June 5, 2019 Christian Comic Book Series Targets Young Readers By Samuel Ko Back to all stories A new comic book series launched earlier this year aims to engage children aged 8 to 12 in reading Scripture-based stories and illustrations. Titled Fear Not, the series is an initiative of the Canadian Bible Society (CBS), a partner of Wycliffe Canada that promotes and encourages engagement with the Bible. The story centres on a boy named Samuel who encounters Jesus. He then sets out to bring a message of hope to lost people across the Land of the Desolate. Samuel is joined by other friends and characters to help deal with various fears and struggles shared by children. “We have experienced a great response to the Fear Not comic book series from families this past Christmas at the time of launch,” says Rev. Dr. Rupen Das, CBS National Director. “This is an excellent Christian comic book series dealing with real issues children face and how they can overcome their fears with God’s help.” To order, or for more information about the comic book series, visit fearnot.ca . Source: Canadian Bible Society website Posted in News and updates Previous Next

January 22, 2025 Reflecting on Vision 2025 By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories How can we ensure that everyone has access to God’s Word in the language that speaks to their heart—as soon as possible? This is the question that Bible translation organizations were asking in the late 1990s. Teams were working on Bible translations in languages all over the world, but at a pace that would have taken 150 years to complete. 1 Years of fervent prayer led Wycliffe and its primary partner, SIL Global, to a bold answer: Vision 2025. In Pataqqueña, Peru, a young girl reads Scripture aloud in the Cusco Quechua language. Photo credit: Alan Hood This vision, first proclaimed in 1999, was a dream to see Bible translation underway in every language that still needs Scripture by the end of the year 2025. It was incredibly ambitious—the pace of translation would need to increase dramatically. It also meant more of everything: more translators, more co-ordination between translation organizations, more funding, more local ownership and, especially, more prayer. Vision 2025’s bold reliance on God set off intense momentum in Bible translation. A man looks over his Bible during a Church service at the South Sea Evangelical Church in Mataruka village, Solomon Islands. Photo credit: Alan Hood Between 1999 and the beginning of 2025, we saw: Increased speed of language engagements. Before Vision 2025, the highest number of new language engagements per year was 25. Today, on average, a new language is engaged every 14 hours . 2 More collaboration with like-minded organizations. Currently, the 100+ organizations represented by Wycliffe Global Alliance are working in at least 3,146 languages in 146 countries. Greater capacity among minority language speakers to carry out the translation work. More than ever, local churches around the world are asking for— even starting—Bible translation themselves. This shift is leading to greater Scripture engagement and local ownership. Innovation and technology leveraged for Bible translation ministry. Work now often incorporates translation software, cloud-based collaboration, artificial intelligence and digital Scripture formats. The power of prayer and generosity . Fervent prayer gave birth to Vision 2025, and fervent prayer is still what sustains translation work. Generous gifts of funds and time have supported the exponential growth of translation projects. Fast-forward to the beginning of 2025, and we can see that Vision 2025 has produced incredible fruit. There are now fewer than 900 languages waiting for their first Scriptures. 3 Will a language project actually begin in every one of these remaining languages by the end of 2025? Because more languages and translation needs have been identified since the original vision was articulated, this is unlikely. But this doesn’t mean that Vision 2025 failed. Rather, “it’s safe to say that the heart of Vision 2025 was a success,” s ays Jon ImBeau, Wycliffe Canada’s president. “Yes, Wycliffe Canada is a Bible translation organization, but we exist to see Christ transform lives through translated Scripture,” says Jon. “The Bible helps bring that about, but a translated Bible is not the [end] goal. The end goal is life transformation through access to Scripture.” “. . . a translated Bible is not the [end] goal. The end goal is life transformation through access to Scripture.” Jon ImBeau “Picking a date helped us focus our energies for a number of years,” Jon continues. That focus is critical, because even in the near future when a translation project has actually begun in every language, the work won’t be finished. Morning devotions and prayer time at the Eastern Lawa Bible translation office in Baan Khun, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Photo credit: Derryl Friesen. Wycliffe continues to support this transformation by building the capacity of the local church, by providing literacy training, and by helping people to truly engage with Scripture . The demand for these resources will keep increasing as more people gain access to Scripture in their own language. The work of Wycliffe—and the need that propelled Vision 2025—is not just about completing Bible translations: it’s about witnessing the Living Word of God transform lives. Word Alive magazine, Spring 2001, Wycliffe Canada ↩︎ Wycliffe Global Alliance https://www.wycliffe.net/what-we-do/philosophy-and-principle-papers/vision-2025/↩︎ Wycliffe USA https://www.wycliffe.org/vision-2025↩︎ Posted in News and updates Previous Next

