(Photo courtesy unfoldingWord)

Bible translators have brought God’s Word to roughly 4,000 language communities since the first century, yet serious needs remain today.

Perry Oakes of unfoldingWord says, “There are thousands of languages that still need Bibles and only a few hundred Bible translation consultants – most of them around my age and thinking about retirement.”

Discovering a problem

Trained as a Bible translator, Oakes later became a translation consultant. While a translator creates the translation, a consultant reviews it for accuracy, clarity, and faithfulness to the original text.

“I was trained in the traditional way: go to a tribe, learn their language, and translate the Bible,” Oakes says.

“It became pretty clear that this was a very slow process, and probably would not get the job done all over the world if they (language communities) were relying on people like me.”

Oakes says the lack of Western translation consultants creates a bottleneck, stopping progress worldwide. Furthermore, “The people need to do it for themselves, not only because there aren’t enough of us, but also because languages change,” he explains.

“They’re going to want to revise their Bibles in the future, and we’re not going to be around to do that.”

Creating a solution

Software from unfoldingWord called “book packages” allows indigenous translators to check their own work, removing the need for Western consultants and keeping projects on track.

“We’re putting in their hands what a consultant would do for them. These tools not only allow them to translate the Bible, but maintain those translations forever,” Oakes says.

“The core of the book packages is a literal translation – this is what the Greek says, this is what the Hebrew says – and then a simplified translation to go alongside it,” he continues.

“With those two things, a translator has a lot of what he needs to translate the Bible into his language.”

Along with the two translations, book packages contain a set of verse-by-verse notes and dictionary definitions of difficult words.

“Maybe there’s some difficult grammar, or some idiomatic phrases, or some metaphors – the notes alert the translator to those things. Then, if the note just isn’t enough, there’s always a link from that note to an article about that issue,” Oakes says.

(Photo courtesy unfoldingWord)

Prayer and partnership

Oakes and his team develop the book packages in English first. Then unfoldingWord teams up with other major networks of believers to translate the resources into Gateway Languages such as Russian or Modern Standard Arabic.

See how unfoldingWord’s Gateway Languages Strategy helps minority language communities receive God’s Word.

unfoldingWord is developing software for each book in the Bible. “We have 13 more book packages to put together, including some of the really big, difficult books of the Old Testament like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel,” Oakes says.

“We will be tackling those this year and putting out at least phase one, but we do want to go back and further refine them as we get feedback from the field and have a little bit more time to go over them.”

Pray for Oakes and his team as they strive to complete the remaining book packages. Pray for clarity and that the completion process will be smooth, with no major obstacles. Consider partnering with unfoldingWord here to help them develop additional resources.

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord. 

A report from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project says more than 24,000 Sudanese people have been killed since April 2023. The actual number is likely higher.

Dane with unfoldingWord says, “There are atrocities happening every day in Sudan that are equivalent or worse than the worst atrocities we saw on the October 7 invasion of Israel. So, I won’t get any more graphic than that.”

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

But God is at work in refugee camps, which are almost like towns populated by tens or even hundreds of thousands of people.

A ministry partner with unfoldingWord in Sudan operates equipping centers in more than two dozen refugee settlements. There they disciple new believers for compassionate Gospel ministry.

“When they send these trained people out to plant churches [and] to do ministry in these refugee areas, they are trained as evangelists,” Dane says. “They’re trained as pastors. Some of them are trained as Bible translators. They are trained in Bible-centered trauma counseling because these people have been violently traumatized.”

Discover how you can support Sudanese Bible translators alongside unfoldingWord at their website.

Dane asks, “Pray for those translators. Pray for unfoldingWord — and if God so moves your heart, please tap on that ‘give now’ button!”

Header photo courtesy of DFID – UK Department for International Development, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

The operation shifted the balance of power in the nation, but there’s still no end in sight to the civil war that began after the 2021 coup. Civilians and targeted ethnic groups continue to suffer greatly. According to a September report, more than 5,300 civilians have been killed and over 3 million displaced since February 2021. 

That doesn’t mean things are hopeless. Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide offers a snapshot of their team of local Bible translators who live life with resilience.   

