Streams of Prayer for 6 May 2024
The Streams of Prayer for 6 May 2024, is a circular from Wycliffe Global Alliance. Wycliffe Caribbean makes this available.
May 5, 2024 – May 11, 2024
People
The current theme for Streams of Prayer is People.
It is our privilege to be involved with God’s mission, both individually and corporately. Alliance organisations committed to the People Participation Stream recruit and/or send people to serve in Bible translation movements, working either in their own countries or elsewhere. They can serve with their sending organisation, other Alliance organisations or partner organisations.
We pray for the Alliance organisations to provide excellent supportive care to all staff members. And we will pray that organisations collaborate well across different human resources practices when personnel from one sending organisation are assigned to serve under another.
Through the Global People Conversations held last year, Alliance organisations have been able to think through how to respond to changing contexts and situations in order to strategically utilise their people and care for them well. Praise God that he gives us deeper understanding. As you pray for the specific items below, pray also that each Alliance organisation in the People stream will continue to respond boldly to what God shows them in this area.
Participants engage in conversation during the Global People Conversation held in Kenya. Photo: Daisy Kilel (2023)
Receiving and sending people: Nigeria
Praise God for the steadfast dedication of Nigeria Bible Translation Trust (NBTT) to recruit and place individuals to collaborate with other organisations involved in the Bible translation movement. NBTT has seconded some staff to serve with the Bible Translation arm of ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All), SIL and Global Partnerships. NBTT also reaped significant benefits when SIL’s Katy Barnwell contributed to the Trust by aiding in certifying a staff member as a Bible translation consultant. Katy’s pivotal role in advancing Bible translation within the Trust has motivated increased engagement of people in mission. Pray for divine guidance, protection and provision for these devoted individuals working with partner organisations. Pray that their passion for translating God’s Word into local languages in Nigeria remains unwavering. Pray also that NBTT continues to play a vital role in spreading the gospel, both locally and globally.
Biblical consulting: Letra Paraguay
Letra Paraguay continues to collaborate with projects in biblical consulting. This step is vital in translation; consultants collaborate with teams so that their translations are faithful to the original biblical text, and that they are clear and natural for their native languages. Give thanks to God that the organisation has certified three consultants working in Mexico (4 projects), Colombia (2 projects), Paraguay (5 projects) and Peru (1 project) with support from The Seed Company. Daniel Rodríguez writes the following: ‘I feel privileged to be part of the group of biblical consultants. It was not easy to achieve this certification because throughout six years of preparation, travel, studies and internships I had to overcome every challenge that arose. Today I enjoy working in this area helping people to have the Bible in their language and I will continue working until the last language can have its own translation’. Pray that more people will be trained as biblical consultants to support local translation teams.
Area conference: Asia-Pacific, Taiwan
Much has changed since the leaders of Alliance organisations from Asia-Pacific last met in Bali. Political, social and economic situations have become even more challenging in Bible translation movements. Thus, the area leadership team has scheduled the next area conference 14-16 May in Taiwan for those serving in the area to come together to share, reflect and pray, and respond to the challenges. Invitations have been sent out to all leaders in the area. Pray for Wycliffe Taiwan, the local host, and the area leadership team as they design and run the three-day programme. Pray that the meetings will be an encouragement to all who participate.
Persistently praying again for staff: Hungary
Wycliffe Hungary is looking for five people who can support the Bible translation movement from the office or from the mission field. Last year they requested prayer for this and through the prayers of Alliance colleagues around the world, those prayers began to be answered as God provided an office worker. Please keep praying for further workers God can use in the harvest through participation in the Bible translation movement!
Strategy for recruiting local people: Burkina Faso
Praise God for the technical partnership that Association Nationale de Traduction de la Bible et d’Alphabétisation (ANTBA) has with the linguistic communities of Burkina Faso. In this role, ANTBA often seeks trustworthy people in whom to build capacity to contribute locally to the success of Bible translation programmes. Give thanks to God for the annual literacy campaign, which brings out such community skills. Thank God for each village with a literacy centre that takes the opportunity to put forward one or two people to be trained for 21 days as literacy centre leaders. Thank God for the extension of this method of identifying people in the communities, to other aspects such as translation, helping therefore to recruit translators for new projects. Pray that ANTBA will be able to continue to pursue this strategy of identifying local talent and that it will be fruitful.
New director: France
Last year Wycliffe France asked for the Alliance community’s prayers over the recruitment of a director after Stewart Johnson completed his 30-month service as interim director. Wycliffe France staff are thrilled and grateful to announce the appointment of a director with experience working with French Christian NGOs. Harmony will take up her new position in June. Pray for all involved as they prepare for this new beginning, and for the director as she begins to explore the complex world of Bible translation. Ask God to help the team of two employees to be inspired during the transition to contribute, inform and collaborate efficiently during the transition. Pray that the three become a strong team that provides a good base for the organisation’s development.
Recruiting people in the churches: Togo
Thank God for the strong efforts of Wycliffe Togo in mobilising the church. Through regular meetings with church leaders at breakfasts and training workshops, Wycliffe Togo staff members recruit people from various denominations, all responding to the call of the Great Commission. People in all fields are recruited to meet the needs of Wycliffe Togo and serve language communities, as well as intercede for the church and communities involved in the Bible translation movement. Give thanks to God for the commitment of Wycliffe Togo members in this mission. Pray for those sent to work in language communities to help make access to the Word of God possible, whether orally or in writing. Thank God for the Togolese Church from which Wycliffe Togo draws many of its workers.
Streams of Prayer is the prayer bulletin of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.
Valrie McCarthy
Language Development Officer
Wycliffe Caribbean
7A South Avenue
Kingston 5
JAMAICA, W. I.
876 754 9334, 908 2970, 582 6592
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