March 13, 2020 “Faith and Farming” Workshop Aids Nigerian Farmers By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories In the town of Lambata, Nigeria, 10 farmers from the Gbari language group recently spent three days learning how to apply biblical truths to their farming techniques. Wycliffe’s Katharine Norton interacts with workshop participants in Nigeria. “When I came here five years ago,” says Wycliffe’s Katharine Norton, “I saw that . . . people were farming in ways that harmed the soil and the environment, and the food and animal products were increasingly filled with chemicals and antibiotics.” Aided by local colleague Yunana Malgwi, Norton organized the workshop around 16 teaching sessions ranging from biblical foundations (farming in the Bible, audio Bible studies) to practical subjects like how to make compost and how to grow a dry-season vegetable garden. Other topics include how to resolve conflict and how the church can support farmers year round. Although many language groups in Nigeria do have the Bible in their language, many believers still struggle to engage fully with the Scriptures. Workshop co-organizer Yunana Malgwi plants seeds Besides helping participants reflect on how the Bible speaks into their lives in practical ways, the workshop is helping to elevate the status of farming, which is sometimes viewed by the Gbari as a low-level occupation. One participant was encouraged to learn that Adam worked the land in the Garden of Eden. “This was so encouraging to me, as my people think that farming is a curse as a result of the fall. I now realize that farming is a blessing and that I can serve God as I farm.” Norton hopes the workshop will be the start of something bigger. “We want participants to take what they have learned and apply it to their own farms . . . and teach and encourage others in their language community and churches. This way, what starts from one workshop can have a much wider impact.” Source: wycliffe.org.uk Posted in Engaging with Scripture Previous Next

February 5, 2024 Finding a “market” for oral Bible stories By Ruth Richert Back to all stories The coconut vendor collapsed—unconscious—next to his stall in the open air market. Song saw his body slump, and rushed over, anxious to help. She wasn’t sure how her offer of assistance would be received: after months of trying to start a friendship with the middle-aged vendor and his wife, they had become irritated by her God-talk and told her in no uncertain terms to leave them alone. Now, as the vendor’s wife began to panic, Song took a risk. “Can I pray for him?” she asked. “Yes! If your God is real!” said the woman. Song began to pray fervently, asking God to heal the vendor. After five minutes, he regained consciousness as his wife cried, “Your God IS real!” A few weeks later, the couple told Song that they had decided to follow her God. Their former irritation melted away, and the three have become friends. Song continues to share the gospel with them through oral Bible stories. It’s a dramatic tale. But it’s no surprise that Song was in just the right place at the right time: she’s been visiting the same market twice each day for the past 11 years . * * * In Southern Thailand, relationships are central to evangelism. It takes time and effort to connect with people, to prove that you are sharing the gospel out of love for them, not because you have ulterior motives, or are trying to somehow score cosmic brownie points. Anything less than real trust and care doesn’t work, because these people have a lot to lose. The region can be volatile, with violent clashes between the major ethnic groups in the region occurring sporadically. Very few people are Christians, and those who choose to follow Jesus often pay a steep price—they may be forced out of their communities and even their families. Faith is not a choice that anyone takes lightly. Song’s story is unusual in that becoming a Christian led to closer bonds with her family. Now 38 years old, she encountered Christ in her early twenties through the influence of her older sister, Noi, the current facilitator of a project focused on oral translations of key Bible stories. In contrast to the bright-eyed, gregarious Song, Noi projects an air of immense calm, but her gentle smile belies the incredible tenacity and determination of her faith in Jesus. Once Noi decided that her little sister needed Christ, Song couldn’t ignore her. She began attending the regular prayer meetings that Noi hosted, and over time, her faith became deep and personal. Eventually, she joined the oral storying project, where she and other team members test and share the Bible stories that Noi crafts in their Southern dialect. For Song, this sharing has largely centered on the local marketplace. The market that Song visits is a vast warren of stalls, selling everything from freshly butchered meat to fruit, clothing and household items. She started visiting the market with her mother, who was a vendor there. Soon, she was stopping by the market every day, her two young daughters in tow. She says that she felt almost compelled to go there, even though she wasn’t quite sure why at first. “When I would come home [from the market], I would ask myself, ‘Why should I go to the market? What’s the purpose? Why do I have to go there every day?’” Despite her reservations, she kept going to the market twice a day, every day. She went so often that her husband joked that she must be the market’s owner. But her goals were relational, not financial: she’d visit the same vendors over and over again, trying to build friendships and sharing the oral stories that Noi created. The tea stall vendor near the entrance of the market became one of her first friends. “I spent eight years sharing the [gospel] story,” Song says. “I bought a Thai tea morning, evening, morning, evening. Each day, 40 baht* for tea. Praise God that He gave me the money!” Song regularly buys tea from one vendor, as she builds friendships and looks for opportunities to share her faith in Jesus. This was a significant expense for her family budget, but she kept on, and eight years later, the vendor decided to put her trust in God. During those long years, Song was also building relationships with other vendors. The fish seller has become a Christian, and has paid the high price of being pushed out of her community. A handful of others have also chosen to follow Christ. Song estimates that she has shared the oral stories with over 100 people. Everyone in the large marketplace knows that she is a Christian, and her warm presence and daily commitment have convinced many normally-reticent people to open up to her. Recently, she added two nearby 7-11 stores to her daily rounds so that she can reach out to more people. She still feels compelled to visit the market, but the question of why doesn’t plague her anymore. “At first, I asked myself why I have to go to the market every day. Now I know. . . . I want many people to come to Christ.” *approx $1.50 CAD What do durian seedlings have to do with evangelism? For Song’s older sister, Noi, the facilitator of the oral storying project, they’re an important tool for sharing the gospel with her community. She realized that her degree in horticulture and her passion for plants uniquely positioned her to reach out to neighbours who are interested in growing new fruits and vegetables to feed their families and develop into cash crops. She shares advice on her social media channels, and offers plant clippings when people visit her house. Her efforts have led to her winning a prestigious award from Thailand’s royal family. But more importantly, they’ve also opened the door for building relationships and sharing the gospel with budding gardeners. More about Oral Bible Storying Oral Bible stories are an important tool for sharing the gospel in cultures where people don’t have a literate lifestyle. They may know how to read, but it is not the preferred way to receive new or important information. Oral Bible stories capitalize on storytelling traditions and relational ways of giving and receiving information. The stories are firmly rooted in Scripture and typically created in sets, and must be consultant-checked for accuracy. They’re crafted to connect with specific audiences—while all story sets point to Jesus, they might be ordered or structured differently depending on the religious background of the audience. Posted in Engaging with Scripture Previous Next

