“[Bible translation] moves forward with the faithful Christians who commit to it, whether that’s in hiding, or whether that’s [when] they leave their country,” says Tabitha Price with Wycliffe Associates.

Wycliffe Associates’ MAST program (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) allows faster translation through accelerated and effective training (Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates)

But there’s more to the story. Bible translators in the Middle East and North Africa put their lives on the line even after the work is done. 

“God’s Word changes lives, and it transforms communities,” Price says. “So getting it translated in a safe place is wonderful — and still requires the risk of getting it back into those places that are not so safe. Our translators take that risk.”

But they never take it lightly. These brothers and sisters have created ways to carry electronic copies loaded onto microchips back to their homeland. Print copies are often just too dangerous. 

“We simply partner with them and pray for them as they take the extreme risk in places all over the world, but particularly in the 10/40 window,” Price says.

(Photo courtesy Wycliffe Associates)

In that 10/40 window, Price says spiritual warfare is deep. “These areas of the world have been dominated by Satan’s kingdom. When God’s people get a foothold and begin to proclaim the name of Christ and share the Word of God, the gates of hell will not prevail, but they can certainly try. And they do.” 

Right now, Wycliffe is working on printed Bibles for 13 language groups in the Middle East/North Africa (click here to learn more). Pray for their protection and joy in these battles, and learn more so that you can pray with deeper compassion. 

“I highly recommend that you research these stories when Wycliffe Associates puts out press releases or newsletters,” Price says, pointing also to resources from Voice of the Martyrs. 

(Read about two sisters serving as Bible translators or many other stories of joyful faith in the midst of opposition.)

“Take [it] seriously. Read and enter into the pain of [their stories], because then when you pray, you will be thinking about their children who might be fatherless and of those mothers who are begging God to bring their husband back from that risky trip,” Price says. 

“You will be thinking of the reality that they face instead of just some ethereal idea that ‘Someone’s out there risking their life for the gospel.’”

Header photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates.

This powerful, evangelistic tool is helping to raise up Bible translators around the world to bring Scripture into their own heart language.  

“Open Bible Stories is 50 carefully chosen Bible stories from creation to Revelation, designed by a team of Bible translators, theologians and Bible teachers,” says Dane Skelton with unfoldingWord. 

unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories is developed by unfoldingWord® and the Door43 World Missions Community. The illustrations are © Sweet Publishing and the entire project—text and illustrations—is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
(Logo, caption courtesy of unfoldingWord)

“They’re theologically accurate, but they’re not Scripture, and that reduces the anxiety for many first-time translators, especially Muslims, about working directly with the Word of God.”

unfoldingWord uses Open Bible Stories as what they call “a translation primer.” The process of translating helps a group of believers learn the necessary tools, techniques, and concepts (such as simile, metaphor, metonymy, etc) that they will eventually use in creating a full Bible translation.  

“Everything that our partners learned by translating Open Bible Stories into their heart language, equips them to move directly into Scripture translation,” Skelton says. 

The Bible translators, sometimes new believers themselves, gain a basic survey of the Old and New Testaments through the Open Bible Stories. Skelton says two things start to happen:

“Number one, they are fascinated by the Old Testament history. They start to understand the whole scope of what God has done. Then they are deeply, deeply moved by the fact that, ‘God wants to speak my language?’”

Visit unfoldingWord.org to learn how you can invest your prayers and your resources into Bible translators around the globe. 

“We are utterly convinced that God wants His church all over the world equipped to be able to translate the Bible for itself in every nation in every language. But we also know that the enemy doesn’t want us to do that. And so we really, really encourage people to join us in prayer, because that’s the key thing that keeps us going,” says Skelton. 

Header photo courtesy of unfoldingWord.

Spoken Worldwide’s oral Bible translation teams in Sudan, Myanmar and Nigeria have felt this challenge keenly.

“All these places are where there’s high probability of persecution, logistical challenges,” Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says, “whether in Myanmar, for example, (where) the internet has been shut down by the government; in Nigeria, where you’ve got kidnappings, and uncertainty and fear that runs unchecked among Christian leaders; and the war in Sudan that’s caused the diaspora.”

