Streams of Prayer for 17 April 2023
The Streams of Prayer for 17 April 2023, is a circular from Wycliffe Global Alliance. Wycliffe Caribbean makes this available.
People
Our current theme for Streams of Prayer is People. It is our privilege to be involved with God’s mission both individually and corporately in a variety of ways. Alliance organisations committed to the People Participation Stream recruit and/or send people to serve in Bible translation movements, working either in their own country or elsewhere. They can serve with their sending organisation, other Alliance organisations or partner organisations.
We pray for the Alliance organisations involved in this Participation Stream to provide excellent supportive care to staff members whether they are serving in their country of origin or a different location. And we will pray that organisations collaborate well together across different human resources practices when personnel from one sending organisation are assigned to serve under another.
This year, as an Alliance we are undergoing a consultative process, to listen to God and to each other and discern changes needed in how we send, place and manage people in an ever-changing, complex mission context. We seek God’s wisdom together for how to adjust our paradigms and ways of working to best make use of our people both within and across organisations. We thank God for the first Global People Conversation held in Europe in January and pray for consultations that will take place in other areas of the world this year.
People Conversation: Americas
The Global People Conversation gathering in the Americas Area will take place from 17-21 April in Bogotá, Colombia. Praise God that after several years, the Alliance organisation leaders are meeting face-to-face again. Pray for the 52 participants from 32 organisations in the Americas. Pray that the programme, the facilitation and the communication will flow well. One challenge is trilingual communication as the gathering will take place in Spanish, English and Portuguese. Ask God for protection over everyone’s travel and stay in Bogotá.
More people to serve with Wycliffe Canada
Wycliffe Canada staff are praying for more people to serve God with them. Please pray for more member care advisors and applications advisors. Pray for God’s clear solution to the problem of insufficient staffing in these and other departments. Please pray that the team would know how best to support members and staff during a season when many feel weary. Praise God for a new volunteer internship coordinator. Ask God to give her wisdom and the freedom to use all of her gifts in this position. Pray for the Mobilisation team as they plan a virtual event for May and an in-person trip in July for those exploring involvement with Wycliffe. Pray that God will connect the team with additional people they can invite, who are gifted and called to join the Bible Translation movement.
Local community and church volunteers make key contributions: Cameroon
The Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL) operates within a movement of churches and communities. Collaboration with church and community volunteers is significant in the ministry of CABTAL. Thank the Lord that in each of the language communities where CABTAL works in the 10 regions of Cameroon, volunteers serve as translators, literacy instructors, Scripture engagement facilitators and other roles in their mother tongues. This collaboration is centred in the community interchurch committees which serve as CABTAL’s local partners. Praise God for the good relations that CABTAL has with numerous interchurch committees which lead Bible translation programmes locally. Thank God also for good interactions with local cultural and development associations, leaders, and traditional and administrative authorities.
Good transitions: Netherlands
Several cross-cultural workers of Wycliffe Netherlands have just retired or will retire in the coming months. Pray for good transitions into retirement. Ask God to give them rest and help them to feel confident in handing their work to those who will take up their responsibilities. In many cases, these staff members have given a significant proportion of their lives to this work. Ask God to help them trust God and others to complete what remains of the work they have so faithfully contributed over many years. Pray that all those working with Alliance organisations around the globe will humbly learn from the faithful generations that have gone before us.
Seeking a new leader: New Zealand
Praise God for the contributions of Rob Lovatt, the Executive Director of Wycliffe New Zealand. As he nears the end of his second four-year term in the role, Rob has indicated to the Board that he wishes to transition out during the latter half of 2023. Accordingly, the Board has instituted a search process for a new leader for WNZ. Pray for this search process, that the Lord would direct the search committee to the person he has chosen to take up this role. Ask the Lord for a smooth transition process for the whole WNZ team.
Updating human resources data: Papua New Guinea
Praise the Lord for the faithful commitment to Bible translation movements of many personnel who have served long-term with the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association (PNGBTA). Several management staff members are approaching retirement age. Ask God for wisdom as the PNGBTA leadership through its Human Resources department seeks to recruit new people. Pray for the HR department as they update staff biographical data and do performance appraisals for all staff during the first six months of this year. Ask the Lord for fruitful meetings and good relationship-building for those involved in this process. The updated information will provide a clear status of the organisation’s human resources.
Community partners: Philippines
The Chief of Police in San Jose, in the province of Antique, requested copies of the Kinaray-a New Testament from the Translators Association of the Philippines for a province-wide moral recovery programme. Each police squad meditates on God’s Word before their daily tasks, with two pastors leading Bible studies. The pastors also conduct morning devotions three times a week in the office before work. Pray that the policemen and pastors will continue to find wisdom and grace from the Word. Ask the Lord for encouragement and perseverance for the translation team as they continue work on the Old Testament and assist in the transformational Scripture promotion programmes of the Kinaray-a communities.
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
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