What if you could help with the Bible translation process in an immense way? Well you can! Wycliffe Associates are equipping Bible translators with training and technological tools in the form of Bible Translation Acceleration Kits, or BTAKs, consisting of a small, portable netbook computer, satellite communication terminal, solar panel, battery, and power supply. With the BTAK’s it’ll help the rise of Bibles being translated.
Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates, talks about the launch of Pacific Advance in hopes of boosting the support of Mother-Tongue Translators in the Pacific.
The Pacific Advance project focuses on providing national translators with resources and training to quicken the work of Bible translations in a region where 350 Bible translating projects are under way, but with 404 projects yet to begin.
It is vital to get the untouched projects started as Papua New Guinea, specifically, holds twelve percent of the languages on Earth. Other areas in the Pacific trying to be reached include: All of Indonesia, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Micronesia. Smith says, “Just about twenty percent of the remaining translation needs in the world are in this area, and so this is why it’s in our focus and in our strategy.”
There are challenges that slow the process of translating Bibles in the Pacific. Some regions are only accessible by boar or air. Wycliffe Associations has repaired remote airstrips, upgraded airplane hangars and has helped purchase a new aircraft through funds provided by donors which provides a “safety net” of air support for translators and their families.
Smith says, “Our particular emphasis over the past five years, has been to develop a national training center in Papua New Guinea, to equip the local people so that they can lead this work and take this initiative themselves.”
During the last half of the 20th Century though, missions have made tremendous progress with getting the message out. The people they’ve reached have been responsive. Smith inserts, “But what you have now, are literally millions of Christians who’ve come to Christ on the milk of the Word, but don’t have the meat of the Word in order to grow.” This is why the challenge of getting the Word out to remote locations is key so these new found believers can continue to grow on the “meat” of the Word.
As Wycliffe partners with Mother-Tongue translators, the goal is to overcome local limitations of time and resources to achieve the goal of beginning the translation of God’s Word in every remaining language that needs it by 2025.
What can you do? What responsibility do you hold in hearing about this project? Smith wraps up by saying, “I just pray that it helps them realize that we have an opportunity to be a part of the completion of getting God’s Word to the rest of the world. It can really happen in our generation and with technology, with new transportation, with new communication tools, even with new translation strategies involving more and more people in this process, I really believe this is going to happen in the next decade.” For more information on Bible translation, click here.