Weaver says their U.S.-based staff is working on how to best support their partners, whose hearts are to share the gospel. But it’s a time of danger and displacement that calls for God’s wisdom.

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

“We can as Westerners kind of dissociate from the risk and say, ‘Well, we’ve got a project to accomplish,’” Weaver says. 

“Or, we can come at this with a very compassionate heart and say, ‘Look, you’ve got to take care of your family, and we have work to do. How do we get it done?’”

They have found that if they can help a team member protect his or her family, that eventually leads to a place where they can reestablish ministry connections. 

“We really are being called, in watching these events transpire around the world, (to) say, ‘Okay, God, where are You at work in this? Can I focus on that, not my specific ‘need,’ but on what You’re doing?’” Weaver says. 

As several Spoken Worldwide ministry projects are put on pause, there are no clear-cut solutions. Would you pray for these brothers and sisters caught in war and unrest? Learn more below. 

SUDAN

• For Sudanese that have had to flee their country, pray for peaceful transition. Pray for quick resolution of any necessary paperwork for them to be established as official refugees in these particular countries.

MYANMAR

• Some of Spoken Worldwide’s teams in Myanmar are staying put despite dangers. Pray for their protection, safety, and courage from the Holy Spirit. Pray that they will be able to share recordings of Scripture with their friends and neighbors.

NIGERIA

• Pray for courage and wisdom as Nigerian believers ask questions like, “Lord, how long do I hold fast here in my village? Is there a point where I do need to move? And if I go, where do I go? How can I continue to reach back into this region after I’ve resettled in a new place?”

Header photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Nambasi via Pixabay.

John Chesnut, President and CEO of Wycliffe USA, recently visited a church translating Scripture in Madagascar.

Chesnut says, “They drafted four full Bibles in four years. And then they said, ‘Hey, we want to get the quality better. Can you come help us?’”

They will dedicate four completed New Testament translations this summer. The translations are part of a goal Wycliffe USA set 25 years ago and hopes to complete next year. They called it Vision 2025 and started praying for Bible translation to begin in every remaining language.

“It was really a God-sized prayer saying, ‘Lord, what would we need to do in order to see all these languages started by 2025?’” says Chesnut.

The number of languages isn’t the only challenge. Chesnut says that the remaining languages are yet to be started for a reason.

“They’re in some of the hardest places globally. That may be the remoteness aspect of it, or behind political barriers, or often major religions. And so access to a lot of these areas has been very difficult,” he says.

Praise God that churches like in Madagascar are stepping up to the challenge. Wycliffe USA reports more and more churches are engaging in Bible translation for their local languages.

“An answered prayer is that God is raising up His Church around the world within these contexts,” says Chesnut.

“We’re seeing God move already in ways that we could not have even imagined just a couple of years ago. He’s raising up his global Church to carry this out.”

Pray that the remaining languages without Scripture will start translation by next year, including over 300 sign languages that are waiting for God’s Word.

Photo and caption from Kabwa Scripture dedication courtesy of Wycliffe USA. Two men hold the newly printed New Testaments at the Scripture dedication in Tanzania on March 14, 2023. Kabwa population: 14,000.

An oral Bible translation team recently visited a remote village of the people group. They wanted to learn about the village life and meet some of the local people. Learn more about Oral Bible Translation here.

Weaver says, “They knocked on this one guy’s door. And the guy let them in. His name is Jackson. And they came into the house, and there were empty liquor bottles everywhere.”

They shared with Jackson an oral Bible recording of the Christmas story in Luke chapter two. As he listened, he was overwhelmed with emotion.

“It was the first time he’d ever heard his language in any kind of recording,” says Weaver. “His response was cursing and saying, ‘Oh, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.’”

He was excited to hear more, and the team promised to return with other recordings of God’s Word. When they were leaving on a river ferry, they saw Jackson come down to the shore on a motorbike. He excitedly waved and shouted thanks to the team. They hope that he may be a person of peace on future visits who will help to share the Scripture recordings with more people in the village.

Weaver says, “Here’s somebody that, you know, is not a believer, never had heard the gospel, and now all of a sudden he says, ‘Okay, this God is somebody who cares about me, cares about my language. I want to learn more about this God.”

Pray for the Brazilian translation team and that Scripture would reach more people like Jackson. The team is currently working to finish translation of the Gospel of John.