“They’ve found a safe place to work. It’s out of the reach of the civil war [and] of the devastation that has happened in their community,” Weaver says.

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

He clarifies, “It’s not so much that they are ignoring what goes on to their community. This is a group of young people that have handed out physical resources when various villages were attacked in the civil war. They’ve been praying for them, but they don’t ever stop doing their translation work.”

In one instance, the team needed to record a portion of Scripture. 

“They found an abandoned ambulance. They put mattresses in it for soundproofing, and they did their recordings inside this ambulance,” Weaver says. 

We can’t name the community they come from for security reasons, but Weaver says it has very few believers. Pray for the translation team to see God’s Word reach their people with salvation in this devastation.

“[Pray] that they can see fruit from the work of their ministry, that they’ll be encouraged by seeing what the Word of God does,” Weaver says, “so that they not only can continue to serve their community and look out for their needs, but to bring the Word of God to them faithfully, consistently.”

Learn more about Spoken Worldwide here… and be encouraged!

Weaver says, “We’ve got teams around the world — and other ministries do too — that are so committed to the cause that they’re willing to ignore some of their own disadvantages to get the work done so their people can have the Word of God.”

Header photo of Myanmar’s flag is a representative stock photo courtesy of Gu Bra via Pexels.

More than 8 million people have been displaced since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023 between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary group called Rapid Support Forces. See our full coverage here.

Amy, a worker in the Bible translation industry, says the chaos has slowed or stopped altogether much of their work in four Sudanese languages and dialects.

Photo of a family in Sudan courtesy of Sudan Envoy/Wikimedia Commons.

“But in some cases, now, we’ve been hearing of the workers returning back to our partner and to the place that they’re doing the work, because they know that they can be safely there,” she says. 

Amy says these partners leading the translation efforts have expertise and experience working in the region. They are prepared to help their returning brothers and sisters work through trauma. 

“I think the fact that people are returning to do the work speaks to that. They know that by going there, they’re going to be cared for not only to make sure that the work is done, but cared for as a person,” Amy says.

Many have lost family, homes and churches and had to flee from everything they have known. At the same time, they are utterly convinced of the value of God’s Word. 

“They want their own people to know Jesus in in a way that’s meaningful to them. They’re committed to doing the work whether that means it’s unsafe or scary for them. They want more and more people to come to know Christ.”

Amy can’t share the details of their translation projects, but that isn’t an obstacle to our prayers. 

Ask God to protect the entire team and provide every resource they need. Pray for peace, and for God’s Word to reach Sudan and transform it. 

Finally, pray for the local partners as they help the returning Sudanese walk through grim wartime realities. 

“To deal with the trauma, (encourage) their faith, keep them uplifted and keep them strong during this time is very difficult. So continue to pray that God would minister to their hearts and speak to them through the Holy Spirit, keeping them strong and firm and grounded in their faith,” Amy says. 

Header photo courtesy of Abdulaziz Mohammed/Unsplash.

Nearly 5,000 people have died since Russia began its invasion at the end of February; more than 6,200 were injured. Estimated damages to civilian infrastructure exceed $100 billion.

Not every update from the Ukraine crisis is unfortunate. unfoldingWord is helping bilingual church planters in Ukraine translate Scripture into their heart language. “The primary leader [of this project] is an individual named Sam,” unfoldingWord’s Arne* says.

“He’s relocated [to] another Romani church, [and] he’s about ready to launch his second Romani project.”

From Russian to Romani

Through unfoldingWord’s Gateway Languages Strategy, church networks use tools and resources in a “gateway” language (Russian) to translate God’s Word into minority languages.

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

As described here:

More than 540 ethnic languages have bilingual connections to Russian. Translators who know Russian can use assets in this Gateway Language to quickly and accurately provide Scripture to those who speak the related ethnic languages.

While Bibles and Christian resources are widely available to the Romani in Russian, the Ruska Roma didn’t have any Scripture in their heart language until last year.

One believer told unfoldingWord, “This will increase the number of people who will have a living, real relationship with the Creator. There will be a less formal and ‘religious’ relationship with God. There will be an unfolding of the Word of God for this people.”

