Wycliffe Associates Supporting Persecuted Middle Eastern Christians, with Goal of 33 New Bible Translation Projects

Wycliffe Associates, an international organization involving people in the advancement of Bible translation, has identified 33 language groups in the Middle East that do not have any of the Bible. Wycliffe Associates hopes to launch Bible translation projects for all 33 language groups using the breakthrough collaborative translation method known as Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation (MAST).

According to Wycliffe Associates President and CEO Bruce Smith, Christian converts from the majority religion in this region “are so passionate about sharing God’s Word with their people, they are risking everything. Some have already started on their own. It’s slow going. It’s dangerous. Some have been arrested. Some have been beaten, some tortured. Some have been killed. All because their hearts longed to share God’s Word, and they determined to do something about it.”

Wycliffe Associates supports Bible translation efforts of mother-tongue Bible translators by providing them with equipment, technology, and training to assist in the translation process and help ensure the safety of the translators.
In MAST workshops, translators from a language group are divided into teams, and each team is assigned a portion of Scripture to translate together. This collaborative method brings together teams of national Bible translators already familiar with a subject language and provides them with translation resources to allow them to complete translations quickly and accurately.

“We can’t leave Christians to risk everything on their own. They need support. They need tools, technology, training, and a safe place to work. They need a way to preserve the work they’ve completed,” says Smith. “This is their best chance of finishing the work before being discovered—and having their work destroyed. Every moment we delay, the risk increases. My hope and prayer is that we can help them.”

Wycliffe Associates is currently raising the funds needed to launch the Middle East Bible translation projects at a cost of $19,500 per language group.
Of the 7,097 languages currently spoken in the world, less than 10 percent have a completed Bible in their heart language.

Wycliffe Associates has used the MAST translation method to launch 1,106 Bible translation projects to date. Wycliffe Associates piloted its first MAST workshop in 2014, in Asia.

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. Last year, 7,402 Wycliffe Associates staff and volunteers worked to speed Bible translations in 73 countries. For more information, please see www.wycliffeassociates.org.

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