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January 20, 2020 Language technology for all: expanding digital opportunities By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories Six representatives from SIL, Wycliffe’s key partner organization, recently attended the Language Technologies for All Conference (LT4All) at UNESCO Paris from Dec. 4-6, 2019. The SIL team joined participants from major technology platforms including Amazon, Google, Facebook, IBM, Hanson Robotics, iFLYTEK and Mozilla. Aligned with 2019’s theme as the International Year of Indigenous Languages, LT4All aimed to promote the inclusion of all languages—particularly indigenous languages—online and in the global digital sector. Language technologies play an important role in ensuring a language thrives. These technologies offer major contributions to ongoing communication, literacy, education and translation efforts in communities worldwide. The final day of the conference included an exhibition session where participants could share technological resources and strategies available to provide communities with the means of representing their languages digitally and in print. SIL Language Strategy Consultant, Mark Karan, was among the event speakers, while five other SIL staff members prepared posters highlighting three of SIL’s foundational technologies: SIL Fonts, Keyman, and Bloom. The posters demonstrated technologies that enable communities to address important needs related to displaying, typing and publishing material in their languages: SIL fonts are the most downloaded items from SIL’s website. These fonts allow writing systems—the written form of languages—to be displayed correctly and dynamically both digitally and in print. Many writing systems contain special characters that can only be accurately rendered using fonts specifically designed to meet their needs. Keyman is a keyboard creation tool that allows language keyboards to be created and used on all major platforms and devices. Without customized keyboards to input their language electronically, many languages are excluded from the digital world. Bloom is an easy way to create or translate books in local languages, even with limited computer experience. Without software to produce resources and reading materials in local languages, many languages are struggling to thrive. These resources make important strides toward confronting the discouraging statistics presented during the conference discussion. According to Daniel Pimienta, an independent consultant for France and the Dominican Republic, there are fewer than 600 languages visible online, with 99 per cent of the Internet’s content composed of a scant 40 languages. In her address, Dorothy Gordon, UNESCO Intergovernmental Information for All program chair, was quick to suggest a solution: “We need to give people the skills to create online content in their own language.” Source: sil.org Photo by Marc Durdin Posted in Bible translation Previous Next

June 3, 2025 Comfort from the God who is not silent By Ruth Richert Back to all stories This post shares Mr. Drawing’s* story from our summer campaign . Find out how you can help a Deaf person see and believe the gospel at wycliffe.ca/summer/ “There are so many Deaf who feel oppressed. But we want to share with them. We want them to feel relief—to know that God is comforting them.” Mr. Drawing* knows firsthand what oppression feels like. As a Deaf man in a sensitive part of Southeast Asia, it’s something he’s encountered many times in his life. It began when he was six years old, and a serious illness changed his life forever. He lost his hearing—and with it, his sense of being connected to the world around him. Previously a keen student, he began to struggle in school simply because he couldn’t hear what the teacher was saying. Normal social interactions faded into silence, and his family didn’t know how to support him. Facing cultural stigma What made his experience even more difficult was the stigma that his community attaches to deafness. In this region of Southeast Asia, many believe that deafness is a punishment for sin in a past life, so the Deaf are often mocked, rejected or seen as cursed. Representative photo of a Deaf translator in Mr. Drawing’s region. Photo: Marc Ewell “If people see Deaf people signing . . . they [sometimes] make fun of us,” Mr. Drawing explains. “Some hearing people call us not deaf, but dumb.” It was when his parents discovered a Christian school for Deaf children that Mr. Drawing’s life began to change. He learned sign language, and rapidly covered lost ground academically. Signing allowed him to have real conversations, something he still finds challenging with his own family. For the first time since he lost his hearing, he was part of a community that understood him. But still, it seemed that God was silent. Mr. Drawing recalls sitting in church, watching the sermon in frustration. There was no interpreter or explanations, and he and the other students were completely unable to follow along. One day, Mr. Drawing’s teacher attended the service with her students. She immediately saw the problem and stepped in to interpret. The change was dramatic: suddenly, the students could understand the sermon. God was not silent and Mr. Drawing’s life would never be the same. Joining the translation team Today, Mr. Drawing is a member of the Jade Star Bible translation team. He’s following God’s calling on his life because he wants to ensure that other Deaf like him won’t have to go through the same experience of feeling distant and abandoned by God. “There are so many Deaf who feel oppressed. But we want to share with them. We want them to feel relief—to know that God is comforting them.” The team translates Scripture into Jade Star* sign language, and creates videos of the translations for the Deaf community. Many are learning—perhaps for the first time—That God is not silent. He has never left them. Members of the Jade Star sign language team signs “I love you” while attending a translation conference in Bangkok. Photo: Derryl Friesen *Mr. Drawing is a name sign. Most Deaf people adopt a name sign rather than signing the letters of their given name. The name sign might represent a physical attribute, personality trait, or skill, and it’s typically a choice made communally with other Deaf people. Posted in Impact Previous Next

