Streams of Prayer for 25 October 2021
The Streams of Prayer for 25 October 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.
COVID restrictions hamper progress: Lesotho
Progress for the Siphuthi Oral Bible Translation in Lesotho has been severely restricted by COVID-19 and lockdown measures. The team and other staff from Wycliffe South Africa have not been able to hold a translation workshop for most of this year. Pray that God heals the loss, trauma and pain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the team and their families. Ask God for the opportunity to meet and work to complete the translation of the remaining Scripture portions.
Bible translation for the Kuninjku and Ndjebbana: Australia
COVID-19 disrupted the plans for Greg and Rachel Shipp of Wycliffe Australia to work in South America. Instead, they were welcomed to live and work among the Kuninjku and Ndjebbana people in northern Australia. Thank God for several Kuninjku and Ndjebbana people involved in Scripture translation into their languages. The local church is keen for outside assistance to support their work. Rachel is working with speakers of both languages to assess how to work across related dialects. She is also seeking to understand who needs to be involved for the work to be sustainable. Pray for wisdom for Rachel. There will be an ongoing need for outside help to support the Kuninjku and Ndjebbana translation projects over the next few years in areas such as translation training, translation consultancy and literacy work. Ask God to provide these workers (Matthew 9:38).
Preparing Saliba New Testament for printing: Papua New Guinea, Austria
Rainer and Sabine Oetzel, members of Wycliffe Austria, started working with the Saliba language project in 1996. Originally the Oetzels and the Saliba translation team had thought that translation of the New Testament (NT) would be done by 2014. However, due to various circumstances finishing the translation work has taken longer. The last verse of Romans, which was also the last verse of the NT that still needed translating, was done on 29 March this year. Rainer and Sabine, currently living in Austria and working remotely with the translation team, plan to spend most of 2022 in Papua New Guinea to help see the Saliba NT through typesetting. Praise God that the New Testament has been completed. Please pray for God’s protection on the team, the Saliba people, and the Oetzels as they finalize details of the NT in preparation for printing.
From onsite to online: Thailand
The pandemic changed the way we all work. Praise God for the flexibility of the Eastern Lawa translation team of Wycliffe Thai Foundation who shifted from onsite to online translation. Working from home has protected the team and their families from contracting the virus as the entire village was in lockdown. Ask for encouragement, protection and wisdom as they translate God’s Word into their heart language, and pray that they will know God more during the process.
Iberian language translations completed: Spain
New Testaments for the Nossa Fala and the Aragonés people were recently completed and published in Spain. Local translators had worked in partnership with SIL and Alliance organisation PROEL to translate the New Testaments. These were published by the Spanish Bible Society. Praise God that these projects that began around 1997 have been completed. Pray that God will continue to use his Word in these Iberian languages, to reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
An Oral Bible Storytelling coordinator: Caribbean
Praise God that in June 2021 the Western Caribbean Old Testament Project found an Oral Bible Storytelling coordinator, Shola Collins. This project includes three nations, Belize, Jamaica and San Andres. Initially, the Coordinator has the responsibility for working with the already established Jamaican Oral Bible Storytelling team. Shola will also train teams in Belize and San Andres as the project moves forward. She will also train people in other Caribbean nations. So please pray for her as she designs and coordinates training and activities for the Oral Bible Storytelling Team in a virtual context. Pray also for the team members as they share stories from the books of Jonah and Ruth that have already been translated. Pray that these stories will have an impact on each one who hears them.
Kagayanen Old Testament: Philippines
The Kagayanen people are settled mainly in the Cagayancillo Island of Palawan. However, some are in urban areas or on other islands. Most of the Kagayanen live in multilingual communities, but their heart language is widely used in Cagayancillo. Thank God for the New Testament available in this language. Many Kagayanen express the need for the Old Testament in their language for them to adequately understand the full Word of God. Praise God for the leadership of the local government unit of Cagayancillo who affirmed the intention to have the whole Bible in Kagayanen and to partner with Wycliffe Philippines. So pray that the community will fully embrace the project. Pray they will also value the importance of having God’s Word in their own language. Also ask God to use the Kagayanen New Testament for the people to know Jesus more, and to transform their lives.
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