Streams of Prayer for 24 September 2022

The Streams of Prayer for 24 September 2022, is a circular from Wycliffe Global Alliance. Wycliffe Caribbean makes this available.

Emerging Trends

The current theme for Streams of Prayer is Emerging Trends. Sometimes God uses difficult seasons to help us change faster than we would naturally. Through the last two or three years, we faced a global pandemic, its sorrows, its disruptions, its restrictions, and its uncertainties. Some organizations took the time to reevaluate their priorities and others looked into different ways of continuing to work. We gave space to creativity and ingenuity with good results as God started new things amongst us. Stephen Coertze, Executive Director of the Wycliffe Global Alliance, encourages us to “be on the lookout” or be aware of the emerging trends in the Bible translation movement.

We celebrate and pray for new initiatives, new ways of working, and new priorities that have been borne out of the challenges and restrictions of the last few years.

Pray for the Nations Prayer App: Romania

Wycliffe Romania recently published a prayer app for mobile phones. It is only available for Android and can be downloaded from Google Play here. Through this app, daily prayer requests can be accessed more easily. The app also contains other resources for prayer. Thank God for His help in all the work that went into its development. Pray that this app will be a good tool for mobilizing people to pray for mission and Bible translation. Also, pray that God will put His love into the hearts of many followers of Jesus to pray for people who do not yet have God’s Word. Pray that this love will motivate more and more Romanians to pray.

Gospel Festival: Papua New Guinea

The Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association (BTA) will host its first Gospel Festival on 29 October in Port Moresby. Groups are being asked to present Gospel items in song and/or dance in one of the many languages of Papua New Guinea. BTA is inviting businesses, corporations, churches, partner organizations, and individuals to participate and help sponsor the event. Funds raised during this event will be used to assist 20 language communities to begin Bible translation over the next five years. Pray for wisdom for the personnel involved in planning and organizing this festival. Ask the Holy Spirit to stir people’s hearts to participate and celebrate God in these languages. Pray that people will give generously toward this effort of reaching out to those still waiting for the Scriptures in their heart language.

AEL Kids Project: Peru

During the pandemic, AEL (Alcanzando a Toda Etnia en Su Lengua) Kids Project staff used new methods to teach about Bible translation and mobilize children for involvement. Teachers of children were invited to the webinar, “Teaching children about Bible translation”. Also, teachers from different countries and organizations that work with children participated in asynchronous (not coordinated in time) virtual classroom training events consisting of 15 sessions. The third group of teachers will soon graduate. Praise God for the opportunity for participants in the AEL Kids Project to learn new ways of teaching that benefit not only the children’s learning experiences but also those of the teachers.

Language and human trafficking initiative: Global

As SIL International continues a focus on language in relation to human flourishing, a new initiative examines language issues related to human trafficking. Those looking for people to traffic often target members of linguistic minorities who rarely receive information about the dangers of the kinds of human trafficking for which they are particularly vulnerable. SIL hopes to identify ways to reduce these vulnerabilities and aid officials who sincerely seek to help those caught up in trafficking. Pray for the person doing the initial research on this topic as he forms a team to explore the issues.

Organizational development: Asia-Pacific

Marnix Riupassa, Deputy Director for Alliance Development for Kartidaya and Associate Director for Organisation Development Services for Wycliffe Global Alliance Asia-Pacific, says that organizational development is “the most important part of completing the unfinished mission of Bible translation”. One of the two valuable elements in this is opening “a space for grace” where programmes are carried out optimally to increase capacity, expand fieldwork, and make the organization responsible, professional, and sustainable. The second element is “relying on God’s power” for life change. So ask God to open up ‘spaces for grace’ in the Asia-Pacific area. Pray also that Marnix and the Kartidaya team will continue to rely completely on God as they seek to spark transformation in the area and beyond.

Teochew Bible storying project

Wycliffe Singapore launched the Teochew Bible storying project in 2021, with a vision to improve access to Bible stories for speakers of the Teochew language. The Teochew storying team has made steady progress in crafting and revising Bible stories. They have finished three stories. Pray that God will continue to sustain and energize the story crafters–who are all elderly–and the facilitators, especially during this time of pandemic. Also, ask the Lord to use the Bible stories to bring the Gospel to Teochew speakers.

Strengthening indigenous organizations and leadership: Peru

ACIEP (Asociación Cristiana Interétnica del Perú) is a self-sustaining, self-managed and self-governing organization. It represents the voices of Peruvian indigenous groups. ACIEP works with several indigenous organizations (AIDIA, JAWCA, PACHAWARAY, AWI, AMWAN, ATEK, and FAIENAP) helping them to strengthen their organizational, financial, governance, and collaborative management capabilities. Pray for God’s guidance for ACIEP and the indigenous organizations as they continue to serve in the Bible translation movement.

Streams of Prayer is the prayer bulletin of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.

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Valrie McCarthy
Proclaimer Officer
Wycliffe Caribbean
7A South Avenue
Kingston 5
JAMAICA, W. I.
876 754 9334, 908 2970, 582 6592

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