Believers need strength, endurance

Russia’s invasion forced Sam’s original team to scatter earlier this year. “When they’re not together, work slows down,” Arne says.

“We have seen quite some delay in their ability to do heads-down work on translation. Finding daily provisions takes up a lot [of] time; food, water, and all other necessities of life.”

Ask the Lord to strengthen and encourage Gospel workers in Ukraine. “Sam has suffered tooth damage over the last few months. [A] lack of good food and so forth doesn’t help,” Arne says.

“Wars have been going on since the beginning, but that doesn’t [make] it easy for the Church.”

Connect with unfoldingWord to help mobilize, train, and equip local church members throughout Eurasia.

“Nobody wants the war to extend into a NATO-type war or a broader coalition of East against West; that’s not going to be good for anybody. May the Lord intervene here and help us mortals find a way to escape this scenario,” Arne says.

“[Pray] the Church will thrive in these circumstances, [and] be a Gospel light in very dark times.”

*Pseudonym

Header image depicts Russian President Vladimir Putin and his long-time confidant, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at a 2017 military parade.  (Wikimedia Commons)

“In many ways, it is there that the fate of our Donbas is being decided.”

Russia aims to capture the Luhansk and Donbas provinces on behalf of Russian-speaking separatists.

May 31 attack on a chemical plant in Severodonetsk by Russian forces.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Officials say Russia controlled roughly seven percent of Ukrainian territory before invading in February, including the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. Today, Russia controls 20-percent of the country.

Meanwhile, in Kharkiv…

Arne* with unfoldingWord says Ukrainian forces recaptured Kharkiv in May. But continual Russian bombings mean Bible translators cannot return yet. “The main church body doing this work was located in Kharkiv” when the invasion began, he says.

“They were hunkered down in their homes while the bombing was taking place. They eventually dispersed, leaving to places that were less targeted,” Arne continues.

“[The fight for Kharkiv] had a considerable impact on the team; it’s hard to work when bombs are falling on you.”

Bilingual believers in Ukraine partner with unfoldingWord to do church-centric Bible translation. Using resources and tools in Russian, they translate God’s Word into minority languages without Scripture.

“They had completed three books of Scripture, paused to do the Open Bible Story series, finished that, and now [they are] coming back to Scripture again to pick up where they left off,” Arne says.

Pray believers can find a safe way to reconnect and restart the project. Learn more about the Eurasian Gateway Language project.

“We’ve seen remarkable resilience in the face of all these difficulties,” Arne says.

“They are highly motivated to do this work and will find a way to do it once they can reorganize themselves.”

*Pseudonym

Header image shows Russian territorial gains in Ukraine since the invasion began in February. Updated as of June 9, 2022.  (Wikimedia Commons)

“They’re motivated to continue, even while they’re trying to [find] supplies daily,” Arne* with unfoldingWord says.

“I don’t know the circumstances around how or when they can get together, but they are attempting to continue the translation work; right now, [they are] working on the Open Bible Story set.”

The personal impact of this war is heartbreaking. The team’s leader told Eric in a recent update:

“Today, my father turns 70 years old. I really wanted to hug him, because he lives with me in the same city. But I couldn’t do it because of the war… My father is already weak, and that’s why he said that he might not live to see the end of the war in Ukraine. My mother was also unable to be near her husband because the curfew does not allow movement in the city.

“Today, my mother and I were looking for drinking water because the stores had already run out of drinking water. My mother and I walked three miles to bring drinking water for the family because it is dangerous to go out alone.

Every day the Russian army drops missiles and bombs on us. My family is far away from me now. It is very painful and sad.

There are up to three million people in our city. There is no bread in the stores, no drinking water, no eggs, no milk, no sausages, no rice, and no buckwheat. God told me to buy groceries before the war, so I have groceries. Now five times a day, I pray for victory for Ukraine. I ask you to pray for me and Ukraine.”

Russian military weapons destroyed and seized by the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Bucha on March 1, 2022.
(Wikimedia Commons/Facebook)

The World Food Program began “ramping up” its assistance to Ukraine on Friday. People stuck inside the country report “severe shortages,” and UN officials say the ongoing violence could devastate the global food supply.

