March 8, 2023 Prison, pigs and God’s redemptive love By Ruth Richert Back to all stories Tawan is a translator and Jum is a language helper with the Eastern Lawa Bible translation project in Thailand. They shared their story with a visiting team from Wycliffe Canada in November 2022. Tawan and Jum share a laugh during morning devotions at the Eastern Lawa translation project. All photos by Derryl Friesen unless otherwise noted Bam! The pickup truck smashed into the side of Tawan’s silver Toyota, sending it spinning across the pavement before it flipped into a ditch on the side of the winding mountain road. Tawan and his wife, Jum, hung from their seatbelts in stunned silence, one stacked on top of the other like sardines in a tin. The blood dripping from Jum’s ear looked ominous, and their uninsured truck was likely a write-off. They made eye contact with each other, and began to laugh. God was in control. He could redeem this. The journey begins Tawan’s journey to Christ began with a different truck, 25 years ago. He was a young man, then, newly married with two stepchildren and a baby on the way. He confesses now that back then, he was more fond of a good time than a good job, and his cheeky grin and twinkling eyes make this easy to believe. But he needed money for his growing family, so when a group of labourers offered him cash to drive them to the border of a neighbouring country to buy some livestock, he borrowed a friend’s truck and made the trip. It should have been a simple purchase, but Tawan waited for days for the group to return. When they finally arrived without any animals in tow, it seemed strange, but Tawan shrugged it off and started driving. As they approached a police checkpoint near Tawan’s village, one of the men held a knife to his throat and ordered him to keep driving. Heroin—not livestock—had been the real goal of the trip, and they didn’t want to be caught with it. Tawan floored it, crashing through the barricade as the police opened fire on his pickup. They gave chase, so Tawan drove the truck off the main road and hurtled down a dirt track deep into the forest. All five men abandoned the truck and fled on foot into the darkness. Tawan perched precariously in a tree all night, waiting to see if the police had discovered the vehicle. All was silent, so as the first light of dawn filtered through the leaves, he returned to his friend’s truck. Suddenly, flood lights blinded him and he was swarmed by cops. His protests of innocence were useless, and after a forced confession under torture, he was tossed into prison and sentenced to 33 years. Tawan’s captivity On his first day in jail, guards fitted Tawan with leg chains connected to a five kilogram ball. At night, they threaded a master chain through his leg chains and those of his 50 cellmates. Shifting positions was difficult, and the monumental act of rolling over required the co-operation of the entire group. Sometimes, prisoners would die while attached to the chains, and the guards wouldn’t remove their bodies until morning. Suicides were common, and as the days dragged on, Tawan contemplated ending his own life. An atmosphere of despair hung over the cell. The beautiful landscape of Eastern Lawa stands in sharp contrast to the dark atmosphere in Tawan’s prison cell. Tawan switched prisons six times with no notice, leaving Jum and their children unable to find him. But unbeknownst to them all, these moves were getting him to a place where he could meet Jesus. In his fourth prison, a new friend invited him to church services hosted by a visiting pastor. “I was just interested in the things they brought as gifts,” chuckles Tawan, “soap and toothpaste and things.” But his heart was beginning to soften towards Jesus. He received letters and small gifts of money from two overseas pen pals, British and American Christians who were committed to prison ministry. He skimmed the letters, eager for the cash, until one day, he saw a photo of his British pen pal. He’d expected her to be youthful and healthy. Instead, he saw an elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair, her body contorted with pain. “My heart went ‘boom,’ through the floor,” Tawan says. How could a woman dealing with so much of her own pain care enough to send letters and money to a convict in Thailand? It convinced him to become a Christian. An unconventional church Thai prisons aren’t typically equipped with baptismal tanks, so Tawan was immersed in a 200-litre drum. He began running a ministry to the lifers in jail for murder, and helped to lead church services. The guards, impressed by the Christian prisoners’ good behaviour, procured musical instruments, microphones, and speakers for the fledgling congregation. These acquisitions led to increasingly raucous worship services as well as the eventual segregation of the Christians from the other prisoners: their exuberant singing was disrupting the Buddhists’ meditation and the Muslims’ prayers. One day during the seventeenth year of his sentence, Tawan was helping