Wolrd Religion

Our MAST program continues to grow! 

Donn Hallman

https://www.wycliffeassociates.org/who-we-are/for-the-press/press-release/683

Wycliffe Associates Looks to Begin Translation Projects for as Many as 400 Languages in Regions Off-Limits to Westerners

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, an international organization involving people in the advancement of Bible translation, has the potential to launch new Bible translation projects in up to 400 languages in Asia this year, in areas where Christians live under constant threat of persecution due to vicious extremism.

“So many language groups are crying out for God’s Word—urging us to bring them the tools they need to translate the Scriptures in the language of their people, the language of their hearts,” says Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “Requests are pouring in from parts of Asia where it’s difficult, dangerous, and even deadly for Americans.”

According to a ministry partner in Asia, 20 highly qualified Asian ministry leaders are ready to lead Bible translation efforts in many areas that have been unreached entirely. The ministry leaders, who live and work in those areas, would not attract the same suspicion as Westerners.

Yet being a Christian is not without risk for the nationals. Last year, radicals from the majority religion kidnapped a national Bible translator’s wife and children. His family still has not been found, and the translator’s Christian friends are keeping him in hiding.

In another area, a pastor would only agree to hold a meeting about Bible translation in a boat, in the middle of a lake, to be certain the conversation would not be overheard.

“These are places where religious oppression is so intense, where anti-Christian persecution is so fierce, where authorities so harshly deny entrance to outsiders that foreigners have never even attempted to conduct Bible translation there,” says Smith.

Wycliffe Associates’ development of MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) in 2014, a revolutionary rapid-translation strategy, equips nationals to translate the Bible for themselves. Language groups no longer must depend on—or wait for—Westerners to translate the Scriptures for them.

Some Bible translation teams working with the MAST strategy in other regions of the world have been able to complete their translation of the entire New Testament in a matter of weeks and months rather than years.

“God is building His Church in these countries, not on the strength of ‘foreigners,’ but on nationals,” Smith says.

A translation leader can be funded for $96 a day, and currently Wycliffe Associates has funding for three of the 20 available translators in Asia. Funding all 20 leaders has the potential of bringing the translated Scriptures to 400 language groups in areas that are virtually unreachable by Westerners.

“Just like a river that flows with life and abundance, this team will rush to the nations to bring the Good News,” says Smith. “They will bring abundant opportunity for people to know God in their own heart language.”

To date, 1,086 Bible translation projects have been launched using MAST workshops.

About Wycliffe Associates

One of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Associates was organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators to accelerate the work of Bible translation. Wycliffe Associates empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation.

Because millions of people around the world still wait to have the Scriptures in the language of their hearts, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as it can to see every verse of God’s Word translated into every tongue to speak to every heart. Wycliffe Associates is directly involved with speeding Bible translation by providing technology, training, resources, logistics, networking, expertise, volunteers, discipleship, church planting, and support. Last year, 7,402 Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers worked to speed Bible translations in 72 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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Happy New Year!  Attached is our first press release of the new year. 

Donn Hallman

https://www.wycliffeassociates.org/who-we-are/for-the-press/press-release/681

Wycliffe Associates Marks Milestone in Bible Translation History; Looks to Start 600 New Translations in 2018

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, an international organization involving people in the advancement of Bible translation, announces that there are more languages with Bible translations in progress than there are languages needing a Bible.

“It used to take a decade or more to translate the New Testament,” said Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “Now, things are different—far different.”

Wycliffe Associates’ 2014 launch of collaborative translation workshops called MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) has drastically reduced the length of time required to translate the Scriptures into new languages. Projects that traditionally took years now take months.

In a MAST workshop, teams of mother-tongue translators work on books of the Bible simultaneously. Using the MAST method, a team of 26 translators can translate the entire New Testament in a matter of weeks or months.

During a MAST workshop in Namibia, a team of mother-tongue translators was able to complete a draft of one-third of the New Testament in their language in 10 days.

MAST coupled with new technology, has made it possible to begin new translation projects at a faster rate.

Working in conjunction with MAST is Wycliffe Associates’ Tablets for National Translators (TNTs) program, in which Wycliffe Associates adds Bible translation and other helpful applications to basic computer tablets and subsequently supplies them to mother-tongue translators. In locations where authorities are hostile to the Christian faith, Bible translators are able to hide their work in plain sight.

“A Bible in their hands is like a target on their backs,” says Smith.

The tablets also protect the Bible translation work itself, providing continuous backup so the work is preserved in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, which some teams have experienced.

Tablets help ensure accuracy, enabling Bible translators to collaborate and check each other’s work, as well as efficiency, supplying essential translation software and access to a vast online resource library.

