A recent trip brought Wycliffe USA leaders face-to-face with church leaders in Madagascar who are translating the Bible into four of the island nation’s minority languages.

“We spent a good amount of time at a church with over 20,000 members; they have five different services,” Wycliffe USA’s Andrew Flemming says.

“Going to that church service, spending time with the translators and hearing them talk about how God’s Word is affecting their communities – you realize that God has gifted the Church, and the Church is taking up that mantle.”

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

Most of the unique languages in Madagascar have no Scripture.

“Madagascar has about 23 different languages or language variants,” Flemming says. “Wycliffe’s mission is to see God’s Word translated into every language of need.”

The local church started translation work in four minority languages. Today, Wycliffe USA is coming alongside to provide the technical support needed to complete and publish the New Testament in these four languages.

This is one of Wycliffe USA’s many initiatives underway in 2024.

“Right now is a pretty exciting time; Wycliffe USA is engaging in more Bible translation projects than we ever have before,” Flemming says.

“We are engaging in more than 1,600 languages, representing a potential reach of 1.7 billion people.”

Your prayers and gifts can help pave the way for all people in Madagascar to access the life-giving words of Scripture!

“There are opportunities to support the work by going or giving. I started in missions work by going on a short-term trip, and God captured my heart,” Flemming says.

“We need people willing to lay down their comfortable life here and move into something that’s perhaps a little more challenging and a little outside of [their] comfort zone.”

Header and story images courtesy of Wycliffe USA.

Wycliffe USA’s Andrew Flemming says, “God is doing extraordinary things in difficult places worldwide. The work we do and the places we engage are not always the safest places.”

Take Nigeria, for example. Believers face threats on three fronts: Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and Fulani herdsmen. More about that here.

(Photo courtesy of SIL International)

Flemming and a Wycliffe USA team visited local churches and Bible translators in Nigeria earlier this month.

“We were able to meet with a significant number of partners and go out to a community and spend some time where the translation project is taking place. We flew into Abuja, which is the Capitol, and then took a six-hour drive further north,” Flemming says.

“There is persecution taking place in that area with Christian communities. Oftentimes, that persecution is also intermixed with rivalries between groups around cattle and other things; some of that activity was near where we were,” he continues.

“In places like Nigeria, where there’s persecution, we need to pray for the Church.”

Pray God will protect Bible translation teams in northern Nigeria. Pray translation work will begin in more communities so Nigerians can understand God’s Word.

“Nigeria has over 300 different languages. Often, there is a (Bible) translation in a language of wider communication. In Nigeria, that could be Hausa or Igbo, but those languages aren’t necessarily going to speak to the heart,” Flemming says.

“They’re not going to be used in the home with the family.”

Header image courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA.

“Two translators I interacted with, a fisherman and a farmer, said they’d never touched a computer before that week.”
(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

“This was a board vision trip to visit our partners and look into three different Bible translation projects in various stages, and we were looking at how [translations were] being used by the churches,” Wycliffe USA board chair Lindsay Olesberg says.

“Boards are functioning at a pretty high vision level, so we’ve heard about the different processes before, but to see them face-to-face and see who the end user is [strengthened] our confidence in the quality of the translations.”

The advisors also examined a new approach gaining ground in places like Uganda – Oral Bible Translation. Olesberg and other members of the Wycliffe USA board observed an Oral Bible Translation workshop.

“Six different minority language communities come together – eight members from each community – at a centralized place for a three-week training event. During that time, they are recording Luke 1-6 in their mother tongue,” Olesberg explains.

“It was quite remarkable to see that process and the way that technology enables people, who may not even have a high school education, to be involved in Bible translation.”

When individuals completed the training, “not only had they learned how to use the computer, the recording software, and whatnot, but they were intimately involved in bringing the Scripture to their own people in their own language,” she continues.

“Two translators I interacted with, a fisherman and a farmer, said they’d never touched a computer before that week.”

Wycliffe USA partners with 1,200 churches, mission organizations, and like-minded ministries worldwide to see people encounter Jesus through Scripture in a language and format they clearly understand. More about that here.

“Wycliffe USA is a primary funding partner for these kinds of projects all around the world. It matters to us to see how the money was spent. What impact is it having?” Olesberg says.

“The rest of the board and I came away with great confidence that project funding is having the desired effects, both in terms of Scripture being translated in a way that’s accurate and natural and that churches are being built up in the process.”

Header and story images courtesy of Wycliffe USA.

Wycliffe USA’s Meg Hunt says 50 languages still have no Bible translation work underway.

“About 34 of those are sign languages. That means Deaf communities don’t have the opportunity to access Scripture in a language and format they understand best,” Hunt says.