in the prison workshop when a guard abruptly released him. No fanfare, nothing. Overjoyed and distracted, he forgot to gather his belongings before he left, and soon found himself wandering the roads of a nearby village, frightening passersby with his prison garb. He was searching for the church that had visited him in prison. No one was willing or able to assist him, until finally a young boy agreed to walk with him to the church, where the pastor helped him get back to his own village. It wasn’t a warm welcome: Tawan couldn’t find Jum and their children, and his village wasn’t interested in welcoming an ex-convict, particularly one who now identified as a Christian. The joyful release had become a dark and disorienting time. Pigs and prison: Jum’s story Meanwhile, Jum was languishing in jail herself. She was three-and-a-half years into her second sentence, and missing her children desperately. She wished that she and Tawan had made different choices in their lives. “We [had been] still acting like teenagers,” she recalls. “No one really taught us right from wrong or a good way to conduct our lives, and so whatever felt good, we’d do it.” It was this lack of direction that set her on a path leading to prison. Jum recounts her journey to faith in Jesus. Tawan and Jum had tried to adhere to Buddhist principles, but found that the teachings were essentially a list of rules, not a source of true wisdom. So when Tawan was arrested and Jum was left to support not only their three children but also her younger sister and Tawan’s parents, she simply made the best guess she could at what would be lucrative. She settled on raising pigs and hired several labourers to help her. That’s when the trouble began. Raising pigs isn’t for the faint of heart or body, and it wasn’t long before her workers were begging her to give them methamphetamines to help them work longer and harder. At first, Jum resisted their demands, but it wasn’t long before she caved in and gave them what they wanted. When her neighbours discovered that she was buying the pills, they asked her to purchase some for their workers as well—buying in bulk would save them all a lot of money. Jum was always happy to do favours for her neighbours, so why should she refuse to purchase drugs for them? Before she knew it, helpful Jum had become a bona fide drug dealer. When one of her clients was caught with the pills, Jum confessed her role to the police, hoping to spare him. Instead, they both received five-year jail terms. The nightmare continues When she was released at last, she was reunited with her kids, but soon found herself in the same impoverished position as before. This time, though, she had a reputation as an ex-convict, which didn’t exactly endear her to potential employers. Like a nightmarish form of déjà vu, her drug-dealing ordeal began all over again: she started raising pigs, she bought drugs for her workers, got busted, and was sent back to prison for five more years. It ripped her family apart a second time, and broke her children’s hearts. Jum wept for her kids. They were staying with relatives and could visit her only when an adult was willing and could afford to take them. She felt the crushing weight of despair that Tawan had experienced during his own time in prison. But in the midst of her heartbreak, she began to see signs of hope in the jail. Some of her cellmates were Christians, and she noticed that they behaved differently than the other inmates. She was amazed to see that God actually answered their prayers. A seed was planted. Reunited at last Once Tawan discovered her location, he came to visit her. They hadn’t seen each other for 17 years, but he’d never stopped loving her. It was immediately clear to her that something in him had changed when he arrived bearing gifts: a beautiful platter of sliced mangoes that the previous Tawan would never have thought to bring. He’d arranged them himself. “Jum didn’t believe that I had prepared all these lovely mangoes,” he laughs. “She thought I had another woman help me.” Eighteen months later, Jum was released and they began the delicate dance of rebuilding their lives together. It became even more obvious to Jum that Tawan was truly different; he didn’t drink or party anymore, and he had purpose in his life. The change was so convincing that Jum decided to put her trust in Jesus, too. She now believes that her new faith was shallow, one that relied too heavily on Tawan’s Christian walk. But God was using even her stumbling baby steps, and the persecution coming their way would add steel to her convictions. Walking through persecution As Tawan and Jum began to live out their Christian faith, their fellow villagers increasingly opposed them. A vote was taken to kick them out of the village. Animist beliefs still grip the region, and the villagers worried that the presence of Christians would anger the spirits and cause them to lash out at everyone. Tawan appealed to a regional government official who confirmed that Thailand’s laws allow for freedom of religion; the village headman couldn’t oust them simply because they were Christians. It gave Tawan the leverage to take a stand. “I said, ‘Look, if you want to buy my land, and my fields for 10 million baht [approx. 