“I can hardly describe how important Wycliffe Associates’ Tablets for National Translators program is” said Smith, “Together with MAST, Tablets for National Translators turn years into months.

In the coming year, Wycliffe Associates wants to launch Bible translation in 600 new languages and provide as many as 7,800 new tablets to the mother-tongue translators at a cost of $300 each.

Of the 7,097 languages spoken in the world 2,758 need a Bible translation project started. Currently there is a Bible translation in progress for 3,703 languages.

To date, 3,149 Tablets for National Translators have been distributed in 38 countries.

About Wycliffe Associates

One of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Associates was organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators to accelerate the work of Bible translation. Wycliffe Associates empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation.

Because millions of people around the world still wait to have the Scriptures in the language of their hearts, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as it can to see every verse of God’s Word translated into every tongue to speak to every heart. Wycliffe Associates is directly involved with speeding Bible translation by providing technology, training, resources, logistics, networking, expertise, volunteers, discipleship, church planting, and support. Last year, 7,402 Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers worked to speed Bible translations in 72 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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https://www.mnnonline.org/news/bible-translations-flourish-despite-persecution/

International (MNN) — At a time of unprecedented Christian persecution, the demand for access to the Bible is greater than ever.

A report by the UK office of Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) states that Christian persecution reached an all-time high between 2015 and 2017.

But that isn’t enough to squelch the fire in the hearts of people groups who want to read the Bible in their native tongue.

“Despite the pressures, the thirst for God’s words is only increasing. Even though the circumstances for Bible translation are perhaps more threatening or insecure than they have been at other times, the readiness and the willingness of local believers to engage in local translations is at an all-time high,” says Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates.

Wycliffe Associates, which is one of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s word in their own language. It collaborates with the local church to direct and guard translation work and engages people across the globe to provide resources, technology, training, and support.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates)

“We are being overwhelmed by believers and different language groups around the world who are asking to begin Bible translation for the first time,” Smith says, adding that this is a new set of circumstances for them. “We are responding creatively with resources, both online and offline: technical support, training support, and workshops.”

Smith explained what is being done to speed along the translation process.

“Instead of having a small group of people work their way through the Bible sequentially, we are using a team that is working parallel and then using the teams to check each other’s work. This enables the pace to go forward in a much greater rate and also engages a lot of people in the local community.”

In addition to speed, Smith said that quality is also improved with the utilization of local people who are experts in their language.

He added that when translations are done for locations that are insecure, Wycliffe moves believers to a secure location while they do the work.

“In addition to persecution from majority religions, translators have encountered spiritual warfare,” Smith said. “National Bible translators have fallen ill, been arrested, and even [been] killed because of their Christian faith and their participation in Bible translation.”

But they understand the value of their efforts.

(Photo courtesy Wycliffe Associates)

Of the 7,097 languages spoken in the world, 2,758 languages are still in need of a Bible translation project and that knowledge is what drives Wycliffe to continue moving forward.

“In the last two months, October and November, we’ve had 88 workshops for Bible translation starts,” Smith says, explaining that those are new starts in new languages. “This is more than one per day. That is obviously an unprecedented rate for translation starts in different languages.”

Despite the record-breaking progress, Smith says that the organization has a backlog of about 300 languages groups waiting for a Bible in their tongue.

“This is beyond those that we have a budget and a strategy and a plan to respond to in the coming year,” he says. “We are trying to figure out, ‘how is God going to enable us to respond to these additional desires for His Word?’ We are certainly needing prayer support.“

Demand by hundreds of languages without Scripture translated keeps growing!

Donn

https://wycliffeassociates.org/who-we-are/for-the-press/press-release/678

Wycliffe Associates Experiencing Increasing Demand from Isolated Language Groups Seeking Bible Translation Training and Tools

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, an international organization involving people in the advancement of Bible translation, plans to begin 20 MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) workshops in the next 90 days to meet a growing demand from language groups historically overlooked for Bible translation project starts.

“For decades—even longer—Bible translation in these remote areas could only happen if foreigners were willing to live there, learn the language, and painstakingly translate the Bible line upon line,” says Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates.

A MAST Training Workshop is the first step in a process that enables a church community to obtain the Scriptures for their language group. MAST is a collaborative translation method that was first piloted by Wycliffe Associates in 2014. Working over a two-week period, a group of mother-tongue translators completed the drafting and accuracy-checking process for approximately half of the New Testament in their language. There was no decrease in the quality of the translation compared to traditional translation methods.

Dr. John Luton, who has participated in checking the accuracy of numerous translation projects around the world, says, “The work produced through MAST methodology is excellent. It compares very favorably with texts produced through other methods.”