More than 350 known sign languages are used by the Deaf worldwide today. Yet only one of these has an entire Bible.

Hunt participated in a recent consultation meeting with European ministry leaders and Gospel workers from local churches.

“Over 170 Deaf leaders were coming together to look at the remaining sign language needs in Europe and the surrounding area, to dream and strategize, and then plan how to address those remaining needs,” Hunt says.

“[Wycliffe USA partners with] leadership from the local church to understand the desire for Scripture in those communities and how we can come alongside them.”

Sometimes, challenges come beyond anyone’s control – like the war in Ukraine. In these instances, translators have no choice but to adapt to overcome adversity.

“Bible translation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Many political, social, and economic challenges impact our translation teams,” Hunt says.

Pray God will give wisdom, skills, and patience to sign language translation teams. Find more ways to pray for sign language Bible translation here.

“Here in the U.S. or Canada, we’re unaware of what God is doing. I’d love to encourage [readers] that God is working in incredible ways worldwide, and we’re delighted to be a part of that,” Hunt says.

Header image courtesy of Wycliffe USA.

“In the U.S. culture, if you’re sick, then people take care of you by putting the water and medicine [within reach], and then nobody’s in the room so you can have a full rest,” Wycliffe USA’s Sunny Hong says, describing a “cultural norm.”

Clashes happen when your actions don’t meet another person’s cultural expectations or “norms.”

For example, when someone falls ill in collectivist cultures, “then people have to come and stay with you the whole time to take care of you,” Hong says.

Imagine a person from a collectivist culture who moves to the U.S. One day, this person gets the flu, and none of their American friends visit. “They don’t understand that as a kindness because nobody was around them when they were sick,” Hong explains.

The same principles apply to mission work, whether at home or abroad.

Wise cross-cultural communication is essential because culture affects how we share the Good News of Jesus. The people around us may – or may not – receive the truth about Christ because of how we communicate.

Whether the people around us are immigrants or “they are refugees, [recognizing cultural differences] does matter,” Hong says.

“Different expectations make it difficult to share the Gospel with people from different cultures. They don’t take it as the Good News.”

Learn how to engage in God’s global mission, no matter where you live.

“You need to understand their culture. Behave the way you are expected from their cultural understanding, not your cultural understanding,” Hong says.

“If you try to [behave] the way they expected you to [behave], then it communicates to them that they are cared for.”

Header image is a representative photo courtesy of Christina @ wocintechchat.com/Unpslash.

“PNG is the most linguistically diverse country in the world,” Wycliffe USA Field Coordinator Estella Trostle says.

Yara and Trostle pose for a picture.
(Photo courtesy of Estella Trostle/Wycliffe USA)

There are about 300 language groups that have no Scripture in their heart language. However, “a feast is happening now in Papua New Guinea. It started when scores of Bibles communities drafted the Scriptures, and they tasted the deliciousness of God’s Word in their own language,” Trostle says.

“Church leaders came to our team and asked for training so they could learn how to follow the globally recognized recipe to produce quality, assured translation. The result is more translation starts in Papua New Guinea in 12 months than in the past 12 years.”

Trostle credits the acceleration to a closer partnership between Wycliffe USA and local churches.

“People there are now willing to take ownership [of the] work, and as a result, Bible translation is accelerating at a faster rate than we’ve ever experienced in our history,” she says.

Working in tangent with local churches, Wycliffe USA translates God’s Word into minority languages.

“One of the people leading this initiative is a young, talented, passionate PNG woman named Yara [who] is about 35 years old,” Trostle says.

A child of missionaries, Yara has “a passion and understanding of the need for having God’s Word.”

Her leadership is unusual because “Papua New Guinea is a male-dominated culture; by and large, it’s just difficult for women,” Trostle continues.

“She is well respected among the leaders because she has been very well educated [and] she is a missionary to her own people. A few years ago, she got involved in Bible translation. There were some challenges, but she was committed to seeing her people get the Scriptures.”

Praise God for Yara and others like her. Thanks to their efforts, long-lost communities are finally hearing the Gospel in their heart languages.

Header and story images courtesy of Estella Trostle/Wycliffe USA.

“I want to highlight African American women who played a huge role in Bible translation,” Wycliffe USA’s Estella Trostle says.

Josephine Makil, the first African American woman to join Bible translation efforts.
(Photo courtesy of Estella Trostle/Wycliffe USA)

April 19, 2008, marked the first New Testament translation completed with the help of an African American woman – Jacqueline (Jackie) Huggins. Huggins holds a master’s degree in linguistics.

In 1959, “Josephine Makil [became] the first African American woman to join Bible translation, and she was my mentor,” Trostle says.

“She was a literacy specialist with the Gullah Sea Island Creole translation team, and as a widower, she raised three children and served faithfully in Wycliffe for 42 years.”

