Community Development
The communities we serve are some of the most marginalized and remote in the world, often living without access to clean water and other basic needs. In addition to Church Owned Bible Translation, your support funds our community development ministry, which provides the tools and training to help our Bible translation partners acquire access to the resources they need to thrive while translating the Bible into their heart languages.
Relationship Building
Serving communities by meeting practical needs like clean water — often initiated before even beginning translation projects — helps build trusted relationships, laying a foundation for sharing God’s love through Bible translation.
Operation Clean Water
In many areas, it’s impossible for Bible translators to work because water is so unavailable. Accessing clean water is a life-or-death struggle for multitudes of the people Wycliffe Associates is trying to reach with God’s Word. You can help give them the desperately needed gift of clean water through Operation Clean Water—and along the way, give them the life-giving gift of God’s Word in their own language.
Community Water System Outreach
Wycliffe Associates provides equipment and training to remote villages to help them gain access to clean water. Our community development team enables communities to own the process of constructing sustainable water systems. Serving communities with clean water access builds relationships that set the stage for providing the message of God’s amazing love through Bible translation.
Biosand Filters
Sometimes the best solution for clean water access is to filter an existing contaminated water source. NGOs have worked hard to adapt the technology used in many municipal water systems in Western countries to a household size called biosand filters. Our community development team helps provide access to basic tools and training for microbusinesses that make and sell biosand filters so they can thrive. Your donations will assist communities in the training process and help those who are most vulnerable—medical clinics and schools.
Bible Translation Training Center Water Systems
Bible translation happens in locations varying between urban training centers and remote villages. The community development team assists training centers with access to clean water and sanitation facilities, alleviating the need for translators to spend valuable time hauling water from often-contaminated local water sources and minimizing the exposure to sickness and disease. Our team designs and constructs various types of systems depending on water sources and what the center can sustain.
Rainwater Harvesting and Spring Water Catchment
Rainwater harvesting systems like ferro cement tank construction are a cost-effective solution for clean water in many remote locations where Bible translation is taking place, especially where road access is limited. Water flowing from the side of a mountain can also be a great source for clean water if a catchment system is built to secure the source from contamination. Engineers and local experts work together to design systems that catch clean water and distribute it to water outlets in villages below. Gravity feed systems are virtually maintenance free and provide a sustainable source of clean water. Properly designed systems also have the added benefit of stabilizing mountainsides susceptible to erosion.
Natural Composting and Drip Irrigation
Most national Bible translators are subsistence farmers. Wycliffe Associates encourages and demonstrates the use of natural composting to build up organic material in the soil. The dry season is extreme in most tropical countries. Malnutrition is a major problem in many remote villages. Composting and drip irrigation can have a huge impact even improving health and nutrition.
Hand-Dug Wells and Boreholes
Our community development team provides access to basic tools and training so that communities and translation training centers can safely dig or drill their own water wells. Our presence in remote communities allows us to assist them when they are ready to change or improve their community. Your donation can make a difference in the life of the most vulnerable and marginalized people in the world.
Eyeglasses Program
Research shows up to 80 percent of people over the age of 35 who live in tropical zones need some form of vision correction due to high UV exposure. The eye glass program works with national Bible translators during their training, providing access to reading glasses so newly translated Scripture can be read. The program seeks to work with local suppliers as well as provide microbusiness opportunities that support Church Owned Bible Translation in the most remote locations of the world.