During a MAST Training Workshop, leaders can assess the pace at which mother-tongue translators are able to draft and check Scripture.  The pace of translation depends on a variety of factors, including a translator’s education, biblical knowledge, and language skill. Near the end of the workshop, leaders are then asked to develop a plan for the completion of the translation project.

Church leaders from numerous isolated language groups are now reaching out to Wycliffe Associates to ask for MAST tools and training. As part of a MAST Training Workshop, Wycliffe Associates provides mother-tongue translators with computer tablets loaded with software, training, technical connectivity, and safe shelter where the translators can work collaboratively and discreetly.

“Many of these folks live in regions of persecution,” says Smith. “They’ve been pushed aside by those in political power. And sadly, they’ve been unreached by Bible translation. There are so many language groups crying for help. I often have to admit to them that we simply don’t have the resources at this time.”

The cost of conducting one MAST Training Workshop is $19,500.

“I have visited a remote area of Indonesia where a church was planted 182 years ago—but they now have the Scriptures in their own language for the first time ever,” says Smith. “Thank God, MAST makes the difference.”

Since 2014, over 1,000 translation projects have been started using MAST.

About Wycliffe Associates

One of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Associates was organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators to accelerate the work of Bible translation. Wycliffe Associates empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation.

Because millions of people around the world still wait to have the Scriptures in the language of their hearts, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as it can to see every verse of God’s Word translated into every tongue to speak to every heart. Wycliffe Associates is directly involved with speeding Bible translation by providing technology, training, resources, logistics, networking, expertise, volunteers, discipleship, church planting, and support. Last year, 7,097 Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers worked to speed Bible translations in 76 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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We celebrate today the publication of Bruce’s second book! Here below is our press release.

Thanks

Donn Hallman

https://wycliffeassociates.org/who-we-are/for-the-press/press-release/676

Wycliffe Associates President Bruce Smith Chronicles Miraculous Stories of Mother-Tongue Bible Translators in New Book

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates, an international organization involving people in the advancement of Bible translation, has released his second book, Living Translation: Their Stories, published September 2017.

In 11 chapters, Smith documents the stories of mother-tongue translators, the miracles they’ve witnessed, and the struggles they’ve endured in their work to bring the Scriptures to their own language groups.

“This book is an attempt to give voice to hundreds of language groups, and millions of people, whose voices are too seldom heard. In order to faithfully capture their words. I spent a lot of time listening, asking questions, and soliciting their editorial input,” says Smith. “My sincere desire is to faithfully communicate their stories in a way that respects their history and journey as stewards of God’s Word in their nations and languages.”

Smith includes the stories of mother-tongue Bible translators in Myanmar, Cameroon, India, Ethiopia, and Brazil, and covers the work of translators on oral language projects and Deaf-owned languages. Smith also highlights the impact of MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation), a collaborative Bible translation method that rapidly reduces translation time.

With MAST, mother-tongue translators work together in parallel to translate books of the Bible while maintaining the highest levels of accuracy and quality. Typically, an entire New Testament translation can be completed in a matter of months using MAST.

Since the development of MAST three years ago, the pace of Bible translation has rapidly increased. However, more than half of the world’s languages are still without the Scriptures.

“It would take a miracle, or perhaps many miracles, to translate the Bible into all of these languages in our lifetime,” says Smith. “These miracles are happening today in hundreds of languages worldwide. These are just a few of their stories.”

To date, the complete Bible has been translated into 630 languages. Bible translations are in progress in more than 2,700 languages worldwide.

Bruce Smith began his tenure as President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates in February, 2000, and has expanded the role and numbers of volunteers in the work of Bible translation to more than 73 countries. Through his leadership, Wycliffe Associates has developed volunteer services for specific Bible translation projects around the world, affecting hundreds of language groups that still need the Bible translated into their heart language. “My desire is to see the truth of the Scriptures transform the lives of people throughout the world, bringing honor and glory to God,” he says. Bruce and his wife, Jan, live in Orlando, Florida. They have two children and four grandchildren.

About Wycliffe Associates

One of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Associates was organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators to accelerate the work of Bible translation. Wycliffe Associates empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation.

Because millions of people around the world still wait to have the Scriptures in the language of their hearts, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as it can to see every verse of God’s Word translated into every tongue to speak to every heart. Wycliffe Associates is directly involved with speeding Bible translation by providing technology, training, resources, logistics, networking, expertise, volunteers, discipleship, church planting, and support. Last year, 7,097 Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers worked to speed Bible translations in 76 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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