Streams of Prayer for March 7, 2021
The Streams of Prayer for March 7, 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.
Training funding coordinators: Africa
The Africa Area Project Funding office is working on an eight-month training curriculum for Alliance organisation project funding coordinators in FY2021. The training will be held online and will run for two hours each month. Pray for good preparation of content and for wisdom on how to handle the need for interpretation to French and Portuguese. Pray also for good internet connectivity for all participants.
Training challenges: Mexico, Global
Pray for an opportunity available to personnel of Faith Comes by Hearing (FCHB). They can begin distributing recorded Scripture to the police in the northern part of Mexico; however, the plan is on hold due to COVID restrictions. Pray for the necessary conditions to be in place for a safe environment to train leaders to start Bible listening programmes. COVID is also hindering the advancement of Oral Bible Translation (OBT). So pray for health, wisdom, and direction from the Lord as FCBH plans for new OBT projects and trains speakers of new languages in various locations around the world amidst current global conditions.
Basic training for service in God’s mission: Latin America
The Curso Fundamental (Basic Course) is an academic program in Latin America that prepares students for cross-cultural work in missions, Bible translation, literacy, and language development. (It is also a prerequisite course for individuals who desire to attend CILTA, a degree program in linguistics, translation and literacy offered in Peru.) Pray for this learning opportunity, as it will be offered at various times and locations throughout the Americas during 2021. Pray that God will provide the resources necessary for each organization sponsoring the Basic Course this year: Ecuatorianos in Bible Translation in Ecuador, LETRA Paraguay, LETRA Uruguay, Sin Fronteras (Without Borders) in Mexico, and TRES in El Salvador. Course settings will vary from face-to-face to online or a combination of both. Pray for wisdom and skill for the Curso Fundamental teaching team led by Rosalba Rugamas Valdivia.
Looking beyond the mountains: Czech Republic, Africa
Wycliffe Czech Republic is thrilled to partner with a Czech church to send a translation worker to an African country. Katerina (‘Katka’) Pohankova is waiting on a visa to start her service. Like many people, she is working to complete her training online. Pray for Katka and many of her fellow students as they face the challenge of doing their online training in English, which is not their heart language. Praise God with Wycliffe Czech Republic and her sending church that together they get to participate with Katka and African translation partners in the transformative work of Bible translation. Pray for diligence and perseverance for Katka in her ongoing studies. Pray that the visa would be granted so she can be released to travel to her country of assignment, where she can begin on-site training and cultural orientation to the country and to the people group she will serve.
Introduction to Strategic Missions Training: Philippines
Translators Association of the Philippines conducts the training Introduction to Strategic Missions (ITSM). This training helps to inform and inspire people with a desire to become missional followers of Christ. So pray for the facilitators, those being trained as facilitators, and the participants who will attend the training workshops this year. There were two online meetings for the third batch of participants held on 6 and 13 February. Also ask the Lord to work in the hearts of those involved to understand what roles they could fill, and for some to commit to participation in Bible translation and missions work.
Fly River Oral Bible Storytelling workshop: Papua New Guinea
The three-year Fly River Oral Bible Storytelling project that began in 2019 was suspended in 2020 due to COVID. Plans are taking shape to resume the project in June 2021 under the partnership of the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association (PNGBTA), the Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea (ECPNG), Pioneers and the Seed Company. Pray for the Project Coordinator, Steven Angkaki, as he works on logistics for the workshop. He is currently coordinating with Missionary Aviation Fellowship staff to arrange transportation for the participants from five language communities to and from an ECPNG church centre in Rumginae, the workshop venue. Some of them live in remote parts of the Fly River where airstrips are inoperable. Therefore, ask the Lord to help the participants as they prepare to come for the training. Also, ask the Lord for wisdom and clarity as the trainers from PNGBTA regroup and prepare for the workshop. Finally, pray for renewed strength for everyone and the ability to pick up momentum after the year’s disruption.
Let us know if you are interested in also receiving the “Streams of Prayer” bulletin sent to your inbox. Send us an email at webmaster@gmc-mca.org and we will gladly add you to our list.