March 1, 2019 Technology aids access to God’s Word By Guest Contributor Back to all stories Because the Engan people of Papua New Guinea are largely an oral culture, a translation team is creating audio recordings of each book of the New Testament as they are completed. Those audio records are then distributed in two main ways. The first way is on solar-powered MP3 players. These audio players allow people to listen to God’s Word in Enga for hours at a time, and when the battery dies, they simply place the player in the sun to charge. We’ve heard stories of people saying, “When we read the Bible in Tok Pisin (pidgin), we never read a whole chapter at a time. But we can listen to an entire book of the Enga Bible in one sitting without getting tired!” Once people start listening to the Bible, there is a tendency for those with basic literacy skills to want to read along with a printed copy as they listen to the recording. In the process of doing so, they teach themselves how to read their own language. As a result, we are also releasing audio recordings of the Enga Bible as an Android phone app that highlights the text sentence-by-sentence as the audio recording plays. Even among people who live with no electricity or running water, Android phones are starting to become more and more common. And The other benefit of the Android phone app is that the distribution is completely free for anyone who has an Android phone. Technology is truly revolutionizing the way Engan people access God’s Word! Adapted from a story by Adam Boyd on PNG Experience Photo by Newbreak Church Posted in Engaging with Scripture Previous Next

Read More Read More Our Family, Our Language (short version) English | 0:00 to 2:59 General Wycliffe Promotion National stories Central America Guatemala Pokomchi Length 2:08 In this short version of Our Family, Our Language we see the importance of mother tongue Scriptures through the eyes of two Pokomchi Believers, Hidilia and Oswaldo. Download from Vimeo Give Feedback More from our library Every Sign Points to God Length 03:07 There’s one noticeable difference between Sora and most members of the Japanese Sign Language Bible translation team: they’re Deaf and Sora is not. Go behind the scenes with Sora and discover why sign language translation is vitally important for the Deaf. Caminando Juntos, el ministerio de AIDIA Length 4:54 La transformación está ocurriendo entre los quechuahablantes del Este de Apurímac gracias a la organización Asociación Interdenominacional para el Desarrollo Integral de Apurímac – AIDIA. Mira usted a esta película, “Caminando Juntos” para ver de primera mano el talentoso equipo de AIDIA sirviendo a su gente a través de la traducción del Antiguo Testamento, la alfabetización y mucho más. Extreme Flexibility Required Length 3:45 Unexpected things happen on the mission field. Follow this young dreadlocked dude on his six-month journey in a distant land, as his vista expands, visually and spiritually. A Light in the Jungle Length 16:31 A Light in the Jungle—mystery, death, life—key words that embody this 16-minute docudrama on transformation among the Folopa people of Papua New Guinea. View All Previous Next

Read More Read More Walking Together, the ministry of AIDIA English | 5:00 to 5:59 Language related National stories Partner organizations ⠀Bible translation ⠀Literacy AIDIA Peru Project South America Length 5:26 High in the Andes Mountains of Peru, God is transforming lives through His Word. In “Walking Together,” discover how a Wycliffe partner organization is working to build up Quechua churches and impact communities through Bible translation, literacy, leadership training and more. Download from Vimeo Give Feedback More from our library Hope Through Bible Translation – #2 (Canadian Version) Length 01:09 Imagine reading the Bible in a second language you learned in high school. Would you get frustrated and give up? For so many people around the world, that’s their reality because they have no Scripture in the language they understand best. But things are changing and you can be part of the story! This Grand Story Length 2:02 Who is Wycliffe Bible Translators? What do they do and who are the people they serve? You might be surprised. Take a quick jaunt around the world and uncover Wycliffe’s heart and passion to see God revealed to minority language communities. Extreme Flexibility Required Length 3:45 Unexpected things happen on the mission field. Follow this young dreadlocked dude on his six-month journey in a distant land, as his vista expands, visually and spiritually. Unfolding Stories Length 6:57 This unique video tells the Bible translation story through the eyes of a journalist, photographer and local colleagues on their trek around Timor, Indonesia. View All Previous Next

July 19, 2018 Wycliffe Germany launches refugee-related website By Samuel Ko Back to all stories Europe’s large influx of refugees has prompted Wycliffe Germany to launch a Scripture resource website called new-neighbour-bible.org . Designed for Christians living in Europe, the website provides information about Scripture resources in the languages spoken by the people arriving from other nations. Links to Bibles, Bible stories, videos and audio recordings are listed for the languages of refugees coming from Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Resources for new neighbours from other countries will be added in the coming months. Wycliffe Germany is asking for prayer that churches and Christian refugee networks will find out about and use their new website, and that many refugees and displaced people will find hope, help and comfort through these resources. Posted in Engaging with Scripture 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