Arne says unfoldingWord’s partners are prepared – at least for now. “Several of them procured supplies before the invasion, so they have some capacity to withstand the shortages, but I don’t know how much,” he explains.

Keep praying for peace in Ukraine and for the war to end. Get prayer updates from unfoldingWord here.

“As the Russian military makes up its mind about what it wants to do here, one of the possible courses it could take is a [heavier] bombardment of major cities. That, of course, would be a major concern to our team, and it would exacerbate the present problems,” Arne says.

“We haven’t heard of any injuries or [deaths] related to the team or the church that we’re presently working with, but it is a possibility.”

*Pseudonym

Header image depicts Ukrainians fleeing to Poland on February 27, 2022. (Wikimedia Commons)

People keep finding bodies washing up in the Ganges River as the virus pummels rural areas. Shrouding bodies and immersing them in the water is a custom for many villages, especially when firewood for cremation isn’t readily available.

Bible translators

This crisis has affected Bible translators working with Wycliffe Associates as well. Tim Neu says, “One of my friends wrote in and described how it’s like a heavy, low hanging cloud. And this is what he wrote in his note to us. ‘I’ve lost close friends and family. My 24-year-old son is currently in the hospital with complications from COVID.’ So these are the types of things we’re seeing. And it is actually causing Bible translation to be put on pause.”

Neu encourages listeners to pray for the Christians suffering right now. “They have very limited access to the medical supplies and even care at the hospitals right now. So pray that they would be able to weather this intense storm, this health crisis that they’re facing. Pray that they would have not just the faith, but that their bodies would actually be able to fight and survive.”

Get involved

You can also send help to these Christians. Wycliffe Associates has a special fund for emergencies like this, and they have already been sending resources to partners in India. You can donate here.

The header photo shows the sun setting over the Ganges river. (Photo courtesy of Makalu from Pixabay)

Bain & Company, a global business consulting firm, is tracking the changes taking place across industries. On Tuesday, it issued this grim assessment:

Fiscal and monetary policymakers across the world have taken unprecedented steps to stabilize the global financial system and avert economic catastrophe, yet fiscal policy still appears insufficient, in both size and scope, to avoid mass business closures.

Wycliffe USA’s Andy Keener says COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns affect Bible translation, too. Teams are still translating God’s Word, he clarifies, but how they do it is changing. It’s easy to transition work online in places with reliable access to WiFi, “But…not [everyone has] internet at home, so it can be a challenge,” Keener says.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA).

Support Bible translators and help them overcome challenges here.

How Wycliffe USA supports Bible translators

Keener is part of a “task force” Wycliffe USA organized to support and communicate with its teams and partners globally. “We have people serving in countries all over the world, with different organizations in each place… each of them has their own challenges and their own local situation,” Keener says.

No matter which situation it encounters, Keener says Wycliffe USA’s task force focuses on two things.

“We’re taking special care to make sure that people are in a good position to first, be safe, second, continue to serve the community that’s around them.”

Severe restrictions in some countries cause trouble for Bible translators. “[Some are] in lockdowns that don’t have the freedom to necessarily get out, so some of them are struggling,” Keener explains. “We do what we can to help in those circumstances.”

Another significant challenge teams face involves elderly community members, he adds. In nations with curfews and restricted public activity times, “it’s harder for them; getting around and doing [tasks]… maybe they have a child or grandchild who regularly helps them and now is unable to make their way there,” Keener describes as an example.

Deaf translators get creative

A Deaf translator records a Bible passage.
(Photo, caption courtesy of DOOR International)

In some cases, Bible translators are pausing their work to meet community needs. More about that here.

“Some of the sign language Bible translation teams – those are Deaf people doing Bible translation on video in national sign languages – they’ve stepped back for just a brief period of time and they’re recording videos that can be sent out, explaining to Deaf people how to follow all the national guidelines,” Keener says.

Local teams told Keener about situations where Deaf communities could not access COVID-19 information because it was only available in spoken or written form. As a result, Deaf individuals would unintentionally violate curfew or other public restrictions.