400,000 CAD] I’ll leave,’” he recalls. But while they were grudgingly allowed to stay, some of their neighbours made things as difficult as possible for them. One scheming villager tried and almost succeeded in selling a piece of their land out from under them, using the complications of Thai real estate law to deed the property to a Buddhist organization intent on establishing a study centre in the area. It was only a two-year court battle that reversed the decision and gave Tawan back his land. Tawan and Jum visit Tawan’s father’s gravesite on the plot of land that was almost stolen from them . That hard-won land is where Tawan’s father, Tassai is now buried, his grave nestled alongside a banana orchard and marked with a cross. Tawan wasn’t allowed to bury him in the village cemetery, and the fundraising scheme that Tassai had started years ago in which the whole village pitched in to cover the exorbitant costs of every village funeral suddenly didn’t apply when it came to Christians. A shift in the village begins And then there are the smaller-scale injuries that Tawan and Jum experienced on a daily basis: the lack of eye contact, the broken friendships, the harsh words. But as the years pass, the prevailing attitude towards Christianity is slowly shifting because their neighbours have seen the kindness, generosity and peace in Tawan and Jum’s lives. The massive Christmas party that they host each year for 400-500 people on the tiny cement pad in front of their home has made important in-roads into the community. The work that they are doing to preserve the Lawa language is also helping in this process, and they are hopeful for a revival among the Lawa. Their greatest sorrow right now is their son, Captain. Deeply wounded when his parents’ jail sentences left him abandoned as a child, he fell into depression and drug use, and refused to talk to them. But even in Tawan and Jum’s deep sadness, there is answered prayer: when they were terrified that Captain would commit suicide or overdose, they prayed that God would do whatever was necessary to stop him. Within a week, he was caught and taken to jail on drug possession charges. [He has since been released from prison on a misdemeanour charge and says that he has stopped using drugs.] You could view it as a tragic irony, given his parents’ history. But perhaps it’s an opportunity. “This is beyond our capability to fix…” says Jum, “I’m still trusting God.” Tawan demonstrates that he is unscathed after the crash . Photo by Jum Her gentle eyes tear up as she speaks about her beloved son. But you can also see the hard-won peace on her face. God is faithful. That knowledge changes everything, including the way that she and Tawan responded to a traffic accident caused by an impatient pickup driver. The scene of the crash On the side of the highway, Tawan and Jum extricated themselves from their smashed truck, and after confirming that they were indeed still in one piece, they went looking for the other driver. They found him nearby, standing sheepishly on the side of the road; it turns out that he lives in the village where they are translating the Bible. Instead of punching him as Tawan might have done in his pre-prison days, they wanted to make sure that he was unharmed. They even told him that they forgave him. He was touched, and shocked—in human terms, it didn’t make sense. But their response was shaped by their long experience of God’s grace in their lives. He is in control, and He will redeem all things. ∎ Field notes Our group of three Canadians and two Kiwis pulled up to Tawan’s house, a modest cement structure on the side of the main road, and found ourselves in the middle of an Eastern Lawa celebration. It was one day after Tawan and Jum had survived their big car crash, and they were in the mood to celebrate. It was time to feast! The tables were groaning beneath a veritable smorgasbord of protein: chicken and pork and fish for grilling; stir-fried crab and shrimp and chicken wings and sausage and fish balls and those funny fake crab sticks that you can find almost anywhere in the world. The delicious celebration dinner in Tawan and Jum’s home. At the centre table, Jum helps her granddaughter, daughter, and son-in-law grill meat. In the background, Greg and Rosie Blok, directors of the Eastern Lawa project, share a table with Ruth Richert and Karen Friesen from Wycliffe Canada. There were gallons of hot sauce and piles of leafy greens and bowls of fruit and oodles of noodles. We ate until we could eat no more. A guitar materialized, and soon anyone with an iota of musical talent was grabbing for it, songs ringing out in Lawa and Thai and English as everyone sang praises to Jesus. The dinner had originally been planned to welcome us to Eastern Lawa, but it had morphed into something better. “This is a celebration of victory over Satan!!” yelled Tawan, as he and Juum pumped their fists in the air. And it really was. Singing a worship song in the Eastern Lawa language at the celebration dinner. Rungsin, another member of the translation team, is sitting next to Tawan and playing the guitar. Rungsin’s mother— one of the first Christians in the area— is in the foreground. Posted in Impact Previous Next

