Leadership

I am doing everything I can to facilitate and expedite the translation of scriptures into every viable language.

Hart Wiens

Director of Scripture Translation

Hart Wiens was born in Paraguay. His parents were German-speaking refugees who fled Russia due to religious persecution. Hart has undergraduate degrees in Modern Languages and a graduate degree in Linguistics.

After teaching French in High School for 2 years, he and his wife went to the Philippines as Bible translators in 1973. There they spent 19 years, welcoming 3 children into their family. Their initial assignment was with the Kalinga people, an indigenous tribe living in the mountains of northern Luzon. After analyzing the grammar and devising an alphabet to write this language, they began working with the people to translate the scriptures. In 1980 Hart was appointed Associate Director and from 1988 to 1992 he served as National Director for the work in the Philippines.

The family returned to Canada in 1992 to provide opportunities for the children to pursue higher education. In 1993, Hart was invited by Dr. Harold Fehderau to serve in the translation office of the Canadian Bible Society. Four years later, he was appointed Director of Scripture Translation. His responsibility in this position is to give direction to the overall work of Bible translation in Canada, especially as it applies to the languages of First Nations communities.

Hart shares the Bible Society's vision of providing scriptures for all people in a language they can understand and at a price they can afford. For him this means doing everything he can to facilitate and expedite the translation of scriptures into every viable language.