Streams of Prayer for March 1, 2021
The Streams of Prayer for March 1, 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.
Making the most of training opportunities: Equatorial Guinea
Many of the staff at ACTB have felt the need for training in translation-related digital tools, that until now has not been available in their context. Praise God for the Africa-wide Digital Summit, which will offer training for some members of staff at intervals between January and March 2021. Pray that they can obtain all the equipment that they will need to ensure that they can fully participate in the training programme. Ask God for good internet and electricity connections during the training sessions.
Orality workshop: Chad
Pray for the CALAO* oral Bible translation workshop, run by ATALTRAB for five communities in Chad which is running from 20 February to 18 March. This programme brings the Word of God in oral form to isolated communities that have very low literacy rates, and have no church. Pray that as a result of this training workshop many will hear the Word of God and decide to follow Christ.
*Named for a hornbill bird common to the region.
Literacy training based on Scripture: Canada
The Naskapi are an indigenous people group living in remote northern Quebec and Labrador. In 2007, a Naskapi Bible translator team (working with facilitators Bill and Norma Jean Jancewicz of SIL International) completed the New Testament in their language. The group continued working on the Old Testament, completing Genesis in 2013. Ongoing work on other Old Testament books continues today. A virtual literacy course for adult speakers of the Naskapi language started in January 2021. It focuses on reading the Naskapi Scriptures. These days, Naskapi children learn to read their language in school. Pray that many Naskapi youth and adults recognize the value of reading the Scriptures in their language. Pray too that increasing numbers of them will engage with God’s Word as a regular part of their lives.
English conversation classes: United Kingdom, Russia
A partnership between Wycliffe Russia and Mission Assist in the UK provides online English conversation classes for Russian translation project workers and trainees. Samira, Anya, Inna, Oleg and Asya have found it vital to improve their English as they do their research and training and as they work cooperatively with the staff of other organisations from around the world. In March 2020, as COVID-19 restrictions were imposed throughout the world, five people from a church in the UK offered to spend an hour per week talking to Russian staff to help improve their command of English. Praise God for this partnership and for the generosity of these volunteers. Pray that Russian trainees and staff members would not be daunted when learning English, both a new language and a new script.
Training centre staffing needs and course planning challenges: Papua New Guinea
The staff of SIL Papua New Guinea Training Centre in Ukarumpa plan on running classes in 2021. However, they will be limited in what they can do without a manager. Therefore pray for the person with the right skills set and knowledge to serve as the Training Centre Manager. Pray also for God’s direction as they discern a way forward. In addition, pray for staff as they prayerfully consider which courses to offer this year. They are in consultation with funding agencies and the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association about which courses would benefit the most language communities. They cancelled most courses last year and many staff left Ukarumpa due to COVID. However, this makes it challenging to staff upcoming courses. So pray that personnel will be available to teach classes and to be mentors to the individual groups of participants.
Old Testament consultants-in-training: Global
The whole Word of God is crucial to long-term community transformation and to building communities of faith. The Institute of Biblical Languages and Translation (IBLT) is a program of the 4.2.20 Foundation. It seeks to accelerate access to the full Bible for people of all languages through training in Old Testament translation and consulting and Hebrew language skills. IBLT programmes also include specialities in oral and Deaf Scriptures. Consultants play an important role in Bible translation to maintain the integrity of the Word of God for translation projects. So ask the Lord to help the next generation of consultants-in-training to keep their eyes focused on him. Pray for wisdom and understanding so they can work directly from Biblical Hebrew into receptor languages. Pray for undivided hearts to know God’s love and to demonstrate love in thought, word, and deed.
Master’s programme: Indonesia
Praise God for the progress on developing a master’s programme in exegesis and Bible translation at the Seminari Alkitab Asia Tenggara (SAAT Seminary) in Malang, Indonesia. The programme is being developed in close collaboration with Kartidaya and the Indonesian Bible Society. Therefore pray for the Lord’s anointing for the programme directors and staff as they plan and prepare the courses before the programme begins in August 2021. Also ask God for favour and grace for the future students as they prepare their hearts, minds and bodies for the demands of these studies.
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