Wycliffe Associates Aims to Accelerate the Efforts of 2,100 Mother-Tongue Bible Translators by Way of Computer Tablets

Wycliffe Associates, an international organization involving people in the advancement of Bible translation, hopes to equip 2,100 mother-tongue Bible translators with computer tablets as soon as possible.

The need is urgent, as mother-tongue Bible translators are ready to translate the Scriptures for those who have been waiting for generations to have the Bible in their own language.

“They’re more than ready,” says Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “They’re passionate. They’re pleading with us for help because their people have been waiting generations to know and understand the Scriptures in their own heart language.”

With the organization’s innovative MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) method, Bible translations can be done quickly and accurately. MAST is a collaborative translation method in which mother-tongue translators are assigned a portion of Scripture, which they draft and then check using an eight-step process. During a pilot MAST workshop, mother-tongue translators were able to complete an average of 34 verses per day.

Computer tablets are used in conjunction with the MAST methodology and serve as an important tool for mother-tongue translators. In addition to helping translators work with speed and accuracy, the tablets digitally store and protect each day’s translation work, protecting it from being seized and destroyed by local authorities.

The technology also protects the translators themselves in places where traditional missionaries are forbidden and where Christians are at risk of severe persecution or even death for simply carrying a Bible. Computer tablets allow translators to continue their work discreetly, at any time and place.

“Tablets are a crucial tool, making a vital difference in Bible translation,” says Smith.

Wycliffe Associates can provide the tablets loaded with translation apps at a cost of $300 per tablet.

To date, Wycliffe Associates has distributed 5,293 tablets to mother-tongue translators in 67 countries. More than 1,250 Bible translation projects have been launched using MAST. Currently there are 816 MAST Bible translations in progress.

About Wycliffe Associates

One of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Associates was organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators to accelerate the work of Bible translation. Wycliffe Associates empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation.

Because millions of people around the world still wait to have the Scriptures in the language of their hearts, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as it can to see every verse of God’s Word translated into every tongue to speak to every heart. Wycliffe Associates is directly involved with speeding Bible translation by providing technology, training, resources, logistics, networking, expertise, volunteers, discipleship, church planting, and support.  Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers are currently accelerating Bible translations in 92 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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