April 16, 2020 Cameroon Translators Shift Focus During Pandemic By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bible translators in Cameroon are creating and distributing public health information about the disease, which one language community calls “pneumonia with thorns.” Dieudonne Nsalar (left) of CABTAL with a Mohamo translator. The Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL), a Wycliffe partner organization, gathered hygiene and social distancing information from the World Health Organization, along with other relevant material from the Cameroon government. The source material was written in English and French. Now, CABTAL translators are producing booklets and audio recordings in about 40 local language communities where they were already serving. “There is information available on radio, social media and the CABTAL website now, but some of the people in these communities don’t have access,” said Keyeh Emmanuel, CABTAL’s general director. “So the printed version will be useful to them, especially in their language.” The booklet is called What You Need to Know About the Coronavirus . CABTAL even produced its own photographs to go with the information. The photos show social distancing and other protective measures in a familiar cultural context for audiences. The strategy varies. In some places, CABTAL has produced audio versions that are being aired on community radio. Where CABTAL has literacy work in progress, finished booklets are being recorded into SIL’s Bloom literacy software. Then a Bloom “talking book” can be sent to smartphones via the social network WhatsApp. About 20 languages have been done so far, Emmanuel said. Plus, language groups working with other Bible agencies have also asked permission from CABTAL to translate the materials for their communities. “We are trying to touch the communities using every available means we have,” he said. “Sometimes people are not sure about what is true and what is not true. So it is a way of helping them to have the right information and to correct some misinformation.” In the Lamnso’ community, some people say the name given for Covid-19, Sòv njoŋ , already tells of the severity of the virus. It means, “pneumonia with thorns.” While serving communities’ emergency needs, CABTAL’s efforts also serve the Bible translation movement. “We decided quickly to do this, because we know if we do not alert and care for the communities, it will certainly affect the Bible translation work we are involved in,” Emmanuel said. “Translators would be at risk. Literacy people would be at risk. Their families would be at risk. So it is a way of being proactive.” CABTAL and communities sign partnership agreements for the Bible translation and literacy work. Emmanuel views the COVID-19 information as a natural outgrowth of those agreements. “In a partnership, we work together when things are going well and when things are challenging,” he said. “This is a time for us as CABTAL to take our responsibility to solidify this partnership with the communities by caring for them and giving them information that can help them to protect themselves and their families.” Online comments have confirmed the strategy, Emmanuel added, especially from WhatsApp. “One said, ‘I got the posting. Wow. The people who have done this, they don’t know what they are doing for the community. This is something really great, because people from the community will hear this in the language that they understand.’” Cameroon, an east-central African nation of 25 million people, had reported 803 COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths as of April 13. Source: wycliffe.net , from an article by Jim Killam Posted in Bible translation Previous Next

May 17, 2021 Wycliffe’s Arsenault shares in top award By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories Dr. Paul Arsenault, a Wycliffe Canada member and faculty member of the Canada Institute of Linguistics (CanIL), has been awarded a top prize from the Journal of the International Phonetic Association. Arsenault co-authored Kalasha (Bumburet Variety) with Alexei Kochetov, Jan Heegård Petersen, Sikandar Kalas and Taj Khan Kalash. Arsenault, an assistant professor of linguistics serving on CanIL’s east campus at Tyndale University, shared the award for “Most Illustrative Publication.” Tyndale University photo “We are truly honoured to receive the award,” says Arsenault, “which increases awareness of the Kalasha people and their language by drawing attention to the study. “We hope it encourages others to undertake further documentation of the language and other endangered