Tag Archives: Mission

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Not Without The Church

The role of the Church in Bible translation

“You mean there’s a plan in place to reach the ends of the earth in my lifetime?”

Beverly Donehoo, Wycliffe USA’s Church Relations Director, first read about Vision 2025 just over four years ago and wondered at Wycliffe’s bold vision. She knew she was staring eternal significance right in the face. But there was a problem. As she began to talk of Wycliffe and Vision 2025 to family and friends—many of them long-time believers—she usually got a blank stare in response. “Most of them had never even heard of Wycliffe, let alone Vision 2025,” she said.

Beverly began to wonder how Wycliffe would fulfill Vision 2025 without the Church. Drawn to the work of Wycliffe, Beverly soon applied, interviewed, and assumed a role specifically designed to engage the Church with Wycliffe’s vision and mission.

Never intending to complete the work of Bible translation without the Church, Wycliffe’s commitment has been and is today to assist the Church in the Great Commission tasks to which God has called all of us. The Church is central in God’s mission—Wycliffe affirms that world evangelism and discipleship is God’s charge to the Church.

So, what can a church do to get involved in Bible translation? The first step is prayer—to search God and know where He is leading. Subsequent steps call for action, but these will be different for each church. As Beverly sees it, “Some will be called to sponsor a translation; others will be called to raise up people to go on their behalf; and some will be called to encourage other churches to get involved.”

  • Pray for talented and passionate people to work with us.
  • Pray for sufficient funds to allow them to do His work.
  • Pray that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of the leaders of His Church to see His heart beating for the nations.”
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Wycliffe USA’s Core Values

The foundation of who we are and how we go about our work

Wycliffe’s vision has never changed: That God’s Word is accessible to all people in a language that speaks to their hearts. The core values that form the foundation of who we are and how we go about our work remain constant as well.

Below, each of Wycliffe USA’s core values are listed along with a suggested prayer and Bible verse. Pray with us today, that each of these values would underlie all that we do and accomplish. 

The Glory of God Among the Nations

“You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations” (Psalm 77:14, NLT).

“Almighty God, may the work of our hands help bring the opportunity for all the peoples of the earth to pursue You and Your glory.”

Christlikeness in Life and Work 

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT).

“Thank you, God, for going before us and strengthening us in our quest to pursue Christ. Help us to express Christ through all that we do in our lives and work.”

The Church as Central in God’s Mission 

“And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NLT).

“Heavenly Father, we affirm that world evangelism and discipleship is Your charge to the Church. Please enable us to assist the Church in completing the Great Commission through the tasks You have called us to lead. ”

The Word Translated

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (Isaiah 55:11, NLT).

“LORD, help us to remain focused on the promise in Scripture that Your Word will accomplish what You want it to accomplish. God, we know that Your Word transforms lives when it is translated into a language that speaks to peoples’ hearts.”

Dependence on God 

“We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort…” (Philippians 2:3b, NLT).

“Sovereign God, help us to always place our confidence in You alone to complete the task of worldwide Bible translation rather than in ourselves. It is Your work and You always accomplish what You set out to do.”

Partnership and Service

“As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16, NLT).

“LORD, we ask You to continue leading us to work in community and in partnerships, and always with humility, so that we may best reflect Your character.”

Diversity

“He makes the whole body fit together perfectly…” (Ephesians 4:16, NLT).

“Heavenly Father, please help us be faithful to our commitment to love all neighbors and act as the one body of Christ. Help us to engage and reflect the diversity of Your Church in order to fulfill the Bible translation task at hand.”

 

Resource: Wycliffe Pray Today Blog

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Working Together to Reach the Last Languages

Reflecting the character of God through partnership.

Our way of working best reflects the character of God when we work in community, in partnerships, and always with humility. Because collaboration is critical to completing Bible translation for all languages of the world, Wycliffe has made it a priority to develop partnerships with many associated organizations. Academic institutions, ministry partners, and churches all make Bible translation possible. And our work could not be completed without the many individuals who contribute by praying, going, and financial giving.

Both within the United States and around the world, Wycliffe works with several like-minded organizations dedicated to the ministry of Bible translation. Here’s a quick list of some Wycliffe-affiliate organizations serving together.

SIL International
As Wycliffe’s primary strategic partner, SIL serves language communities worldwide, building capacity for sustainable language development by means of research, translation, training, and materials development.

The Seed Company
Started by Wycliffe in 1993, The Seed Company works with several hundred local translators who are leading the translation process in more than 400 Bible translation projects.

JAARS, Inc.
JAARS provides technical support services like aviation, IT, and media to advance Bible translation programs worldwide.

The Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL)
GIAL offers training and masters degree programs for a variety of missions roles.

Wycliffe Associates (WA)
WA mobilizes volunteers and teams to assist the Bible translation process around the world through a variety of support roles.

To see more of Wycliffe’s partner organizations, view this list.

