Streams of Prayer for 7 June 2021
The Streams of Prayer for 7 June 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.
Small points of light: Russia
Russia is a vast nation of 11 time zones, 35 official languages and over 100 minority languages. Wycliffe Russia participates in a growing number of translation projects that dot this vast land like small but vibrant points of light. It is vital to Wycliffe Russia staff to share regularly with churches and Christians in other parts of Russia about the progress and challenges of translating God’s life-changing Word in these contexts.
Please pray for this growing network of prayer throughout Russia. Pray for translation worker Timur and his family who are based many hundreds of miles from their home and sending church. Timur is part of a team working alongside two different language communities that have multiple dialects. This raises special challenges for translation. Pray also for Timur’s son who has a problem with his sight. He needs specialist attention soon, which means travelling outside of the area where they serve.
Old Testament and sign language translations: Caribbean
Wycliffe Caribbean launched the Old Testament translation project in the Western Caribbean (Jamaican) language in January 2020. Although funding was a challenge, 23 persons came together for a beginning translation workshop, resourced by God’s miraculous provision. Five of the participants volunteered to serve as translators, and a church provided a place to meet. The translators worked diligently and faithfully to finish the first draft of Jonah. It was checked for comprehension with members of the community by the University of the West Indies and is now ready for publication. Pray for the provision of funds for printing Jonah.
The team is now working on the book of Ruth and will translate Esther next. Pray for renewed negotiations for funding for this project. Wycliffe Caribbean is also being considered to lead the way in starting a translation in sign languages in the Caribbean in 2021. Ask God for wisdom for this project.
Mother tongue translators: Philippines
Mother tongue translators (MTTs) play an important role in Bible translation with their excellent command of the language and key cultural insights. Pray for the MTTs working with Wycliffe Philippines as they continue their translation work during the pandemic. Ask the Lord for good health, protection and financial provision as they sometimes need to travel for consultant checking and for training sessions. Pray for wisdom, strength, and perseverance for the MTTs undergoing 30 lessons of the Oral Bible Storying course with the partnership and guidance of Wycliffe Australia.
Persevering through difficulties: Burkina Faso
Praise God that staff at L’Association Nationale pour la Traduction de la Bible et l’Alphabétisation (ANTBA) are planning to restart suspended translation projects in Dyan and Bwamu Cui. Ask God to help the teams gain momentum and establish great work practices. Pray for the safety and encouragement of translation staff in the ‘San’ projects as they are working in an area of insecurity. Pray that they can be focused and productive despite the challenging context.
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. They 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. Pray that despite the delayed visit to the village in November due to the pandemic, a visit to do a read through with the community to check for naturalness and clarity is not further delayed. Also, pray for the provision of resources and funds needed to travel into the Manambu village. Typesetting is planned for 2022.
Eager to print Scripture: West Africa
The Marghi community would like to print the Scripture that has so far been translated into their language: the four Gospels and Acts. They do not want to wait until the whole New Testament is translated before they have some Scripture in their hands. Pray that God will soon provide the resources needed to print these five books. Pray also that the Holy Spirit will prepare people’s hearts to be receptive to his Word when they read it.
Barai Old Testament translation: Papua New Guinea
The Barai people are in the remotest reaches of Papua New Guinea’s Managalas Plateau. Thank God that the Barai embraced the truth of Jesus and experienced revival when they received the New Testament in 1995. So pray for the Barai translators who are translating the Old Testament into their language now. Also, ask the Lord for wisdom and understanding as they translate each Old Testament book. Last month they began the translation of 2 Samuel. Pray for their protection, unity, encouragement and success.
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