Short-term teams perform basic needs to make Bible translation more effective.

Mexico (MNN) — As missionaries and nationals work on Bible translation across the globe, Wycliffe Associates is an organization that serves to support that translation work. In the Americas, there are a number of translations on the radar, some in progress and some waiting to be started.

That’s where they come in, says Wycliffe Associates’ Norm Every. He works to maximize translation efforts in the Americas by sending short-term teams to help with construction and administrative tasks. “My function is to get volunteers connected or people connected with opportunities to support Bible translation and particularly in the Americas, we have several things going on in Mexico right now in conjunction with translation projects.”

Wycliffe Associates is helping with several construction projects throughout Mexico. They’re building a new administrative and language workshop facility in Oaxaca. It is a two-storey building with offices, classrooms and an auditorium for language workshops. Every says it will be helpful for translation work because, “They can bring in nationals and language workers, and actually have their training and workshops right there.”

Volunteers can help speed the Gospel going forward as they get involved in support of Bible translation, says Every. “By us doing the construction, it saves a tremendous amount of resources for the SIL branch that is involved in the translation work itself. Their time and their funding, and that sort of thing, we actually raise funds for these projects and send our construction superintendents down to take care of that so that they don’t have to pull translators off from their project to do support functions.”

But Every says that’s not all, “A typical team is made up of more than just construction people. Some do office work and translation data entry. Others would do a variety of support functions like computer technology, even kitchen help – you name it – and volunteers can get involved in support of Bible translation.”

If you would like information about Wycliffe Associates’ short-term trip opportunities, contact them through their information listed below.