November 2, 2021 “Put us anywhere” By Guest Contributor Back to all stories Many people think that mission workers need to be preachers, teachers, doctors, or nurses to serve overseas. But Tony and Martha Hinton—a trained auto mechanic and a speech pathologist—prove that God can use people who are willing to go where He sends them—no matter what their skills are. Tony and Martha served in Papua New Guinea (PNG) through Wycliffe Bible Translators for 15 years. They went to PNG because they had always had a desire to go where the need is greatest. They told the Lord that He could put them anywhere. Martha chats with students at Ukarumpa International School in PNG. While speech language pathologists are not always directly needed on the field, and Wycliffe wasn’t sure one was needed in PNG, God put Martha there for a specific purpose. She worked with several children who needed academic assistance and enabled their families to continue serving in PNG. Without her assistance, those mission workers would have had to return to their home countries so their kids could receive that kind of help. Her story is a perfect example of how God puts people in the right place at the right time. Tony and Martha also responded to the need there for four-wheel drive and motorcycle training as well as water-safety training. For many years JAARS has helped mission workers in PNG immensely by providing four-wheel drive vehicles and motorcycles—a necessity in this place often crisscrossed with muddy roads and huge potholes! Tony teaches a session on water safety to a group of Kenyan students. Now serving at JAARS (Wycliffe’s partner for technical services), Tony is serving as part of our solution to the maritime- and land-transportation safety issues our field partners overseas experience. On the water-safety team, he teaches people who are preparing to serve overseas how to respond if their boats capsize and how to prevent such a situation. He also teaches the four-wheel drive and motorcycle courses so people can learn how to operate vehicles safely on potentially hazardous roads. Martha also has ample opportunities to use her God-given talents at JAARS. As an educational consultant, she connects families while they’re on furlough and overseas with homeschooling options, special education, and various other school-related resources. Not only have Tony and Martha found a home at JAARS, but their children, Sarah and Caleb, have also found a home here. Caleb tells people he is from the Waxhaw area, where JAARS is located in North Carolina. When the Hintons came back to the U.S. to bring Sarah to college in 2016, Caleb found a “home away from home” at JAARS by connecting with the youth group. Through this group, he found teens who had been where he was—kids who understood the life of a missionary kid. Tony and Martha have truly adopted JAARS as their new home as they begin roles here. God led them to PNG, and now he has led them to JAARS. Their lives are an example of what God can do when we are willing to let him put us anywhere. Thinking about missions? We help people identify and take the next faithful step to discover their place in the global Bible translation movement. Source: jaars.org . Story by Karissa Uhlig Posted in People Previous Next

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