Streams of Prayer for 20 September 2021

The Streams of Prayer for 20 September 2021, is a circular from Wycliffe Global Alliance. This is made available through Wycliffe Caribbean.

Missions belong to God and the agent of missions is the Church. Please join with us as we pray for Alliance organisations engaged in the Church Participation Stream. We pray also for the Church as it participates in the Bible translation movement.

Wisdom: Cameroon

Pray for wisdom for the leaders of Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL) as they decide how to continue to work with communities in the context of the sociopolitical crisis in Cameroon and the COVID-19 pandemic. Pray that the 2022 planning sessions for all the CABTAL projects scheduled to take place in September will be effective. CABTAL is preparing to start a number of new Bible translation programmes on October 1, 2021. Pray that preparatory meetings with community leaders will address all important issues of these programmes. Pray also for new leaders who need mentoring while the senior leaders are very busy with their daily workload. Ask God to help senior leaders find space to encourage new leaders, and pray that new leaders will learn from the experience of the senior leaders as they shadow them.

Leadership in Romani Bible translation project: Romania

Preparations are ongoing for the start of the Standard Romani Bible Translation project in Romania, planned for October 2021. The partners involved in preparations (including Wycliffe Romania) have been working together for more than a year. In September there will be a couple of important meetings to finalize the plans and budgets. So please pray for wisdom for the leaders of the various organizations involved and good collaboration. Pray also for a strong vision and partnership with the Roma communities and translators in Romania.

A new leader with a big vision: Switzerland

In July 2021 Peter Wilburg took over as director of Wycliffe Switzerland. Peter is very passionate about Bible translation taking place around the globe. In preparing for his new position, he has invested a lot of thinking about strategic priorities of Wycliffe Switzerland for the next few years. This thinking has already given a boost to the organisation’s mobilisation work. As he goes into this new position, Peter would appreciate prayer for three main things:

1. The wisdom of Solomon (of course fulfilled and personified in Christ—all treasures are in him)
2. God’s angels of protection (as in Psalm 91) for office and field staff and also for his whole family
3. The fire of God’s Holy Spirit to see many become involved in the Bible translation movement (his workers, for his harvest, for his glory).

Leadership challenges and needs: Pacific

In this year of the global pandemic, several leaders serving in the Bible translation movement in the smaller island nations of the Pacific have gone through difficult health issues and some have died. The chairpersons of the Vanuatu Council of Churches and the Vanuatu Bible Translation organisation both died; one in June and the other in July. The General Secretary of the Bible Society of Papua New Guinea died in March. The Bible Translation and Literacy Partnership Solomon Islands has been without a director for some time. Pray for these organisations coping with the deaths of their leaders. They are also facing challenges in finding their replacements and persevering through times of transition. The need to raise new leaders for Bible translation in these island nations is so critical. Also ask the Lord in charge of the harvest to send more workers into the field (Matthew 9:37-38).

Preparations for leadership extension: Hong Kong

Praise God for the faithful service of Rence Law as Executive Director of Wycliffe Hong Kong for the past five years. His service is being extended for three more years. To recharge and refresh, Rence and his wife Pauline will take a reverse furlough for five months, followed by 1 month of leave, starting in January 2022. While he is on leave, Associate Executive Director Florence Lau will act as the Interim Director. Therefore, pray for wisdom and guidance for Rence, Florence and the office team during this period of transition. Also ask the Lord for his protection and direction for Wycliffe Hong Kong staff during this important time.

Providing relief: India

Praise God for his provision of COVID relief assistance to 140 families on the western coast of India through the leadership of an Alliance organisation in the country in partnership with the government. The relief efforts will hopefully help them withstand the effects of the second wave of COVID in India. So ask the Lord for His wisdom and discernment as the organisation leaders work together with the state coordinators to implement the programme effectively in communities needing help. Pray also for guidance and protection for the teams as they serve the communities across the country through this new partnership opportunity. Finally, ask God to bring healing to the affected communities and completely restore them to good physical and spiritual health.

Dialogue with church leaders yields fruit: Americas, Brazil

Pray for the efforts of Alliance organisation leaders in the Americas to foster wider involvement and collaboration of the church in the Bible translation movement. Alliance leaders value dialogue with key church leaders in order to understand their thinking and vision for engaging deeper in Bible translation. Marcos Agripino, a pastor in Brazil, shared how important it was for him to participate in Alliance consultations. It helped him to see how his denomination should respond to worldwide translation needs. Now his vision is to incorporate in every seminary of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil a curriculum and seminars that will help future church leaders and pastors understand Bible translation issues and support the movement. Therefore, pray that these efforts in Brazil will build passion in upcoming pastors and church leaders to strengthen the role of the church in translation. Pray also that similar initiatives will spread throughout Latin America.

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