Streams of Prayer for 31 May 2021
The Streams of Prayer for 31 May 2021, is a circular from Wycliffe Global Alliance. This is 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.
Impact of newly launched Scripture: Ghana
Praise God, with the staff from the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT). Three New Testament – Nyagbo, Logba and Tafi – were launched in February. They are being used well in the communities and churches. So pray that these New Testaments will bring transformation to the lives and cultures of these people groups. Pray also for continued good health for the translators, reviewers and committees as they assist in literacy programmes and through promoting the use of the new Scriptures. In addition, pray that the translation project will continue to foster unity and cooperation among the various denominations in the area. Finally, ask God to guide the staff of GILLBT as they make plans for Old Testament translations.
Bible Translation Advances: Peru
AIDIA is a local ministry in southern Peru that is translating the entire Bible into the Eastern Apurímac Quechua language. They are revising The New Testament published in 2013 and are moving forward in the Old Testament translation. They desire to finish the entire Bible this year, with the dedication planned for 2022. Pastor Luis Cervantes, who leads the AIDIA ministry, requests prayer for the following:
- Pray for protection from COVID for the translators and all involved in AIDIA. Only one member of their team has had the virus, and he is well now.
- Ask God to facilitate access to the Quechua communities. The country is still in lockdown mode.
- Ask God to guide them to the best way for Luis and the AIDIA team to execute the various projects in the communities, and to show them how to reach all the communities with the gospel.
- Pray for work to begin in 10-20 additional languages in Peru.
Praise for support: Philippines
The Ayta Ambala translators have continued to work in the translation programme alongside staff from the Translators Association of the Philippines despite a great need for financial support.
Praise God for those who responded to the funding challenge. Pray that those who pledged will be able to keep their commitment to giving toward the cost of bringing God’s Word to the Ayta Ambala community. Pray for the Lord’s blessing and anointing to all who serve in Bible translation and those who support them financially and prayerfully.
A new start, and new ways to connect: Wycliffe France
As Wycliffe France begins the process of starting afresh as an organisation, Bible translation remains its heartbeat. With a growing virtual and WhatsApp prayer following, Wycliffe France has tried a new way to directly connect French churches with translation project staff.
Recently, a church in Nimes sent a financial gift to a project in a country that is difficult to access. Thanks to Zoom, project staff recorded a thank you video in which one of the translators spoke in his heart language, which was then interpreted into French! Pray for Wycliffe France. It is a new day for the organization, with a brand new message that the Mission of God is a gift from God to his churches. Their dream is that Bible translation will become the heartbeat of French churches, and not just something they send Wycliffe staff to do. Please pray that the Lord blesses the church in Nimes for their generosity. Pray also that many more videos will be shared between translation project staff and churches throughout France as partnerships blossom.
Community check for Manambu New Testament: Papua New Guinea
The Manambu language community is located along the Sepik River. Praise the Lord for the perseverance and commitment of Ken and Rosa Nayau who have been serving in the Manambu translation project for a long time. The consultant checking of the New Testament was completed in October of 2020. Ken had planned to visit the village in November 2020 to read through the New Testament but because of the pandemic that did not happen. Pray that this plan to do the community checking for naturalness and clarity will not get further delayed. Pray for the provision of resources and the funds needed to travel into the Manambu village. Typesetting is planned for 2022.
Protection during instability: Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) has 69 languages. The Association Centrafricaine pour la Traduction de la Bible et l’ Alphabétisation (ACATBA), in partnership with churches, has active translation projects in 11 of these languages.
Pray for the active ministry staff (translators, survey and literacy staff). The war, the violence and looting in CAR have not left ACATBA untouched (killings, theft of vehicles and motorbikes, etc.) It is therefore important to pray for the protection of staff: for their health, and for zeal to serve with fear of the Lord and not people. Pray that every linguistic community living in CAR will have access to the Word of God in their mother tongue. Pray also that their lives will be transformed to the glory of Christ.
It is going through my heart with weight: Papua New Guinea
A group of Miniafia community members sat and listened intently as the reader read the Miniafia Genesis one paragraph at a time. The consultant was checking the draft of this book with them last December. All around, the smiles on their faces showed that they were hearing and understanding. Suddenly, someone from the group spoke out, “I can understand English but I do not understand it enough. Now I am hearing the deep meaning of these words. It is going through my heart with weight. I want to see this book printed and made available so we can read it and experience its truth in our lives.”. Pray for the Miniafia community as they work together to raise funds to print and distribute the Book of Genesis. Pray for God’s Word to touch and transform the lives of the Miniafia people as they engage with it.
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