Answer: Indonesia.

Wycliffe
Associates President and CEO Bruce Smith says this is also why they've made
the country a high priority for Bible translation work. "Many of them are
not literate in their first language, let alone in a second or third language,
so a lot of the communication of Scripture and the Gospel has to be in oral
forms."  

Wycliffe
Associates is an international
organization that involves people in the acceleration of Bible translation. They're providing tools to help by way of
building a translation center in West Timor. Already about halfway through a 5-year building project, they're raising
funds to complete it. "The teams in that area are working on 23 languages,
and they've already identified 80 additional languages in this region alone
that are still without one verse of Scripture." 

Smith says the
urgency is building, too. While Portuguese and Tetun are the official languages
of Timor, they are not the functional languages for people groups in many areas
of the country. Smith explains that entire
generations have grown up speaking local languages. "Really, the whole testimony of Indonesia
for the past 50 years is the responsiveness of people when they hear the Gospel
in a language and a form that they understand."

Smith goes on to say that the diversity of the region means there are
a lot of challenges. That clarifies
their mission. "There is a real mixture of religious organizations and
denominations that are active there. So, making sure that Christians have the resources
that they need and especially having Scripture in a language that they understand
is a part of assuring that they have what they need to survive the challenges
that are there and to grow in their faith."

"It is heartbreaking to think these isolated
people might believe God doesn't care enough to speak directly to them," says Smith.

"What if you
heard the Gospel in a language you only partly understood? Think about what it
would be like to live without your favorite Scripture verse," says Smith.

According to
Rev. Gabriel Brea, a national Bible translator in West Timor, the people are
asking why they don't have Bibles in their own language. He adds that without
Scripture in their own language, "people don't really understand it. It doesn't
penetrate their hearts."

Wycliffe
Associates provided construction materials and volunteers to complete two
building phases of a translation center in West Timor. The first phase of this five-year project was
the renovation of an office building to create administration space. "The second part was to create
some additional classroom space for the teams that come and go. Those two
phases are already complete.

The third
phase is to add some dormitory and guest space so that as these students come
and go from other parts of this area of southeast Indonesia, they have a place
to stay while they're there." Right
now, donations toward Wycliffe Associates'
translation efforts in Timor and the surrounding islands of Indonesia will be
matched by anonymous donors.

Missionaries
there are currently working with 23 languages groups and are also recording and
videotaping recently translated Scriptures in a sound studio built by Wycliffe
Associates.

Wycliffe
Associates involves people in accelerating the work of Bible translation
through their time, talents, and treasure. Because millions of people around
the world are still waiting to read the Scriptures in the language of their
heart, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as they can to translate every
verse of the Bible into every tongue to change every heart.

The organization
partners with nationals, mother tongue translators, staff, volunteers, and
supporters to direct and fund these efforts, as well as provide logistics,
networking, and technical support. Through a growing global network, Wycliffe
Associates is striving 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.

When the Good News first came to the Helong, the king and many of his subjects were baptized. But since then, the Bible has usually been taught in the national language of Indonesian.

The problem is: the national language does not communicate clearly to the people. So pastors usually translate the Scriptures into Helong on the spot during services.

Not having a translation of the Scriptures written in the heart language of a people can cause all sorts of doctrinal issues. Even for people like the Helong who might understand Indonesian, it does not have the same effect as the Word being accurately translated and written in Helong.

The Seed Company reports that to remedy this centuries-old problem, a large group of people came together to create a written translation of the Bible for the Helong. Mother-tongue translators, farmers, university professors and pastors all came together to help in the translation process. An added benefit of the pastors' participation was that the pastors were able to use the translated materials immediately in their ministry to Helong speakers.

Now everyone can use the translated materials because the New Testament translation is finally complete. The goal was to translate the New Testament and Genesis, and it has been met.

More than just meeting the goal, the dedication of the translation last month allowed the team an opportunity to share Christ right away. Prior to the dedication, team members visited the vice governor of the Timor province — who is also a Helong speaker — in his Kupang office and delivered an advance copy of the New Testament for him. He was excited and agreed to assist in promoting the event.

There are a lot of exciting opportunities ahead of the Helong now. Pray that many more Helong speakers would come to understand what Christ has done for them now that they know He speaks their language.

Art Greenleaf with Wycliffe Associates
explains, "We've got a great opportunity there in
Timor partnering with the national church. This particular area is not as
heavily Islamic as more western provinces might be. There are a lot of Christians
there, very similar to what you might have in the province of Papua."

Using
national translators streamlines the process of Bible translation in a region
that sometimes deals with hostility toward Christians. "Nationals can move and function 100%
better than we can as expatriates," says Greenleaf. He adds, "We are on a property that
we're sharing with the national church. They have actually provided this
property to develop the linguistics center. There is harmony in this particular
part of Indonesia."

However, the
team's progress is being hampered by the cramped quarters at the current translation center. A short-term solution came through renting
additional workspace. Even then, some
translators are carrying out their work in a garage and even outdoors.

That's
why Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that involves people in
the acceleration of Bible translation efforts, is planning to build a fully
functioning translation center on the island of Timor in Southeast Asia. "There's a need to train national
translators right where they are," he explains, adding that an "indigenous
linguistics center with the local church eventually overseeing it, is perfect."

"They are deeply
committed. They're willing to work. They urgently want to see God's Word in the
heart language of their people. But they need our help," says Bruce Smith,
president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates.

More
than 65 Bible translators are currently working on translations in more than 80
languages in the Timor region and the surrounding islands of Indonesia, and
some of the languages are spoken by as many as half a million people. Greenleaf says that "Indonesia
is probably one of  the most needy areas
in the province of Papua, which is part of the island of New Guinea. It has the
largest number of languages in the world to be reached."

Wycliffe
Associates is seeking to raise $100,000 to turn the current facility into a
fully functioning translation center, doubling its size and providing the basic
necessities and equipment for translation work.

The timeline? "We're beginning work now over there. Over the
next year, we would like to see the facility completed and functioning. This will be probably an ongoing project as
we have the Training Center, housing, that sort of thing, on the church
campus."

Much
of the construction will be completed by teams of volunteers who partner with
and are mobilized by Wycliffe Associates. Aside from the resources, Greenleaf says, "We need
to pray for the safety and security of those linguists. Something we
need to be praying for, too, is the wisdom to do the task they're doing and the tenacity
just to stick by it. It's not an easy task, taking God's Word and putting it
into one's own language."

Wycliffe
Associates involves people in accelerating the work of Bible translation
through their time, talents, and treasure. Because millions of people around
the world are still waiting to read the Scriptures in the language of their
heart, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as they can to translate every
verse of the Bible into every tongue to change every heart.

The organization
partners with nationals, mother tongue translators, staff, volunteers, and supporters
to direct and fund these efforts as well as provide logistics, networking, and
technical support. Through a growing global network, Wycliffe Associates is
striving 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.