publishing journey, we launched a Kickstarter campaign in February this year, allowing people to pre-order the books for the end of the year. We are blown away to have sold over 2,000 books, with 500+ backers from around the globe. We haven’t spent a dollar on advertising, and so we’re very grateful to those who have shared their enthusiasm. It’s been a surreal few months.
When can we hope to be able to hold a printed Epistle for Kids in our hands?
After 10 years of dreaming, I’m very happy to say that the answer is ‘soon’! We’re putting the final touches on the Colossians volume this month; 1 Peter is being coloured, and Philippians just needs a final illustration review.
If the book printing and delivery comes together without too much fuss, we’re on track to deliver these to people by Christmas. Whatever happens, we’re fully committed to getting these Epistles into the hands of children all over the world. And next up is the Mount Everest of the Epistles—Romans! I can’t wait to get into it.