Wolrd Religion

We are all so very thankful for the way God is directing Wycliffe Associates and how he has prepared Tim for this role. 

Thanks!

Call me if you would like to set up an interview with Tim.

Donn Hallman

714-222-5079

https://wycliffeassociates.org/press-releases/wycliffe-associates-welcomes-interim-president-ceo-dr-tim-neu/

WYCLIFFE ASSOCIATES WELCOMES INTERIM PRESIDENT/ CEO DR. TIM NEU

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—The Board of Trustees of Wycliffe Associates has announced that

Dr. Tim Neu has been selected to serve as Interim President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates’ global Bible translation efforts. Tim has served with Wycliffe Associates for the last 12 years, providing leadership to the ministry in areas of finance, Bible translation technology, translation services, and, most recently, as Chief Operating Officer.

In addition to the twelve years Neu has served at Wycliffe Associates, he has another 20 years of experience serving in full time ministry, primarily in finance and administration. He trained with Child Evangelism Fellowship as a high school student, serving as a summer missionary, and entered missionary training with New Tribes Mission (NTM) immediately following high school to prepare for life in foreign missions. Tim served the ministry in different roles, including Director of Operations and Chief Financial Officer.

Deeply committed to Bible translation, Neu has personally served Wycliffe Associates’ national translators in Myanmar, Nepal, and Zambia. In his role as Interim President/CEO, he leads staff and supporters in advancing and expanding translation efforts by equipping and empowering local churches and leaders to fully embrace the challenge of Bible translation—so they can finally have God’s Word in the language of their heart.

“I have a passion for everyone, for every language and people group, to have God’s Word in its fullness,” Dr. Neu says. “If they have only a Scripture portion, they need the rest to understand the heartbeat of God. If they have only the New Testament, they also need the Old Testament to understand the context of the stories and the prophecy. Our commission is to present the Word of God in its fullness, proclaiming Christ, that all may be presented fully mature in Christ (Colossians 1:25, 28 NIV). This has been and will continue to be our work.”

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. Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers are currently accelerating Bible translations in 108 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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Not seen in today’s headlines in the U.S. is the work of Bible translators in Africa. 

Thanks for sharing!

Donn Hallman

714-222-5079

https://wycliffeassociates.org/press-releases/nigerian-bible-translators-asking-for-help-as-pandemic-terrorist-attacks-on-christians-and-economic-collapse-halt-work/

Nigerian Bible Translators Asking for Help as Pandemic, Terrorist Attacks on Christians, and Economic Collapse Halt Work

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, reports that Nigerian Bible translators are asking for help after suspending Bible translation projects in 30 languages

The global pandemic, terrorism, and economic collapse have brought Bible translation to a halt in the most populous nation on the African continent, where more than 500 languages are spoken. Mother-tongue Bible translators in Nigeria were working to start 30 language projects  before they had to stop.

“This year, as COVID-19 ravaged Nigeria, they have suffered in tragic new ways,” says Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “The government locked down the nation, and jobs—even meager wages—disappeared. In areas of serious poverty, national Bible translators and their families found themselves facing hardship and hunger, more painful than anything they had ever known.”

Terrorism has added to their suffering, as jihadist Fulani herdsmen have been carrying out rampages against Christians. In a single month they killed 18 people in Miango and 25 people in Kajuru. On September 6, 2020, they attacked two communities in southern Kaduna state, killing a 45-year-old evangelical pastor and two other men. They also abducted seven others.

“It has been a living nightmare for so many families, as agents of evil have abducted more than 1,000 children in recent years,” says Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “They’ve attacked Bible translators directly, too—burning workplaces and destroying equipment.”

Wycliffe Associates hopes to relocate the national translators to a safe location and also provide them with the technology and equipment to restart and continue as many Bible translations as they can. This includes computer tablets loaded with Bible translation software to aid in virtual collaboration.

“In their world of danger and deprivation, [Nigerian Christians] cling to the Scriptures,” says Smith. “There is nothing else solid, no other place of comfort, of strength, of refuge.”

Wycliffe Associates currently facilitates 796 Bible translation projects around the world.

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. Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers are currently accelerating Bible translations in 108 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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Attached here is a press release on V-MAST. 

Thanks

Donn

https://wycliffeassociates.org/press-releases/amid-covid-19-wycliffe-associates-developed-web-based-program-helps-bible-translators-to-work-collaborate-remotely/

Amid COVID-19, Wycliffe Associates’ Developed Web-Based Program Helps Bible Translators to Work, Collaborate Remotely

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, an international organization working with national translators with close to 1,200 languages in progress, is expanding its Bible translation technological reach with V-MAST, a video conferencing version of the MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) methodology.

