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‎ LABRECQUE, Barbara At the age of 15 Barbara came to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour. From that time on the Bible, God’s written Word, played a large role in forming and transforming her mind and life. She went on several short term service trips and saw needs in many languages for Bible translation and literacy work. Between 1990 and 1994, she studied at Prairie Bible College in Three Hills, Alta., earning a BA in Intercultural Studies with a minor in New Testament Greek. Later, she attended the Canada Institute of Linguistics (CanIL) in Langley, B.C., studying linguistics. In 1998, she and her family joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and were assigned to work in the South Pacific country of Vanuatu. In 2001, the young family travelled to Vanuatu and began working with the Paama people. Within one year, they had also begun working with the Southeast Ambrym people, who speak a related language. Work progressed for 16 years with the Scriptures being translated, national translators being trained, church leaders trained, Bible studies written, six years of Sunday school lessons developed, school curriculum developed and school teachers trained. Finally, in May 2016, the Paama and Southeast Ambrym people of Vanuatu celebrated the dedications of the Bible in their two language groups (printed full New Testament with Old Testament summary, and 80% available in audio format). Since 2013, Barbara has been reassigned to CanIL in Langley, Wycliffe’s Canadian training school. Barbara has served in the Student Life department, reception, human resources, teaching, administration, and finances. https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=102 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

Americas LEPPKE, April April was born and raised in Southern Ontario, in the Listowel area. God called her into missions when she was in Bible college and she joined Wycliffe in 1990. April served in Indonesia in 1993 and 1994, and in the Philippines in 1994, in administration. In Wycliffe Canada’s Calgary office, April served for a number of years in finance, prayer ministries and personnel. She is currently serving on the island of Guam in the South Pacific. Her husband Phil formerly served with Trans World Radio—an evangelistic radio ministry that was a good fit for his technical skills. Phil now works with a local church part time, maintaining the facilities. April manages data on hundreds of Wycliffe Canada staff serving around the world. For example, the personnel information she manages helps Wycliffe care for staff members through keeping their ministry positions and country locations up to date. By keeping that specific information current, this allows the staff members to apply for the Canada Pension when they retire. April also keeps records for staff members who require medical insurance when they are in their field locations around the world. https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=106 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

‎ KNAUBER, Martin and Beate Martin and Beate are from Germany and have been members of Wycliffe since 1982, the same year as they got married. Since then their family has grown to four children and nine grandchildren . . . and counting 🙂 In 1988 they went to Papua New Guinea (PNG) to live among the Dawawa people, where they began their ministry as linguists and Bible translators. Their work started out as a traditional project with language work, translation, literacy and later teachers’ training. Beate also did a lot of medical work in PNG as a licensed nurse. In 1998 they completed a hymn book and in 2003 they celebrated the dedication of the Dawawa New Testament. Over the course of their ministry among the Dawawa, they founded 7 local schools and were blessed to witness a tribal conversion in 2016, where the entire language group came together to publicly renounce spirit worship and dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ. After the dedication of the NT, they served as regional directors of East Papua where they also started a multi language project in 2005. In 2007 the Knaubers took on a new assignment to head up the NT translation for the Hutterite people in the USA and Canada. Martin and Beate continue to be involved with the translation of the Dawawa Old Testament and currently conduct their work among the Dawawa and the Hutterites from Abbotsford, BC. Martin’s main role is currently that of an International Translation Consultant and Beate also serves as a Certified Christian Conciliator. In this role, she conducts mediations for families and churches, but mainly teaches seminars in Biblical Conflict Resolution in Canada and other countries around the world. https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=370 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

South Pacific DREW, Rebekah Rebekah is from London, Ont. and serves in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as a linguist, translator, ethno-arts specialist, and translation consultant. She joined Wycliffe in 2006, while studying for her master’s degree in applied linguistics and exegesis. After graduating, she began working in PNG in 2009, and served from 2010-2013 as an adviser to the Teop Bible translation program in Bougainville. She is now a translation adviser for the Tiaang Bible translation program in New Ireland Province, and is in the process of learning that language. In her work as an ethno-arts specialist, Rebekah encourages PNG churches and individuals to worship God using their own languages and musical and artistic styles. Her desire is to see the Word of God make a lasting impact on people’s lives. Rebekah loves riding and training horses, using dressage and natural horsemanship techniques. Much of her free time in PNG is spent riding her horse, Cassia, who was born at the Ukarumpa Centre in 2013, and whom Rebekah trained herself. https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=57 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

