International (MNN) — Wycliffe Associates is always in a state of finding better ways to help Bible translators share the Gospel. And as the ministry moves into new territories, it’s helping translators make physical copies of God’s Word available even faster and cheaper through the Mobile Print On Demand units.
Answering Needs
“We’ve moved increasingly into the least secure, most unstable, most threatening arenas for Christians, let alone people who are trying to get the Scripture into that arena,” Wycliffe Associates’ Bruce Smith shares.
Mobile Print On Demand unit. (Photo courtesy Wycliffe Associates)
“So, yeah, we’ve had Bible translation acceleration kits and Mobile Print On Demand systems, these kinds of things. What we’re trying to do is provide tools that suit the circumstances in which Bible translations are currently taking place.”
The Print On Demand units come as a direct result of the needs Christians in persecuted regions are facing. Since the Print On Demand units are mobile, they help Bible translators keep a low profile.
The mobile units have also helped drastically reduce the costs of printing New Testament Bibles by nearly completely eliminating shipping costs. While printing a New Testament Bible only costs about $1.50 USD, the costs of shipping the Bibles overseas kept costs high until now.
“The system also includes binding facilities, hardware, and software to do the set up for the typesetting of the text, so it can be set up in a way that makes a good presentation once it’s bound. But it also requires more equipment to do the binding process as well. So, the full system is $15,000 and that’s what we’re praying for.”
Facing Challenges
Wycliffe Associates developed two different types of Print On Demand. (Photo courtesy Wycliffe Associates)
The unit costs have become somewhat of an obstacle for Wycliffe Associates in making the Print On Demand units available to Bible translators.
Smith says while there are at least 30 people requesting a Print On Demand unit, there are fewer people interested in helping get these units on the field.
And with nearly yearly changes in software by manufacturers, this means the Print On Demand units need to be updated at least every two years. Otherwise, they risk becoming obsolete and unusable. But Wycliffe Associates has faith that God will provide.
Will you help?
“[People] can be aware that Bible translations are still an urgent need throughout the world. They can support us in prayer and respond that way, especially as they’re watching the news and getting cues to places that have violence going on — civil unrest, religious persecution, those kinds of things,” Smith shares.
“Realize that in the background [of those places], Bible translations are going on and there are people risking their lives to get God’s Word to the people that are the topics of the news every night.”
So please, pray for these Christians, the ability for translators to get the Gospel out, and for God to meet the needs of these translators. Pray also for God to provide the necessary funds and resources to get the Print On Demand units into the hands of Bible translators worldwide.
Would you also consider donating to tangibly help get the Print On Demand Units on the field? Even just $10 helps towards getting a unit, which can print thousands of copies of Scripture on location, in the hands of a Bible translator.
To donate, click here!
I am interested in this POD.