minority languages like it. Most of all, we hope it helps the Kalasha community preserve their unique language for posterity.” Kalasha, also known as Kalashamon, is a Northwestern Indo-Aryan language spoken in Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkwa Province in northern Pakistan, primarily in the valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur, Urtsun and Birir. The number of speakers is estimated to be between 3,000 and 5,000. The Journal of the International Phonetic Association is a peer-reviewed academic journal, published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International Phonetic Association. The article on Kalasha was published as part of a long-running series in the journal featuring brief, documentary-style articles illustrating principles of phonetic analysis applied to various languages of the world. This year is the 50th anniversary of the journal, and to mark the occasion, its editors launched an annual “most illustrative illustration” award. Source: tyndale.ca Related: Canada Institute of Linguistics campuses Posted in News and updates Previous Next

July 11, 2023 New Wycliffe video features Canadian author Ann Voskamp By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories “If we care about people actually having life in the world,” says writer and speaker Ann Voskamp, “. . . how can they know what it means to be fully human apart from God’s Word?” Ann Voskamp A popular Canadian speaker, blogger and author of One Thousand Gifts , Voskamp recently visited the Netherlands, where she was interviewed by a Wycliffe media team. Her comments about the Bible’s transforming power are part of an inspiring new video produced by Wycliffe Canada, with footage provided by Wycliffe Netherlands as well as Wycliffe South Africa and Seed Company. Voskamp says she has followed Wycliffe’s work in Bible translation for more than 30 years. She also speaks candidly about her 2018 visit to Kenya, East Africa, where she witnessed a New Testament dedication event. “I had the utter and complete joy of being with the Rendille people as there was a Bible dedication. The New Testament was finally complete in their own language . . . and that had been more than a 30-year process.” Voskamp says the Rendille’s hunger for Scripture in their language made a deep impression on her. “Not only was it a privilege of a lifetime to actually witness, but also they were deeply mentoring and discipling me on the value of God’s Word.” Watch now: Wycliffe and Ann Voskamp—A Shared Passion (3:16) More videos Posted in People Previous Next

October 4, 2018 Aiming at a Moving Target By Jack Popjes Back to all stories Nearly 60 years ago I read a book written by some Wycliffe Bible translators called Two-Thousand Tongues to Go. No one back in the late 1950s had any idea that there were more than 7,000 languages spoken in the world, most of which had no part of the Bible translated into them. During the past six decades, teams of linguistic surveyors discovered hundreds more people groups, speaking thus far unknown languages. At the same time, God was calling thousands of people to get involved in linguistics, literacy and Bible translation. My wife Jo and I were one such couple. Fifty years ago, Brazil’s Canela people invited us to come and live with them and learn their language. Twenty-two years later we presented the Canela people with a newly published partial Bible in their own language. One done. Who knows how many to go! The Moving Target In the past half century, God led more than 1,000 teams of linguists, literacy experts and Bible translators to start their work in those 2,000 languages. Wycliffe through its partner field organization SIL has been the most active organization. But there are a good number of others also translating the Bible. The old goal of 2,000 languages was being whittled down significantly. But all along the way, we felt we were aiming at a moving target. More languages were being discovered, even as other language and translation projects were being completed. Nearly 20 years ago a new estimate was made, and each year, as projects were completed, the count came down. During these same 20 years, however, organizations using technology and the Internet found it far easier to collaborate in determining translation needs. The Progress.bible Project A deaf translator signs a Bible story in the video recording studio as his colleagues look on. Last year, the calculations showed 1,633 languages to go, but now even this number needs to be changed. Progress.bible is an inter-organizational effort which is rebuilding the statistics from the ground up to have a more comprehensive understanding of the progress and remaining needs for Bible translation. The results of this research are both exciting and daunting. For instance, partner organizations working with Deaf communities validated 368 sign languages that need to have a Bible translation . Also 399 more languages were revealed to have no Scripture and no active translation, even though work was recorded as having been started. And more translation projects have recently been completed. After all the adding and subtracting was done the new goal is 2,184 tongues to go. Down to Zero in Our Lifetime? As a veteran Bible translator, recruiter and fund-raiser, I want to see those remaining needs drop to zero! In the meantime, Bible translators celebrate the increase in accuracy. After all, accurate facts are essential for strategic planning, and good stewardship of resources. When all the partners know the facts, it is easier to work together effectively and in harmony—something we know our God loves. The target is still there, but it is being whittled down faster than ever before in the history of Bible translation. God the Father is working together with us, His children, to get this task done. For more by Jack Popjes, visit his blog: Jack’s INsights and OUTbursts Posted in Bible translation Previous Next

March 2, 2020 A Stubborn Woman Named Zechariah? By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories Bible translation teams use local speakers to check their work—some of whom have never attended church—and the errors they find can be funny. In Tanzania, a group of Lugungu speakers were checking the translation of the Gospel of Luke. The Bible translation team had translated Luke 1:5 in Lugungu as: Herodi hayaabbereeri mukama wa Buyudaaya, haalingiho nyakatagara gibeetengiZaakaaliya. Gungu (or Bagungu) people speak the Lugungu language. The translation team thought that meant “When Herod was governor of Judea, there was a priest who was called Zechariah.” However, the translation checker understood it as: “When Herod was governor of Judea, there was a stubborn woman who was called Zechariah.” Thankfully, the translators discovered that the word nyakatagara was not a good choice! So, the translation was changed to mulaami wa Ruhanga , which literally means, “priest of God.” Thanks to the checking process, the Lugungu speakers ensured the translation was accurate—and the team was able to enjoy a chuckle as well. Source: wycliffe.org Photo: thetask.net Posted in Bible translation Previous Next

April 3, 2024 A natural fit By Guest Contributor Back to all stories As a volunteer with Wycliffe Canada, Miguel Montes serves in a role that some might call tailor-made. When he’s not working at his main job as a field service engineer for a scientific company in Kelowna, B.C., he devotes a couple of days a week to his role as a field partner liaison (FPL), serving both Wycliffe Canada and a Bible translation partner agency in Peru known as AIDIA. Miguel’s volunteer role with Wycliffe is a natural fit: he grew up in Peru, he loves serving God and he is thrilled to play a part in the Bible translation movement. From his home in Kelowna, he monitors ministry updates and financial reports generated by AIDIA (pronounced idea ) to help ensure clear communication between the field and the Wycliffe Canada office. And from time to time, Miguel travels to Peru to see the project up close and strengthen relationships with AIDIA leaders and staff. “The main reason for my role is to help bridge cultural differences—differences that go beyond paperwork and contracts,” says Miguel. Life-changing encounter As a child, Miguel lived in the city of Arequipa, Peru, with his parents and two siblings in a large housing complex that included room for his grandparents and other family members. Growing up, he believed in God but his views were influenced by a cult that denied the Trinity and asserted that Jesus was created by God. For Miguel, those false teachings and others eventually raised some disturbing questions and fears that God was neither trustworthy, nor good. However, after moving to Calgary in 2016, his questions about God were finally laid to rest when he began attending a local church. Through many conversations with people there and much prayer, God met him in a powerful way. “When the power of the Holy Spirit came into my life,” Miguel said recently in a Zoom call, “it made me realize there is more to being a Christian than just being a good person. “It’s being chosen for something greater.” A servant’s heart As Miguel grew in his understanding of God and what it means to follow Jesus, he looked for ways to serve the Lord with his talents and skills. While living in Calgary, he volunteered with Immigrant Services and the city food bank. There were many opportunities to meet people from various backgrounds, something he very much enjoyed. Then Miguel had a conversation with Wycliffe Canada’s past president, Roy Eyre, whom he had met at church. Roy introduced Miguel to AIDIA, a Wycliffe partner in South Peru that advances Bible translation and literacy in the region. The conversation led Miguel to apply as a volunteer with Wycliffe Canada—and to a divinely orchestrated ministry role as a “bridge builder” between the AIDIA team, Wycliffe staff in Canada and Canadian donors who support AIDIA’s work. Last year, Miguel visited language projects in Peru’s Apurímac region and was deeply impressed by the progress of AIDIA’s work there. In addition to Bible translation, its workers give sacrificially to serve isolated communities through literacy classes, pastoral training and more. “I see God’s hand in all of this. I couldn’t have received a better volunteer position than this.This is exactly what I’m good at.” – MIGUEL MONTES “They have great infrastructure within their departments and the staff go out to the field often. There is also a great Christian school. It isn’t stagnant, it is always busy. “AIDIA is like a mother ship, with multiple ministry partners, like Wycliffe, using [AIDIA’s] facilities to work efficiently in supporting communities.” No easy journeys Miguel says travelling in Peru can be challenging, but he sees it as just part of the job. For example, Abancay, the capital of Apurímac Region, is nestled in a deep valley between high mountains, therefore it doesn’t have an airport. The nearest one is in Cusco, which is a four-hour drive away. Trucks navigate gravel roads in Apurimac province, Peru. Photo by Ruth Richert. Getting to AIDIA’s newest translation initiative, Pastaza, will also be challenging. The Wycliffe Canada focus project, which aims to translate the full Bible for the Southern and Northern Pastaza Quechua people, is located in a hard-to-reach jungle region in the Amazon rainforest of northeastern Peru. It can only be accessed by boat or small float planes. If all goes well, Miguel hopes to make his first visit to Pastaza soon, to encourage the local translation team, review their progress and help address any barriers to the work. Miguel and Pastor Luis, AIDIA’s director, are exploring the possibility of renting or buying a boat to help translators and other staff traverse the rivers in the Pastaza region. In the meantime, Miguel is working with AIDIA to facilitate the printing of the whole Bible in Eastern Apurímac Quechua. His efforts are building yet another bridge, between AIDIA and the Brazilian Bible Society, to ensure that the Bible will be printed as soon as possible. In future, Miguel hopes to get training so he can more effectively share the work of AIDIA and Wycliffe Canada with churches in British Columbia. “It is in my heart, and I hope it’s something that will happen in the near future.” The port at San Lorenzo, Loreto province, where the Pastaza translation teams are based. Photo by Ruth Richert. Through his work at Wycliffe, Montes sees God’s kingdom in action and couldn’t have asked for a better situation. “I see God’s hand in all of this. I couldn’t have received a better volunteer position than this. This is exactly what I’m good at. I hope we will have more opportunities to serve the Lord and provide Bibles for people who need them, and I know it changes lives. “It’s God’s Word.” Story by Josiah Navratil and Doug Lockhart What’s your fit? Contact us today to explore a volunteer role or internship with Wycliffe Canada AIDIA Pastaza Translation Posted in People Previous Next

August 18, 2021 SIL releases new fonts By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories Wycliffe’s key strategic partner, SIL International, develops and supports a wide range of software to assist with language development activities, such as linguistic and cultural research, literacy and mother-tongue education, dictionary development, community and computer-assisted translation, and vernacular media production. One part of SIL Language Technology—the Writing Systems Technology team—is exclusively dedicated to meeting complex writing system needs so language communities can use their preferred writing system on computers, mobile devices and the web. The team does research, provides help and develops script-specific solutions, including fonts and keyboards. Since March 2021, SIL Writing Systems Technology has released seven fonts. Names and descriptions of the new fonts are available on the SIL website . Posted in News and updates Previous Next

March 5, 2020 A Heart Warmed By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories Spring comes late to Nanai country in the Russian Far East. Ice on the nearby Amur River can be three feet thick after a winter where temperatures plummet to 40 degrees below zero. Yet life thrives here. Ice fishermen find success even on the coldest days. In the bustling village of Troitskoye, parents don’t push strollers. They pull sleds. And inside the Full Gospel Church, about 25 believers gather to worship. The congregation reflects the area’s mix of people—the ancient Nanai culture and the modern Russian culture. The main road runs parallel to the Amur River through a vast birch forest. Villages are about 12 miles apart, originally spaced as winter resting points for horses and riders. Misha (left) makes a Nanai language recording. Fishing frames life for most in this region. In September, when the red salmon run, everyone is at the river. A few weeks work provides families with enough fish for the long winter and beyond. For those who fish commercially, it provides income. Commissioned by Wycliffe Russia, three men on a language survey team—Anton, Timur and Misha—were sent to learn more about the Nanai people of Siberia and their language. They sought to make key contacts and look for believers among the people. They also desired to get to know their language and culture, and see firsthand the local realities of the Nanai people’s lives. When they arrived at a certain Nanai village, they were welcomed by a leader who was a Christian. The leader’s mother, however, was not a Christian and she did not approve. Earlier in their travels, Anton and his friends had been delayed because of the weather, and so they had used webonary.org to create a Nanai audio dictionary, using data they had recorded in a previous village. They sat down with some folk from the current village and demonstrated the dictionary to them. A small crowd gathered, including the disapproving mother. She was not a believer, but she was passionate about her Nanai language. She was surprised to find that Anton and his friends were also passionate about her Nanai language. Therefore, she accepted them and was willing to be their friend. They sat with the people for hours and hours, discussing the language and the ideas they had for training local Nanai people to craft and memorize Bible stories in the Nanai language. The subject of the conversation eventually moved on to God. The leader’s mother listened intently, no longer disapproving. Because these visitors were interested in her language, she was now interested in their God. Source: wycliffe.org.uk Posted in Impact Previous Next

June 3, 2021 How to find God in your questions By Guest Contributor Back to all stories In a remote village in Papua New Guinea, God taught me to ask him the right question. Our friend Kwefi — a young, local Christian mother — had just died in childbirth, and I was angry at God. Kwefi had modeled what it meant to really follow Jesus as a woman and wife in her culture. She had been making an impact on others too. She had so much promise. Photo courtesy of Wycliffe U.S. “Why, God? Why did you let her die?” I yelled. I was desperate and insistent for answers. I anticipated God’s answer. Maybe He would admit in a soft whisper that her death was an unfortunate mistake but that “these things happen.” Perhaps then He would apologize for allowing it to happen, since it had hurt me. Or, if He wanted, maybe God would audibly speak to me like He did for people in Scripture, and explain His cosmic plan. But instead there was only silence. The day after Kwefi died, I read 2 Kings 2, where Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha is left behind, facing the sudden loss of his friend and mentor. I easily imagined how Elisha might have cried out in grief like me, wondering why God had taken Elijah away. But unlike me he asked: “ Where is the Lᴏʀᴅ, the God of Elijah?” (2:14a, NLT; emphasis mine). In my confusion, pain and loss, I simply asked: “God, where are you?” God gently showed me that asking “why?” wasn’t what I should have focused on; I should have asked, “where?” This is the question God delights in answering. Modeling Elisha’s example, I changed my question. In my confusion, pain and loss, I simply asked: “God, where are you?” God’s response came to me with the clarity and assurance only His Word can bring. I recalled Proverbs 18:24: “. . . There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (NIV). Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:20 provided me comfort: “And be sure of this: I am with you always” (NLT). God’s response came to me with the clarity and assurance only His Word can bring. I began to remember verses like Isaiah 49:15-16, too: “Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands” (NLT). God spoke to me in those promises, assuring me of His constant presence and closeness. But when I failed to ask God the right questions, I was met with dissatisfying answers that led to misguided conclusions about who He was. As you look at your present and toward your future, what questions are you asking God? While we want to serve and obey Jesus, how often do we find ourselves asking questions that focus on us, rather than God? We ask Him: “What will people think of me?” or “What if I fail?” or “Can God really use me?” What if we shifted our focus, and asked questions that focused on God’s mission for the world, instead of our fears or inadequacies? As believers, we understand God’s heart for the nations and His mandate to make His name known. We can ask questions like: “Lord, will you use my skills to make your name known and great among the nations?” If we dare to ask these kinds of questions, we will find that God answers. The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Dare to ask, “What am I doing right now that requires faith and trust in God to accomplish his purposes?” Keep asking and seeking God in your questions and his answers. Source: wycliffe.org Written by Andy Minch Posted in Engaging with Scripture Previous Next