‎ EYRE, Roy and Becky Roy and Becky met during university, where they bonded over their passion to pursue missions as a career. After joining Wycliffe, they took their first assignment in 1998 with Wycliffe Canada in Calgary. After four years, they moved to work in various roles with Wycliffe USA in Orlando. Nine years later, in 2011, Roy was called to serve as president of Wycliffe Canada; their family, now expanded to five, relocated back to Calgary. In February 2023 Roy stepped away from his role as president to take on a new challenge as associate director for Global Resourcing for Wycliffe’s key partner, SIL International. Becky is continuing to serve as Wycliffe Canada’s board admin and as research lead in Wycliffe Canada’s innovation lab. https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=67 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

‎ ERRINGTON, Ross Ross grew up on a small farm in southern Ontario. Thanks to a neighbour who took him and his siblings to church, Ross gave his life to Christ as a pre-teen. He attended Bible college to strengthen that commitment to God’s call on his life. While there, he learned about the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators, and felt God affirming that Bible translation was where the Lord was calling him to serve. In 1972, there was no linguistics training in Canada, so Ross ventured all the way to the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, to attend a summer program offered by SIL, Wycliffe’s key field partner. He really enjoyed the analytical tasks of figuring out how languages work and did well in his coursework. He also met Ellen there and before the summer was out, they were engaged, and together they were accepted into Wycliffe. Ross and Ellen moved to the Philippines in 1975, along with their 12-week-old son, Peter. Another team invited them to join the ministry among the Cotabato Manobo people in the southern Philippines. Ross and Ellen faced many challenges, including a major earthquake, hiking in to a very remote location, house-building, political insecurities, illnesses, not to mention language learning and early attempts at translating God’s Word. By the time the New Testament was completed in 1988, there were about 30 small groups of Manobo believers, where before there had been just one. Thousands learned to read through the literacy program. People were eager to receive the words of life in their own language. Later, while Ross continued to work part time on the Old Testament translation into Manobo, he also filled other important roles such as finance manager and translation consultant (doing an accuracy check on the work of colleagues). Currently Ross supports and advises a team of Manobo translators as they work to complete the entire Old Testament. Ross and Ellen have two children: Peter and his wife Esther have seven children, and their daughter Kathy is now in heaven after a 13-year journey with cancer. Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5,6 (NLT) https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=65 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

Americas WINDSOR, Matt and Caitlin Since 2018 Matthew and Caitlin Windsor have been serving with their family in Kingfisher Lake Nation, Ont., where local church leaders are spearheading a Bible translation in the Oji-Cree language. As a linguistics/translation facilitator, Matthew gives ongoing training to Oji-Cree translators, advises on the Bible translation, and helps the community plan how to keep their language strong. Together, the Windsors aim to serve God on mission faithfully as a family of six. Both Caitlin and Matthew grew up in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, B.C., where they met at a local youth program. After his baptism as a young man, Matthew was intensely occupied with the question of how to reorient his passion for knowledge and bring it into the service of God’s kingdom. After a teacher recommended to him the field of linguistics, he discovered through one of his mentors that there was a highly practical need for this kind of work in God’s kingdom as applied to the worldwide need for Bible translation. Over the following month God orchestrated three separate meetings with Wycliffe missionaries passing through his hometown, and he saw God’s hand so clearly affirming each step on the path toward this goal of making His Word known. After his marriage to Caitlin, Matthew grew confident that God was guiding them to work with indigenous communities within Canada. They joined Wycliffe in 2015 and after an internship in the community of Kawawachikamach, Que., they moved to Kingfisher Lake with their two children at the time. They are thankful to the community members of Kingfisher Lake, who have modelled a level of hospitality they were unprepared for. This Bible translation project is part of the Oji-Cree church’s wider vision to bring the hope of new life to their children, and it’s hoped this collaboration will contribute to grass-roots reconciliation between indigenous communities and the wider church in Canada. From the Oji-Cree translation team: “Our team plans to continue to provide new Scriptures for the community each week, until all of God’s Word is available in our own language. We have plans for Oji-Cree versions of the prayer books and hymnals, as well as expanding the reach of the project into neighbouring communities, parishes, and languages.” https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=171 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