January 11, 2023 Son of Man or “pumpkin child?” By Wycliffe Canada Back to all stories A completed New Testament could be published very soon for the Rangi language community of central Tanzania. Even as a final read-through of the whole New Testament was recently done, local translators continue to put the text through a battery of careful checks. One of those checking sessions revealed a startling error. The error was discovered by a team member working in literacy and other ministries, not translation. But when Emilia was asked to review the translation of John’s Gospel, she agreed. “I look especially at portions of text that the translators marked for review,” says Emilia, “but it also helps to read the surrounding verses.” “Emilia . . . immediately made a big difference,” says Emmanuel Mwankosole, team leader for SIL* Tanzania’s Dodoma Region office, where the Rangi team works. In chapter six, in a verse that was not flagged for her to check, Emilia found a significant correction that was needed. In the phrase “Son of Man,” she spotted a concern over the Rangi spelling of the word for “man.” “In the text,” Mwankosole explains, “the word written for ‘man’ was actually the Rangi word for a type of pumpkin!” Because the spellings are very similar, this error had been easily missed through several careful checks, even by the translators themselves. Team members are praising God for His work through Emilia and their team, to protect His translated Word. As work moves forward to complete the remaining checks and changes, they request prayer for every detail — the process of publication and printing, planning the community celebration, and organizing distribution of the completed Scriptures into Rangi churches and homes. * SIL is Wycliffe’s key field partner Participants at this orthography workshop in 2022 helped make significant improvements to the Rangi writing system. (Photo by Paulo Modamba) Source: SIL Tanzania Posted in Bible translation Previous Next

Read More Read More Cette grande histoire French | 0:00 to 2:59 General Wycliffe Promotion Durée 2:13 Qui est la Wycliffe? Que fait-elle et qui sert-elle? Vous pourriez être surpris! Faites un petit tour dans le monde et découvrez le coeur de la Wycliffe. Passionnez-vous à voir Dieu révélé aux minorités linguistiques. Download from Vimeo Give Feedback More from our library Thinking About Missions? (TC) Length: 0:58 參與跨文化宣教工作其實不是遙不可及的事。或許你不知道自己已擁有不少當宣教士的裝備；你也會驚訝地發現原來工場上的服侍機會是那麼多元化的。 如欲了解更多或探索服侍機會，請與我們聯絡：chinese@wycliffe.ca(mailto:如欲了解更多或探索服侍機會，請與我們聯絡：chinese@wycliffe.ca) God is Moving Length 0:37 A brief, but lively opener that describes our vision and helps set the stage for Wycliffe mission events, partnership development and more. Capacity Building Length 01:22 Capacity building—sharing knowledge, skills and tools with our field partners and indigenous churches around the world. This video unpacks part of this vital Wycliffe ministry. (Wycliffe Pillar) Burnout Length 2:11 Missionary Neil Anderson reveals how doing ministry 24/7 almost ended his missionary career. This is part of the video collection “A Light in the Jungle.” View All Previous Next

Read More Read More Encourage That English | 3:00 to 4:59 Language related Mobilization-recruitment National stories ⠀Bible translation ⠀Faces of Wycliffe series Manager Solomon Islands Length 4:31 Take a trip to the island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. Discover how God is using a young family to bless the Malango people and other language groups in the Solomon Islands. Download from Vimeo Give Feedback More from our library Every Sign Points to God Length 03:07 There’s one noticeable difference between Sora and most members of the Japanese Sign Language Bible translation team: they’re Deaf and Sora is not. Go behind the scenes with Sora and discover why sign language translation is vitally important for the Deaf. Hope Through Bible Translation Length 0:59 Imagine reading the Bible in a second language you learned in high school. Would you get frustrated and give up? For so many people around the world, that’s their reality because they have no known Scripture and no active translation project. Wycliffe envisions a Bible translation program in progress, in every language still needing one, by 2025. Capacity Building Length 01:22 Capacity building—sharing knowledge, skills and tools with our field partners and indigenous churches around the world. This video unpacks part of this vital Wycliffe ministry. (Wycliffe Pillar) Hope Through Bible Translation – #2 (Canadian Version) Length 01:09 Imagine reading the Bible in a second language you learned in high school. Would you get frustrated and give up? For so many people around the world, that’s their reality because they have no Scripture in the language they understand best. But things are changing and you can be part of the story! View All Previous Next