“The police, in many places, weren’t particularly understanding of why someone was out; they would just grab them and throw them in jail. It was only later that they figured out [the person was] Deaf.”

Use the prompts listed alongside this article to pray for Wycliffe USA’s work and Bible translation efforts worldwide. Pray into the pandemic using this resource from our sister ministry, Prayercast.

Most importantly, pray for faith to overcome the spirit of fear.

“Fear can be an ever-present thing,” Keener says. “Many people are dealing with a fear of the illness. In some places, there’s fear of civil unrest when things don’t go well; there can be violence in some places.”

Header image courtesy of Wycliffe USA via Facebook.

Several missions agencies and local churches in Papua are striving to accelerate Bible translations, but the process can take several years — especially since many tribal groups are in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

It is often easier for Bible translators to accelerate their work uninterrupted if they can live with the tribe they are translating with. However, limited access to supplies and materials makes this extremely difficult.

(Photo courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship)

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) partners with these missions organizations and local churches working on Scripture translation projects in Papua. In addition to MAF’s other operations, the ministry provides aviation services to meet the needs of Bible translators serving in remote places.

Mike Brown, program manager of MAF Papua explains, “There are different missions organizations that are working specifically with maybe a certain tribe or tribal group interior. We’re in a position to…support them in their work with supplies and different things they need to stay in the village they are at. In some cases, they are learning the language themselves first [and] getting it down on paper [to translate] the Bible into different language groups.”

MAF has been serving in Papua for about 64 years. Brown and his family have been with MAF for 21 years. There are currently 19 MAF families and 10 aircraft in Papua providing these aviation services for the Great Commission. He says, “It’s been exciting to see and to work with both the local Church and missions organizations in Bible translation!”

That sense of fulfillment came recently when MAF flew 37 translation facilitators to assist in training for the Sawi Old Testament translation project.

“They went into the village of Kamur which is located in the heart of the Sawi tribe or people group…. In fact, this is a place Don Richardson was flown into [50-plus years ago] with the floatplane and from there, the story ‘Peace Child’ came out. So this is that same language group,” Brown says.

Brent Ropp with Wycliffe Associates, along with his wife Linda and two translation facilitators, is holding Nehemiah 8 in the Sawi language. (Photo, caption courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship)

“Now, these 30-plus facilitators were joined then by 200-plus pastors, teachers, [and] church members of the local Sawi church group around there. There are about 15 churches that came over to help with this translation. It was exciting to walk into the building and see 200 Sawi-speaking folks excited about translating the Old Testament into their language!”

While tribal groups wait for the Bible in their heart language, they can sometimes access another Scripture translation from a nearby tribe with a similar language. But even then, it’s not the same as connecting with and fully understanding God’s Word in your heart language.

Brown says the people’s hunger for Scripture is inspiring, but the challenges aren’t over once they have Scripture in their heart language. Another tribal group has a Bible translation, but they are finding themselves with a print Bible shortage.

“They said, ‘We’re out of Bibles. We need more!’ Many are just worn out from usage and some — just because of weather in the interior — they have been damaged. They are looking to print 30,000 more Bibles in their language because they are out.”

MAF is pleased to be serving this tribal group as well. “We’ll be flying those [Bibles] in when they get those printed…. They are yearning for that! So that’s what is cool and we get to be a part of that in a small way of just delivering those to them and seeing God [work].”

(Photo courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship)

Brown says the biggest thing you can do right now is pray for MAF and this eternally impactful ministry.

“[Pray] for the island of Papua and the work that is going on right now. There is a lot of work to be done. Like I said, there are 275 tribal language groups and only five have the complete Bible. There is lots of work to do, so prayers [are needed] for those who are actively involved [and] prayers for MAF as we try to serve these people who are doing translation work.

“Prayers [are needed] for us as we serve well, and that as we need more staff, that the Lord will bring that in so we can continue serving and being here available for those who are working in Papua.”

Click here to learn more about MAF in Papua, Indonesia!

Header photo of Mike Brown with the Sawi translators, courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship.