Streams of Prayer for 16 July 2024
The Streams of Prayer for 16 July 2024, is a circular from Wycliffe Global Alliance. Wycliffe Caribbean makes this available.
July 14, 2024 – July 20, 2024
Bible Translation Programmes
The current theme for Streams of Prayer is Bible Translation Programmes, one of the Alliance participation streams.
Wycliffe Global Alliance serves Bible translation movements because we long for language communities to encounter God through his Word. As written in the Alliance Foundational Statements, one of our core values is “trusting God to transform lives through His Word translated into the languages and cultures of the world’s peoples”.
We will pray for Bible translation efforts around the world. We will also celebrate lives changed through Scripture and pray that many more communities will be powerfully impacted by encountering God through the Bible translated into a language they can understand.
A girl smiles as she poses with the Quechua Bible she has just received during a literacy class
in Ch’aqoyo, Peru.Photo: Marc Ewell (2017)
Romanian Sign Language community check: Romania
The TBSR team (Romanian Sign Language Bible Translation Team) praises God for the ongoing translation work, which is bringing positive feedback from the Deaf community in Romania.
- From 18-20 July, a community check will take place in Brașov, where chapters 6 to 12 of the book of Matthew will be presented to Deaf participants. This is a very important step in the Bible translation process, where the input of Deaf community members is important. Pray for this time and the whole planning process.
- Four Deaf people have volunteered to attend the community check and help inspect these chapters. There is a need for two more Deaf volunteers. Pray that God will touch the hearts of the Deaf with openness and willingness to partake in the checking.
- Pray for health and strength.
- The Deaf team is grateful to God for continuing to guide and protect them.
Special attention to local languages: Nigeria
Translating the Bible into the heart language of local communities in Nigeria is a passion for those who serve with Nigeria Bible Translation Trust (NBTT). Literacy development and producing materials for the preservation of these languages is a key component of translation work. NBTT engaged with about 40 language communities in literacy and translation in 2023. NBTT also engages in oral Bible translation (OBT), a strategy that enables people who are not literate to have immediate access to portions of God’s Word. Training people in OBT and training OBT trainers is part of this initiative. NBTT is also working to train additional consultants. As a result, more and more people are getting to hear the Word of God in their languages. Thank God for these endeavours of NBTT that help to bring transformation through God’s Word to many Nigerian communities.
Enga New Testament launch: Papua New Guinea
The Enga New Testament launch took place in five different locations in the Enga province from 2-11 July. Praise God for the translation team members from Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association and SILPNG to reach this milestone. Praise God for unity among the churches and for the provision of resources in cash and kind to help with these events. A local bridge had to be repaired so that the truck carrying the Enga New Testaments could make it into the region. Enga is the largest vernacular language in Papua New Guinea with approximately 370,000 speakers. The province has seen violence and other challenges over the past year and the recent, massive landslide has significantly impacted people’s lives. Pray that the New Testament launch will help people know God’s love and care for them. Ask the Holy Spirit to work among the people, comforting them and leading them closer to God
Translators complete Biblical Hebrew training: Israel
Please pray for the latest cohort of student translators who graduated on 21 June from Whole Word Institute’s nine-month School of Biblical Hebrew. They have been living in residence in Jerusalem and have finished in spite of great turmoil and war in Israel. Whole Word Institute staff are thrilled to commission them to go out and work on translations straight from the biblical text for languages that don’t have the whole Bible. Some students will stay on to begin their MA Programs in Consultant-in-Training (CiT) classes.
European Church and Bibleless Consultation: Europe, Romania
In June, the Europe Area of the Wycliffe Global Alliance organised a consultation in Bucharest, Romania to raise awareness, vision and passion for the Deaf and the Roma people groups. These are the major groups in Europe still waiting for God’s Word to be translated into their own languages. The Deaf and Roma translation teams in Romania talked about their needs and challenges in life and in reaching out to God without having his Word in their own languages. Understanding some of these challenges, attendees looked at Scripture needs for the Deaf and Roma in many other European countries and explored ways to respond to those needs. Please pray that God would prepare the way for all the Deaf and Roma groups in each country to come to know him through his life-giving Word. Pray for each organisation and partner present at the consultation, to come alongside these language groups and help them start a Bible translation program. Pray for churches in each country to support the Deaf and the Roma in this process.
Translation Workshop on Ephesians: Venezuela
On 30 June, CLAN Venezuela started the third translation workshop on Ephesians for six translation teams. The workshop runs through 27 July. Pray for wisdom, protection, guidance and direction from the Lord Jesus Christ for each translation team: Yukpa, Warao, Curripaco, Dhe’cwana, Ñeengatú and Kari’ña.
AI Bible translation workshop: Taiwan
Thank God that the five-day AI Bible translation workshop organised by Wycliffe Taiwan from 20-24 May was successfully concluded. Representatives of the participating language groups had very positive comments on the workshop. By using the data of Matthew and John, the AI draft of Mark and Luke was completed in Siraya with only a few correctable errors. Siraya was a dead indigenous language that has undergone revitalisation in the past 10 to 20 years. Most of the Siraya people are not able to speak this language. Wycliffe Taiwan is seeking an appropriate way to go through the different Bible translation steps for the Siraya. The five days of the workshop were videotaped, and media staff are working on the content so that it can be available to other translation teams. Pray for them as it is a heavy job.
Streams of Prayer is the prayer bulletin of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.
Valrie McCarthy
Language Development Officer
Wycliffe Caribbean
7A South Avenue
Kingston 5
JAMAICA, W. I.
876 754 9334, 908 2970, 582 6592
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