Initially developed as a collaboration tool to allow national Bible translators to collaborate across great distances across national boundaries and remote areas, the V-MAST technology will be used by Bible translators in the midst of COVID-19 social distancing and quarantines.

V-MAST is a web-based program designed to enable Bible translators to use the MAST methodology remotely through a virtual event via an internet connection.

Wycliffe Associates has seen an immediate increase in demand for this service from Bible translators and is scrambling to widen its use across the globe.

“When we developed V-MAST, we had no idea its use would be called upon in such a way as this,” commented Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “The COVID-19 pandemic is a horrible thing to come upon humanity, yet God is using V-MAST to show us something very powerful.”

MAST workshop facilitators have found that V-MAST is also an effective tool for teaching the MAST methodology step by step when participants are at the same location and connecting via a local server. The essential steps of MAST are programmed into the software, guiding the translators as they work.

As millions around the world have transitioned to video conferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, V-MAST will immediately impact translation projects around the world. In the United States, volunteer Bible translators working remotely are using V-MAST to continue translating the Bible into Symbolic Universal Notation (SUN), a written, concept-based language that Wycliffe Associates has created for the Deaf and Blind/Deaf. Users of SUN can begin learning the language, consisting of 100 core symbols, in less than a week. The SUN New Testament was completed and dedicated earlier this year, and work is now underway on the Old Testament. The SUN language will bring the gospel to the hearts and minds of more than 70 million people for the first time who are born deaf.

Despite the obstacles to Bible translation imposed by COVID-19, Wycliffe Associates has seen an increase in the number of completed translations. “One highlight that caught my eye during March was the completion of 40 New Testaments and 4 Old Testaments,” said Smith, which brings New Testament completions to 106 and Old Testament completions to six for the 2020 fiscal year so far.

To date, translators have used V-MAST to translate the Scriptures into 9 Gateway languages, and COVID-19 precautions and quarantines are pushing for greater use. Every region of the world where Wycliffe Associates is working has either an ongoing project with V-MAST or is planning to start projects using the program. A demo is available at www.v-mast.com, and those interested in launching a Bible translation project using V-MAST can request more information by sending an e-mail to vmast@wycliffeassociates.org.

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. Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers are currently accelerating Bible translations in 108 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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$25,000 to install printers in closed countries.  This is one way the Bible is still finding its way into the homes of the persecuted.

Thank you

Donn Hallman

https://wycliffeassociates.org/press-releases/print-on-demand-equipment-is-missing-link-for-bible-translation-teams-facing-intense-persecution/

Print On Demand Equipment is “Missing Link” for Bible Translation Teams Facing Intense Persecution

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, is using technology to protect and empower Bible translators working in regions of intense persecution for Christians.

By using high-capacity, Print On Demand equipment, Bible translators can quickly print the Scriptures from a flash drive, whether a few or many books, and then distribute them. Wycliffe Associates also trains workers to operate and maintain the equipment once it’s installed.

“This is the missing link for national Bible translation teams who have been working tirelessly, risking their very lives, translating God’s Word in some of the most difficult and dangerous places on earth, places where Christianity is against the law, and national Bible translators have had to work in secret,” said Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. 

Wycliffe Associates plans to deliver high-capacity, Print On Demand equipment to national Bible translators for hundreds of language groups, which will make it possible to discreetly produce thousands of copies of the Scriptures.

“They want to be able to read, study, and absorb the Word themselves, in the safety of their own homes, or share the Scriptures quietly, discreetly, with those they love,” Smith said.

The Print On Demand units are critical tools once a Bible translation is completed. With over 1,350 translations currently in progress using the MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) translation method, Bible translators will need a way to print and distribute the Scriptures once they have finished the translation process.

MAST accelerates the Bible translation process as mother-tongue translators work collaboratively to translate the Scriptures into their language. When Wycliffe Associates first piloted a MAST program in 2014, a team of 13 translators working 12-hour days drafted 48 percent of the New Testament in two weeks.

Today, 318 New Testaments have been completed using MAST.

“In some places where translation is already complete, we’ve seen how God moves when we provide Print On Demand units,” said Smith. “Response was so great—hunger for the truth of the Word was so strong—that we quickly needed to print not just a few copies, but thousands of copies of the Scriptures.”

The cost for each Print On Demand unit, installed, is $25,000. Wycliffe Associates is raising funds to respond to three new requests for units.

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. Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers are currently accelerating Bible translations in 108 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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