“We’re fans of oral Bible translation, because we believe that we’re getting to the people who have been truly forgotten.”

Weaver says, “There’s at least 1500 languages that haven’t even been started yet. And these are truly the last and the least of these, and those are the people that it’s clear God wants His word to go to them.”

You can learn more and support the work of Spoken Worldwide at Spoken.org.

“Whether you want to be part of the prayer team, whether you want to be part of our donor crew, any way that you can help, we need that help,” says Weaver.

Photos courtesy of Spoken Worldwide.

Wycliffe’s Annual World Day of Prayer

Each year, Wycliffe’s annual World Day of Prayer falls on November 11. On this day in 1933, Wycliffe’s founder, William Cameron Townsend, entered Mexico by the grace of a letter after previously being denied entry. That letter was written by a prominent educator from Mexico who was passionate about Townsend’s vision for Bible translation.

William Cameron Townsend (Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

Now, as this work continues, Wycliffe remembers its beginning and God’s faithfulness in Bible transition.

“We believe that Bible translation always begins with prayer. And so, this is our annual event to really just remind us of why we’re doing what we’re doing and that God’s in it. And we pray for a lot of the languages around the world,” Wycliffe’s Matt Petersen says.

“It is just as important, if not more so, than giving or serving. And so, this is one opportunity annually for us to remind people of that and to ask them to join us in praying.”

Ways to Resource Your Prayers

Wycliffe is encouraging people to use Twitter to stay updated throughout the day. On its website, the ministry is also providing resources and articles to assist believers with intentional prayer.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Global Alliance via Facebook)

Some of these resources include ways to pray through the news, for Bible translation, for missionaries, and for Bibleless people.

“There’s a number of resources there that people can use to pray. And also, there’s an opportunity to sign up for emails that will come out that will give you information about different languages and need. And you can also sign up for the Bibleless Peoples Prayer Project,” Petersen says.

Now, Let’s Pray

(Photo by Michael Heuss on Unsplash)

If you would, take a moment now to pray. Ask God to protect the work of sensitive Bible translation projects. Pray He would enable Bible translation to go forth in closed countries. Pray for protection over those who are risking much to get His Word in every language. Finally, pray for God’s Word to not return void.

“Bible translation is really that foundation of missions work. It’s how people are able to connect with God, to know Him better, and His word is critical for that. By praying for Him to bring those scriptures to people in their own language, it’s opening the door to God’s mission to reach all people,” Petersen says.

Connect to Wycliffe’s prayers resources here.

Header photo obtained via Pixabay

John and Kelly Chesnut. (Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Bible Translators via website)

Chesnut came into the position following a year-long journey of prayer and extensive interviews. The installation of Wycliffe’s new leader took place on October 10.

As CEO and President, Chesnut’s vision for the ministry is to get the Bible translated into every living language.

“Well, one of the things, as we look ahead, is there’s still some 2,100 language communities out there with no scripture at all. And so, that is our primary focus as we move forward. How might we see, through partnerships and working with other ministries and churches around the world, how can we see God’s Word come to those communities,” Chesnut says.

“My hope and desire is that every language coming around the world would have access to the full context or all of scripture in a language or form that they can understand.”

Nurturing a Passion for Bible Translation

Chesnut’s passion for Bible translation developed when his church adopted an unreached people group. It was then that the need for translations of God’s Word became a reality for him.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

“As I engaged as a pastor and began to realize that there’s a huge need out there [for church planting]…How can that happen if God’s word is not present in a language that people can understand?” Chesnut recounts.

The task at hand is huge, and Chesnut knows this. But through partnerships within the global Church, by God’s providence, his goals are achievable.

Chesnut believes God is “pouring out His spirit, maybe as never before in history right now”. According to him, it is an exciting time for Bible translation; the completion of Scripture translations in every current living language is within sight.

Next Steps

This is why Wycliffe is asking for prayer. Ask God to continue and protect the work of completing remaining Bible translations.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

“I continue to believe that one of the greatest threats to the work as a whole is really what Christ challenges His disciples [with] in John 17 is that we would be one…And I really feel like, from a prayer perspective, that that’s one of the areas that we are regularly asking for prayer for is that God would maintain the unity of these working relationships around the world so that His work can continue—often in very difficult circumstances, already,” Chesnut says.

