In Is That a Fish in Your Ear?, David Bellos provides some fascinating insight into the nature of literary translation and the languages and culture which accompany it. Citing UNESCO's database of the top 13 most popular source languages for translation, only Swahili (and English) are not most frequently translated into English. Swahili is translated most often into Russian, and then English second.
75% of all translations are either from (65%) or into (10%) English.
47% of all translated books were published in either English, French, or German.
Bellos makes this poignant comment which should influence our thinking concerning how to spread the Gospel:
Culture is not the prerogative of any part or place in the world, but book culture [...] is heavily concentrated in Britain, the United States, France, and Germany. (pg 210)
If you are thinking of ministering outside of those four countries, think through non-literary approaches and concentrate on them. Even though literature (particularly the Word of God) will be vital for the growth of the work of God, it may not be vital for the beginning of that work in many places. Consider whether this was not true in earliest Christian times.
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