  • Praise God and thank Him for the body of Christ working together to help see an end to Bible poverty.
  • Pray that current partnerships would be strengthened and that new strategic partnerships would be forged that would speed the work toward completion.
  • Ask the Lord to speak to individuals around the globe, calling them into partnership with Wycliffe.
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Where is Bible Translation Needed?

Locating the areas of greatest Bible translation need.

It’s one of the first questions that must be answered, and its answer must be constantly reviewed and updated: just where in the world is Bible translation even needed? 

Current estimates by the Wycliffe Global Alliance* suggest that around 340 million peoplespeaking 2,078 languages may have a need for Bible translation to begin. Many of these language groups are small minorities living in areas dominated by different, more prevalent or official languages. Others may in fact be very large people groups but live in areas that are difficult to access.

In particular, Wycliffe has identified three areas of the world that contain the greatest numbers of translation needs. They are Central Africa and Nigeria; Mainland and Southeast Asia; and Indonesia and the Pacific islands.

Make no mistake, though much of the world has already benefitted from Bible translation, it is still needed on a grand scale!

  • The exciting news is that we’re experiencing the greatest acceleration of the global Bible translation movement that the world has ever witnessed! The number of languages still waiting for Scripture is dropping. Pray that this momentum will not slow down and ask God to continue to grow the resources needed to accomplish this work.
  • For Central Africa and Nigeria, pray for unity across organizational partnerships as many local and international groups must work together to accomplish the work of Bible translation. French-speaking personnel are also needed to work in the Francophone region; ask God to send more workers to this area.
  • For Mainland and Southeast Asia, pray for the protection and encouragement of translation personnel who often work in sensitive areas and sometimes in isolation. Prayfor creativity in the distribution of finished Scripture.
  • For Indonesia and the Pacific islands, pray for safety in travel as many translation teams must navigate throughout this large rugged and remote region. Pray for efficiency in gathering language data and wisdom in planning translation programs.

*Wycliffe Global Alliance, partners in Bible translation

Resource: Wycliffe Pray Today Blog

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Answering God’s Call to Begin BT Work

From Start to Finish: Fajak’s Story

The roots of any Bible translation program are firmly planted in God’s calling, and, we believe, also in prayer.

In 1983, it began for the Tira people of Sudan when God called a man named Fajak, and quite separately, two American students. The students signed up to pray for the Tira, a group of 40,000 Sudanese people, through Wycliffe’s Bibleless Peoples Prayer Project. Unknown to them, that same year Fajak Avajani, a Tira man, received a vision from the Lord that instructed him to read Psalm 51.

Fajak was confused. He was not a believer and God’s Word was not available in his language. He sought a member of the local clergy and asked for help. The priest read this passage to him in English, a language Fajak was familiar with:

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of Your unfailing love. Because of Your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.”

Upon hearing these words, Fajak was deeply convicted. That moment, he repented of his sins and surrendered his heart to Christ.

In 1986, three years after Fajak’s conversion, a new team of prayer intercessors committed to pray for the Tira people. It was that year—1986—that Fajak was accepted for theological studies at an Episcopal college in southern Sudan, and during that time he attended a workshop presented by two Wycliffe workers. Fajak immediately discerned God’s call upon his life: he was to see the Bible translated into the Tira language, his heart language.

Fajak asked the workshop leaders to come work with him in the Nuba Mountains where the Tira people lived, but political tensions prevented them from doing so. Discouraged, Fajak wondered why God had given him a passion for Bible translation if it wasn’t possible? He began to pray for help.

Fajak worked on his own; he translated songs and church liturgy into Tira, and eventually published a small book. It wasn’t until 1990 that Fajak once again crossed paths with Wycliffe workers. This time the encounter led to his enrollment in linguistic and translation training. In addition, funding was made available for a Tira translation project. Amazingly, it was that same year when a third prayer team—on another continent—had committed to pray for the Tira through the Bibleless Peoples Prayer Project. 

In time, the Tira New Testament was drafted, checked, typeset, printed, shipped, and dedicated; all within twelve years. But right up to the last day—the Scripture celebration in 2009—there were challenges to overcome. Clearing the newly printed New Testaments from customs proved to be difficult; customs officials restarted the process three times and Fajak reported going through 21 offices to finally see it done. Fajak said, “I have found out that ending Bible translation is harder than starting it…But the Lord cleared the New Testaments in the end.”

The Tira New Testament was celebrated and dedicated. Three days later, a foundation stone was laid for a new Bible school that would raise up Tira church leaders to serve in villages throughout the Nuba Mountains. Today, the number of Tira Christians has increased from a handful to hundreds, meeting in multiple congregations.

God’s Word is in the Tira language. The Tira church will continue to grow and mature because of it. This foundation will last; ministry and discipleship will follow. Already, the Tira people are reaching out to other communities, now that they know God more fully, and realize the truth found in His Word.

Tira lives are forever changed. This is why we pray, from start to finish.

  • Ask God to move mightily on behalf of the world’s remaining Bibleless peoples. Ask Him to call men and women to involvement in the ministry of Bible translation, just as He did for Fajak.
  • Pray that lives will be won to Christ as God’s Word is translated for every person in the language they know best.