For tangible ways to support Bible translation work, CLICK HERE.

To find more ways to get involved, CLICK HERE.

“God is doing some fantastic things around the world to see that picture that we find in Revelation 7:9 of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation coming around the throne,” Chesnut says.

“I believe it’s very possible that we would see the reality of every language community having access to God’s word during our lifetime.”

Header photo courtesy of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA via Facebook.

This is why the workers at Wycliffe Bible Translators are so diverse in their skillsets. And one job you may have never thought of within this body of work is translation consulting.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA)

Rick Floyd is a translation consultant with Wycliffe USA. He also is a professor and instructor teaching linguistics at Biola University. Part of his job includes coordinating translation projects for Spanish-speaking South America. He also consults with a language group he previously worked with in Peru.

So, just what is his job?

He says, “In my view, a translation consultant serves as an extra pair of eyes to maybe spot things that the translation team hasn’t thought of, they’ve overlooked. Suggestions on how something might be rendered that’s a little awkward. To help them think through exegetical issues. So it’s a multiplicity of roles and potential functions.”

He clarifies that it’s not his job to decide whether or not something is a good translation. Rather, his main goal is to help the translation team think through things from different perspectives. He does his best to help them avoid common pitfalls in translation work.

What makes this job such an important part of Bible translation at Wycliffe USA?

“Because one person doesn’t know everything. One group of people doesn’t know everything. So, in a sense the more eyes you have looking at something—within reason—and variety of experience, you can catch things that may be blind spots to one person and might not be to another person. Consideration of cultural issues, for example.”

Floyd explains that translation work is not a linear process. You don’t just start in Genesis and end in Revelation, going word by word, until it’s finished. Rather, he explains that it’s more cyclical as they comb the work done again, and again. Consulting is just part of the process—another net to try and keep errors from slipping by.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t mistakes.

“I’ve heard it said the seeds of revision are sown in the translation itself. So, all you have to do is start translating something and there’s going to be problems with something that you do. So, again, we’re very, very imperfect. We do our best… and commit the results to God.”

Now that you’ve learned a little bit more about the complicated work that goes into Bible translation, will you pray?

Floyd asks, “Pray that the Lord of the harvest sends workers to the field, to be able to begin work in the languages that remain. The Scriptures say that at the end, people from every tribe and tongue and nation will be around the throne, and we’re working to make that vision a reality.”

To learn more about how you can partner with Wycliffe USA, click here.

Praise God that the Tembo people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo now have the New Testament in their own language! PRAY for transformed lives. (Header photo, caption courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

Low Engagement Signals Low Priority

Three years ago Barna Research’s State of the Bible findings sparked a passion at Wycliffe to increase discussions about the Bible in the United States. The numbers of people who owned a Bible or engaged regularly one were shockingly low. Even among those claiming to be Christians, research showed that regular engagement with the Bible was a low priority.

New Scripture Translation (Courtesy of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA)

Matt Petersen, Director of Marketing at Wycliffe shares, “And of course as a Bible translation organization that was a concern, because first of all, we value the Bible and want other people to engage with it because it transforms lives. But also, it’s difficult for us to get people in the US interested in helping other people get the Bible if they’re not seeing it as valuable in their own lives.”

Opening Dialogue with #WhyBible

The #WhyBible campaign was a way to start the discussion with Christians to talk about how they value the Bible practically.

This year Petersen is hoping that the campaign really sparks engagement between Christian individuals and organizations. The campaign needs to be more than a catchy slogan. The Bible offers Jesus’ Words of Life and discussing it is more than a side issue.

Petersen says the campaign is designed to do more than just catch attention. “But to really get people to think about how much do I value the Bible and if I say that I value it, what does that mean practically? Am I actually engaging with it in a regular and deep way that is actually going to change my life or am I just saying that I value it?”

Six Sweet Ways to Study Scripture

To help Christians struggling to find Bible engagement resources, Wycliffe is offering an e-book with six ways to study Scripture. It delves into different methods for Bible study that help readers view the Bible as more than the vegetables they’d rather not eat. Instead this collection of resources is designed to help people see Scripture like a decadent dessert that is just waiting for them to dig in.