Following her mentor’s footsteps, Trostle began working in Bible translation 14 years ago with her husband and two sons.

“In 1994, we landed in Papua New Guinea for the first time with a group of college students. We fell in love with the people there [and] moved to Papua New Guinea in 2009,” Trostle says.

“We worked under the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association; that is, Papua New Guineans who are missionaries to their own country.”

Today, Estella and her husband are field coordinators in PNG. You don’t have to go overseas to be involved in the Bible translation movement. “Anyone can pray [or] give,” Trostle says.

“The needs are still great. There are over 7,000 languages worldwide and over 800 in Papua New Guinea.”

Find your place in the story here!

Header image depicts Josephine Makil, the first African American woman to join Bible translation efforts. (Photo courtesy of Estella Trostle/Wycliffe USA)

Around that time, Wycliffe and its partners took a bold stand, one they called “Vision 2025,” Executive Vice President of Partnerships Andy Keener says.

“This is the desire to see Bible translation begun in every community where it’s needed by the year 2025.”

(Graphic courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

Bible translators have made tremendous headway in the past quarter century. More language communities have access to God’s Word today than ever before, but serious needs remain.

Roughly 22 percent of all the world’s languages still need to start a Bible translation, and the clock is ticking. Only two years remain before we cross the threshold into 2025.

“A few years ago, there were parts of the world we looked at and said, ‘Well, I just don’t think it’s going to happen there.’ The ones that are left are the hardest to get to; these are some difficult places, but we’re seeing momentum,” Keener says.

For example, “almost 600 languages in the Pacific still have needs. But in the last 12 months, we’ve been able to begin work – with the Church taking the lead – in more than 200 languages.”

The remaining needs seem daunting. At the same time, God is raising a new generation of workers. Local churches in the “Global South” are “taking the responsibility and stepping forward to address those needs, and we’re joining them in that effort,” Keener says.

“Churches are [saying,] ‘This is our ministry space; how could it be that people are separated from the Gospel because of the language they speak? That’s just not acceptable.’”

There’s more to the Bible translation movement than linguistics. Find your place in the story here!

“We’re working in other parts of the world with similar groups of people to say, ‘what are the needs in our backyard and how do we address them?’ Sometimes they (local people) know how to do it. Sometimes, they’re saying we want to, but we want you to walk with us in this journey,” Keener says.

Header image depicts a Bible translation team in Madagascar. (Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

“We come alongside the local churches and communities in a region, and we ask, ‘what are your needs for Scripture? Where would you like to start?’” Wycliffe USA’s Mark Taber says.

“It’s all focused on responding to the local needs of the church and community.”

Some churches want God’s Word in story form for oral learners. Others seek evangelistic tools in their language, like the JESUS Film or Scripture-based songs.

“My role is to bring in the right organizations with the right skill set to partner and meet what the local churches are saying, ‘This is what we need,’” Taber says.

This matchmaking process typically takes two or three years, something Taber calls accelerated impact.

“By the end of that two or three years, they’ll have a product or products ready for use. As soon as it’s done, we want it out there being used by the churches,” he says.

The Bible translation movement is bigger than linguistics alone. There’s a place for whatever talents God has given you. Connect with Wycliffe USA here to learn more.

Header image courtesy of Wycliffe USA.

In one country, unnamed for security purposes, “there is a Christian minority presence, and they’re very enthusiastic about [getting] God’s Word in their language,” Wycliffe USA’s Mark Taber says.

“But there are large populations that are resistant to the Gospel.”

There may be opposition, but the Lord is working through His people. “This is an amazing period in history; we’re seeing the Holy Spirit move in a way that, in my 40 years on the field, I’ve never seen happen before,” Taber says.

“We’re seeing this unprecedented collaboration in Bible translation and synergy of effort.”

For example, eight organizations signed a collaborative agreement last month to start Bible translation in seven of the region’s language communities. “That kind of thing hasn’t happened in the past,” Taber says.

“It used to be one or two organizations involved in Bible translation. But now, local churches and organizations are seeing the value and the need [for] God’s word, so they want to be involved.”

Team members participate in an exercise during a recent Global Partnerships team meeting.
(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

As a Partnership Facilitator, Taber coordinates efforts between different groups involved in Bible translation. “We’re a larger collaboration of organizations and denominations called Global Partnerships,” Taber says.

“We’re seeing real unity of the Spirit as we come together as multiple organizations and churches.”

If you like working on or leading a team, reach out to Wycliffe USA today.

“Whatever your expertise, there’s a place [for it] in the Bible translation movement,” Taber says.

Header image depicts participants at a recent training event for Global Partnerships staff. (Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)