Americas ANDERSON, Brian and Lois Brian and Lois joined Wycliffe in 1995 and 1999 respectively. They were married in 2012 after serving in the same location in Cameroon for many years. Brian is from California and has filled roles in computer support, typesetting Scripture, network management and now project reporting and surveys. Lois was born in Edmonton and grew up in Papua New Guinea. She served in Cameroon as a teacher and school administrator and is now a mission coach—helping to mobilize people to serve in missions. While their current roles in Internet publishing and mobilization are very different from what they have done in the past, Brian and Lois are happy to be able to contribute to Bible translation by working remotely, even as they assist aging parents. https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=228 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW USA DONATIONS

‎ LUONG, Raymond and Lucy Raymond and Lucy take delight in the power of God’s Word to transform believers worldwide. They are inspired by the impact made when churches in minority language communities have the Scripture in their mother tongues. When local churches have access to the Bible in a language that is best understood by their members, hearts are transformed and the local church is well-equipped to disciple believers. Raymond joined Wycliffe in 2016 and served as a software developer on multiple projects. He currently works on an app called Scripture Forge, which gives Bible translation teams access to AI features that make translation work more efficient and accurate to the original biblical text. Lucy joined Wycliffe first as a volunteer in 2019, then more recently as a member in 2024 and plans to serve in a role that cares for the wellbeing of missionaries locally and abroad. Raymond and Lucy met at the Urbana missions conference in the United States on New Year’s Eve in 2015 and were married in 2019. They live in Calgary with their daughter, Junia, and plan to adopt their second child from Taiwan. “From the rising of the sun, to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.” – Psalm 113:3 https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E341555QE&id=108 Previous Next Support our ministry GIVE NOW

January 10, 2019 The Canela Creation Story By Jack Popjes Back to all stories After my wife Jo and I accepted the Canelas’ invitation 50 years ago to come and live with them in their jungle village in Brazil, we never heard a Canela pray. Why should they? Their Creator had abandoned them. According to their world view, life was wonderful in the beginning: Food was plentiful and easy to gather. Palms were not tall like they are now, but short, and their fruits and nuts could be plucked easily. Field-making and gardening tools like axes, machetes, and hoes didn’t need anyone to handle them; they worked by themselves. Holding the Canela New Testament translation, Jo Popjes talks with some Canela friends. The Canalas believed that one day, Sun and Moon came to earth, to populate the earth with strong, beautiful people, and to set precedents that would benefit these descendants. Sun’s super-power was knowledge. He knew the purpose for their coming to earth and knew what Moon needed to do. Moon’s super-power was to set patterns. Whatever Moon did would last forever. Moon, however, depended on Sun to tell him what to do and what not to do. Unfortunately, Moon liked to do things his own way, even if it meant disobeying Sun. Even though Sun taught Moon how to care for plants, let the tools work on their own and even how to create beautiful children, Moon’s impulsive actions brought more hardship and suffering to the world. Palms grew taller; tools no longer worked on their own; the children he created were ugly, and when they died their deaths became permanent instead of temporary. “It’s because I am all wrong and twisted in my thinking,” Moon lamented. “My way of thinking and living is all wrong. But now it is too late to change anything.” Sun then decided they should return to the heavens. So they ascended to the sky and stayed there forever, never thinking about their children or returning to earth again. When we worked with Canela helpers to translate the first few chapters of Genesis, they immediately identified the actions of Adam with those of Moon. “Adam disobeyed the Creator, and that is why things are in such a mess on earth.” When they read the translation of 1 Corinthians 15:22, “Because of what Adam did we all die, but because of what Jesus did, all will be made alive,” they exclaimed, “So our Creator did not abandon us. He sent His Son Jesus to set new patterns and make things right!” That’s when they started to pray to their Creator. They now call Him Pahpam —Our Father. This story is a redemptive analogy. God has embedded such analogies to illustrate some aspect of redemption in every culture’s myths, legends, customs or language. Adapted from a blog post on jackpopjes.com Posted in Engaging with Scripture Previous Next