“I think it’s important though not just to have the Scripture, but to use it. And that’s the experience that we have here in the US. Where most of us, even if English is not our first language, most people in the US have the Bible in the language they understand best.

“But there’s more to being transformed by Scripture than just having Scripture. You actually have to engage with it. You have to really take it seriously and dig into it in order for God to use it to transform you. And oftentimes we just have the Bible there as a symbolic thing, but we aren’t really letting it change us. And that’s what we want to see happen.”

Petersen hopes that this campaign will spark discussion and reignite the passion in some to study God’s Word. And that this in turn will cause Christians to become passionate about Bible translation around the world.

Jump in and Savor Scripture

Petersen challenges Christians to take a look at their Bible study habits. Is the Bible playing the role it should in your life?

On September 30^th Wycliffe will be celebrating Bible Translation Day. Christians around the US and the world have the opportunity to join in the celebration through praying for translation projects, partnering with organizations like Wycliffe to support translation financially, and raising awareness through posting on social media with the hashtag #WhyBible.

This year join the conversation. Also make sure to get your copy of the Six Sweet Ways to Study Scripture e-book today. Take a deeper look at Scripture and learn more about #WhyBible at Wycliffe.org/WhyBible today.

It all started in 1994 when many Hutus from Rwanda fled to eastern DR Congo after committing mass genocide. From there, conflict ensued when issues of government representation flared up. It was also made worse by fighting over natural resources. Militia, citizens, and UN peacekeepers still clash in the east today, and an approaching election season is reheating tensions.

Congolese soldier (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

In this hostile, blood-soaked region, is there any hope for the spread of the Gospel?

Wycliffe Bible Translators says “yes”. The ministry is currently working on a translation of the New Testament in the Tembo language. Translators have worked to make God’s Word available in this language for over two decades. But because Tembo speakers live in eastern DRC, the conflict has taken its toll on translation efforts.

Jon Hampshire with Wycliffe says, “It’s a very complicated situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They had to move their office to the town of Goma because of the insecurity, and yet they just kept working and faced really a lot of hardship because the infrastructure in the country had broken down. It was hard to get medical care for their family. And yet, they considered this work so important that they just kept working.

“We are humbled by their perseverance and their dedication to the Bible translation task. They so wanted to have the Scripture in their heart language that they continued to work even when there was insecurity and fighting in their area.”

After two decades, Wycliffe finally had a dedication service for the Tembo New Testament in October 2017.

Praise God that the Tembo people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo now have the New Testament in their own language! PRAY for transformed lives. (Photo, caption courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

“They set up a whole system of distribution, which basically involved pastors and other church leaders taking boxes of books of the New Testament to as many villages as they possibly could,” Hampshire shares.

“It’s hard to get stories because the area is a bit cut off in some ways. But we know that the Scriptures are being used in the churches. We know the vice governor has pledged to place Scriptures in all of the schools that have Tembo speaking children in the region. So it’s really being broadly distributed in the entire area.”

The vice governor is not a Tembo speaker himself. However, he was thrilled to learn at the dedication that Wycliffe is going to start working on Scripture translation in his language next as well.

“The translators that worked on the Tembo translation have been asked to assist three other languages right in their area. Since the languages are similar, they can take advantage of those similarities and in some ways jumpstart the translations and make them go a little faster.”

Hampshire adds, “There is still a lot of work that has to be done because every language is different, every language is unique. It’s not like it is an easy process. It will still take time. But it will speed up the process a little bit and actually help make the translations accurate and readable.”

The Tembo community still would love to have the entire Bible available in their language. They currently have Genesis and the New Testament. To accomplish a complete Scripture translation will take more time, dedication, and resources.

“Just pray that God would provide what is necessary for them. Pray that God would guide Wycliffe as far as determining how we are able to assist in them having that Old Testament work.”

He also says, “There are somewhere between 60 and 70 languages in eastern Congo that are still waiting for Scripture in their heart language. So we continue to pray that God would provide resources and people — both Congolese and expatriates, whoever is interested in working there — to be able to address these needs and see that these people have God’s Word in their heart language.”

Click here to learn more about Wycliffe’s work in DRC!

(Header photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)