Lolita San Diego graduated with a Master of Divinity degree at APNTS in 2006. After her graduation she pursued a formal linguistics training at Alliance Graduate School. Lolita was already a member of the Translators Association of the Philippines, Inc. – a non-stock, non-profit, humanitarian, and faith-based non-denominational organization that was established in 1983. It is an affiliate member of Wycliffe Global Alliance and has been working with organizations in the Philippines. Its aim is to assist in the translation of the Bible into the mother tongue of the cultural communities of the Philippines and Asia. It was in this organization that she walked through the open doors of ministry as a Literacy Specialist taking different roles. One of these was to train people from indigenous communities as literacy facilitators within their own community. Another was to train teachers, in partnership with the Department of Education, for the implementation of the Mother tongue-based Multilingual Education Program (MTBMLE) and Indigenous Peoples Education Program (IPEd).
In her years of service, Lolita became a multi-tasking figure for the organization. In 2011, she took the job of a Desktop Publishing Specialist for TAP and its partners. Primary to this task was to typeset the translated Bible or passages in the Bible and other texts for the language communities in the Philippines and other countries in Asia. In March 2017, she served as the Project Supervisor for ‘Sulu Sea’ New Testament Translation and Language & Culture Development Project. In this ministry, she was faced with the major challenges of translating the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in ‘Sulu Sea’ language. It is the goal of the organization that by 2019, the Jesus Film will be dubbed in ‘Sulu Sea’ language as well, along with the production of three Bible comics from Philippine Bible Society (PBS) and other materials beneficial to the people, more specifically, the reading of God’s Word in their native language.
With this endeavor, Lolita believes that the ‘Sulu Sea’ people, who were totally unreached in the past, will come to know the gospel of Christ. These people believe in a supreme being they call “Gembebaet,” and in many other gods and spirits who control life and situation. A considerable number of them, however, had embraced a different kind of belief and were converted into other religions such as Roman Catholicism (40%), Evangelical (5%), Aglipayan (2.6%), Iglesia ni Cristo (1.7%) and Seventh Day Adventist (1.7%).
Ironically, these people did not have access to God’s Word written in their own language. They were so hungry to read God’s Word that they sent letters of request to TAP. This gave Lolita opportunities for translating the Word in the mother tongue of the ‘Sulu Sea’ people. With the many tasks before her, she was grateful that God’s protection goes with her as she travels from one place to another.
Let us continue to uphold Lolita as she continues to the work of the Lord with the people in the Sulu Sea.
