Weekly Prayer and Praise Points
Wycliffe Prayer Focus Bulletin, August 25-31, 2008
Working together: Nigeria.
In mid-July, a Nigerian man studying for an M.A. in linguistics walked into Wycliffe's sociolinguistic survey* office. He was seeking guidance in surveying his own language group for his thesis. His language is one of the next three on Wycliffe's list of languages to survey. He is on the staff of a mission planning to dub the JESUS Film into his language, and they need to know into which dialect the film should be translated to most effectively reach the hearts of his people. Praise God for arranging this connection. Pray they may work well together.
*Sociolinguistic survey is the activity of gathering information, on how language is used in the society, for making strategic decisions.
Bible translation curriculum adopted: Togo.
During July, the Council of Theological Institutions in Francophone* Africa, comprising 82 participants from 27 theological schools, listened to a major presentation of a course on Bible translation. The curriculum was painstakingly developed by Wycliffe personnel. Twenty-three** of the 27 schools made a commitment to offer the course as of the 2009-2010 academic year. Yale scholar Lamin Sanneh*** has agreed to write the foreword to the book. Pray for strength, wisdom and insight for team members working to polish the curriculum. Praise God for this enormous opportunity to prepare more African Bible translators.
*French-speaking
**representing Chad, Central African Republic, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Congo, Rwanda, Madagascar and Cote d'Ivoire
***Gambian-born Lamin Sanneh is the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity and professor of history at Yale Divinity School.
Bible translation in difficult circumstances: Ghana.
Pray for Mary Steele, veteran Bible translator and consultant, working to have the Konkomba Bible* ready for typesetting by the end of September. She has checked the Old Testament and is ready to begin the New Testament. She is receiving painful reports of conflict between some of the people groups in the country resulting in the homes of dear friends being full of refugees. They are sharing their meager food supply. Pray for conflict resolution and for all those suffering from lack of food due to the flooding last year; this year's crops are not yet harvested.
*for the printing of a second edition
Tedious part of sociolinguistic survey*: Nigeria.
Pray for a team that completed eight surveys in the last 18 months. Only two of the reports have been released. The backlog is due to an ambitious survey schedule which didn't leave enough time between surveys to finish reports and the need to travel during the dry season and leave report-writing for the rainy season. Also, writing the results is the least exciting part and takes a lot of discipline. Ask God to help those writing the results so that good decisions can be made for the communities represented and their need for God's Word.
*Sociolinguistic survey is the activity of gathering information, on how language is used in the society, for making strategic decisions.
Missions mobilization in churches: Benin.
Please pray for Wycliffe Benin throughout September. They are calling it "Translation and Literacy" month. Every Sunday, church visits will be made in various places. During the visits, people will be informed about opportunities nationals have to get involved. Other activities will include an Open House; meeting with Christian youth; a presentation about Wycliffe's founder, Cameron Townsend; a women's event called 'Women and Literacy'; and a competition in dictation and reading in local languages. Pray for God to lead the team preparing all of this and to make their activities successful for His purposes.
Language survey training program: Nigeria.
Pray for wisdom for the Wycliffe sociolinguistic* surveyors who are designing a training program for Nigerians. One challenge is choosing the content of on-the-job classroom training and its logical sequence, interspersed with field work. They plan to start the training in October. Pray that God will guide them to find the best candidates for this training and that they will become part of a Nigerian Bible translation movement. Pray also that God will show them and local partner organizations a good career track and local support strategy for these national language surveyors.
*Sociolinguistic survey is the activity of gathering information, on how language is used in the society, for making strategic decisions.
Bible translator asks for prayer: Ghana.
"About six years ago I had an operation to correct sciatica that caused me much pain. Since then I have had no problem until about ten days ago when the pain re-surfaced. It affects my left leg and as a result I cannot sit for long. You will appreciate the fact that the work of Bible translation and checking requires sitting for hours on end to put in corrections and make improvements. Should it become impossible for me to sit, then my participation in completing the Sisaala Old Testament will be negatively affected." Pray for him and this translation.
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Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
Ps. 115.1