Wycliffe Associates Partners with Persecuted Christians to Bring Momentum to Bible Translation

(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates is working to accelerate Bible translation in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world. Christians there face daily persecution, and many are still without the Bible in their language.

Wycliffe Associates provides computer tablets and training to mother-tongue translators around the world, so they can translate the Bible quickly and safely.

“These Bible translators are determined to do everything necessary to share the Scriptures with the people of their language groups,” said Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “They have waited for generations to experience God’s Word in the language of their hearts. All they need are the tools and the training.”

Wycliffe Associates’ Tablets for National Translators (TNT) initiative provides the national translators with computer tablets loaded with translation software. The translators also have the option of working offline for privacy and security.

“If paper copies of Scripture translations are discovered, they could easily be destroyed. Tablets are absolutely essential,” said Smith. “Whole language groups are still waiting. Our response to their requests will mean committed Christians can translate God’s Word quickly and safely.”

Muslim authorities fund a relocation program in the Papua region of Indonesia, paying people to move more than 2,000 miles in some cases. This has resulted in Christians becoming minorities in their own villages.

“The believers in these areas are standing as strong as they can, but many have no Bibles in their own heart languages,” said Smith. “As you can imagine, they need the encouragement and the wisdom of the Scriptures in a language they can fully understand.”

One language group in Indonesia has had Scripture in their language for more than 25 years. When Muslims tried to establish a presence there, Christians were unfazed, because knowledge of the Bible is now deeply rooted in their community.

The cost of providing a mother-tongue translator with one tablet and training is $300. Wycliffe Associates has received requests for 1,525 Tablets from Papua New Guinea, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.

“They will make any sacrifice, take any risk, to make Bibles available to their people,” said Smith.

To date, Wycliffe Associates has distributed 6,008 TNTs in 67 countries.

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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