Streams of Prayer for 10 July 2023
The Streams of Prayer for 10 July 2023, is a circular from Wycliffe Global Alliance. Wycliffe Caribbean makes this available.
July 9 – July 15, 2023
Bible Translation Programmes
The Wycliffe Global Alliance serves Bible translation movements because we long for language communities to encounter God through his Word and be transformed (See the Alliance Foundational Statements). The current theme for Streams of Prayer is Bible Translation Programmes, one of the Participation Streams for the Alliance. Many Alliance organisations manage Bible translation programmes and many more support them through prayer, people, funding and training.
Bible translation programmes require teams of people with various skills.
- Pray for those engaged in planning projects as they seek to understand how to design projects that will have the most impact on communities.
- Ask God to guide and protect teams working together to ensure that the Scriptures translated into each language are clear and easy to understand, accurate in reflecting the original meaning and accessible in appropriate formats.
Team members also engage communities to use the Scriptures effectively.
- Ask God to impact language communities around the globe as people read, listen to, or watch translated Scripture.
- Pray that they will understand it and be transformed.
Global People Conversation: Asia, Pacific
The Global People Conversation for the Asia-Pacific Area will take place from 11 to 14 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The area leadership team is expecting about 40 participants from at least 19 organisations to attend. Please pray:
- for safe travel and good health for all participants, and facilitators
- for in-depth conversations and good interaction
- for the area leadership team as they facilitate the programme
- that God will use this gathering to deepen the commitment of each Alliance organisation to the Bible translation movements and to the Alliance
- that the gathering will focus on the people needs for the ongoing ministry of Bible translation, taking into consideration how Bible translation will be done in the future.
Indigenous Australians access God’s Word: Australia
The Australian 2021 Census states, “Over 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages were spoken in 2021.” About 40 of these languages are used today in daily life. Pray that every indigenous Australian gains access to God’s Word in a language that they understand well. The complete Bible is only available so far in Kriol, a nontraditional language. Praise God that 31 indigenous Australian languages have at least one book of the Bible, 15 have New Testaments and some have a few books of the Old Testament. Pray for God’s Word to continue to be translated into indigenous languages and made accessible in various formats. The Plain English Version, designed for those whose mother tongue is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language, is being printed in Singapore. Pray for plans for wide distribution, including through several launch events.
Bible translation amid instability: Ethiopia
Wycliffe Ethiopia has a translation department to follow up Bible translation activities in the country. However, almost all the Bible translation programmes throughout the country are affected by instability. The inflation rate in Ethiopia is very high and affects everyone in the country in many ways. Some Bible translation programmes are located in regions where violent conflict, civil unrest and crime are taking place. A number of teams have had to move to Addis Ababa, the capital city, due to instability in their home areas. Pray that God will grant Ethiopia peace and stability. Pray especially for the four New Testaments that are planned to be completed this year: Mursi, Ts’ara, Zay, and Inor. Ask God to sustain the dedicated efforts of the teams towards this goal, and to give them courage and ensure their protection.
Bible translation programme needs: Central African Republic
The Association Centrafricaine pour la Traduction de la Bible et l’Alphabétisation (ACATBA) and the churches of the Central African Republic (CAR) are continuing collaborative efforts to run Bible translation programmes. They are working with 15 of the country’s 126 languages. Thank God that some church leaders are getting involved in the programmes. However, the economic situation is critical and does not allow individuals and the churches to support the programmes effectively. Pray for a change in this situation. Ask the Lord to provide human and financial resources, in particular to cover the significant needs in language research, literacy and community mobilisation. Pray for the eight new language programmes that started in April. Ask the Lord to open additional partnership opportunities for ACATBA and training opportunities for its staff so that they can effectively run language programmes in CAR.
Community testing of Genesis 1-11: Jamaica
Wycliffe Caribbean conducted online and in-person focus groups for community testing of translated chapters of Genesis in Jamaican Creole. For the first time in this oral translation project, children were included in the community testing process. This was a wonderful and eye-opening experience, getting the children’s feedback and perspective. One boy in particular not only read fluently but contributed to improving grammar and added viewpoints not considered by the adults. His comment at the end of the meeting was, “Aunty, this was amazing!” Thank God for the contributions of Wycliffe Caribbean to oral Bible translation and for the participation of children and youth in the translation testing process. Pray that God will continue to provide the necessary resources to carry out this translation project.
Pray for cluster group: Philippines
Often oral Bible storytelling (OBS) is an entry point for bringing God’s truth to people who do not have written Scripture. Bible stories are crafted, learned and shared. Wycliffe Philippines praises God as most of the languages in the Bayanihan Cluster OBS Project gladly responded to continue the projects by transitioning to oral Bible translation (OBT). OBT involves all the steps of a written translation of Scripture passages or books (drafting, checking, revision, etc.) except that it is translated orally and recorded as an audio version. Pray that the Panimusan language community will decide to pursue OBT too, as they have concluded their OBS project. Ask God for discernment and direction for the teams initiating OBT work.
Sign language translation: Spain
Pray for the two Deaf sign language projects in Spain (Spanish Sign Language and Catalán Sign Language), that God will provide the funding for these two projects to be able to complete their New Testaments in the next few years. Pray for Rut, who is training to become a sign language consultant. Pray also for the Deaf sign language communities of Portugal and Italy, which also need Bible translation. Pray that God might open opportunities for the team in Spain, with decades of experience, to help these projects develop.
Streams of Prayer is the prayer bulletin of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.
Copyright © 2023 Wycliffe Global Alliance. All rights reserved.
Valrie McCarthy
Proclaimer Officer
Wycliffe Caribbean
7A South Avenue
Kingston 5
JAMAICA, W. I.
876 754 9334, 908 2970, 582 6592
Let us know if you wish also to receive the “Streams of Prayer” bulletin sent to your inbox. If so, send us an email at webmaster@gmc-mca.org and we will gladly add you to our list.
