Streams of Prayer for 23 August 2021
The Streams of Prayer for 23 August 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.
An exciting three-year horizon: The Netherlands
A strategy committee with members of the board of Wycliffe Netherlands, office staff and field staff of the organisation looked at the strategy for Wycliffe Netherlands for the years 2022-2025. Input for this process was also given by partner organisations. The committee made a proposal to the board mentioning the three areas of focus for these three years:
- reaching out to a younger generation
- the sending of fieldworkers
- engagement with churches in The Netherlands.
Pray for wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and for the office team as they serve to translate these focus areas into plans for the next few years.
Strategic Partnership: The Netherlands
The mission of Wycliffe Netherlands is: “Together with the church, the most local expression of the body of Christ, making the Word of God available in the most relevant language and encouraging its use in the most accessible form.”
In working out this mission Wycliffe Netherlands works with partner organizations in a variety of countries. Pray for good interaction as partners meet and work together. Pray especially for local ownership and the participation of local churches in the Bible Translation Programs. Wycliffe Netherlands is thankful that office staff from the Program department were able to travel again to visit their partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Publishing Scripture for indigenous people: Malaysia
Praise God that the SEM translation of Mark is almost ready for printing. This is the first published book of translated Scripture for an indigenous language in Malaysia that was completed with the translation help of Wycliffe Malaysia staff. Thank God for the team’s perseverance and hard work to meet the target date despite some setbacks. Pray that this Gospel will produce fruit in peoples’ lives and increase hunger for more of God’s Word in their language.
Pray for translation projects: Philippines
Praise God for the 12 translation teams made up of staff from the Translators Association of the Philippines and partner organisations! The teams will take on the task of translating God’s Word in the following language projects:
5 New Testaments (Ayta Ambala, Gaddang, Ginsalugen Subanen, Guina-ang Kalinga, Kinamayu), 6 Old Testaments (Balangao, Dulangan, Kinaray-a, Lubuagan Kalinga, Northern Subanon, Teduray) and a revision of the Central Subanen New Testament.
Pray for strength for the teams as they seek to glorify God during the challenging and faith-stretching work of translation, so that these language communities can have access to the Bible in a language that they understand best. Ask the blessings of the Lord for good health, protection and favour.
Scripture Engagement Opportunities: South Africa
The strategic priority of Wycliffe South Africa is seeking Scripture engagement opportunities for the language communities with which they work. They seek ways to answer this question: How can the Bible really transform a community? They are also looking for partners (local church and impact partners in the southern Africa region) as they translate portions of the Bible through Oral Bible Translation. Ask God to guide them to the places and partners he has already chosen.
Pursuing government partnerships: Papua New Guinea
Praise the Lord! The local governments of various provinces in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are supporting the work of Bible translation in tangible ways. Leaders of the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association would like to pursue this further and develop a partnership on the national level. Ask the Lord for favour to develop acquaintance with the Prime Minister and leaders of the National Government to discuss possible ways for partnership. PNG has over 800 languages and is linguistically the most complex nation in the world. Pray for the government leaders to be receptive and commit financial resources through their annual budget for language development in the country.
Strategic plan and data management system: Papua New Guinea
Pray for the team working on the 5-Year Strategic Plan for the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association (PNGBTA). Ask the Lord to give them wisdom and clarity to complete the plan in time for a presentation at the Annual General Meeting on 22-24 October. The strategic plan will feature the language programmes that PNGBTA manages. PNGBTA Information Technology and Language Services staff are working in consultation with staff from Wycliffe Australia to develop an electronic language programmes management data system to replace the manual system used up till now. Ask the Lord for wisdom in this vital development process and success in its roll-out.
Let us know if you are interested in also receiving the “Streams of Prayer” bulletin sent to your inbox. Send us an email at webmaster@gmc-mca.org and we will gladly add you to our list.
