Attila Kovacs is the new Director of the Mobilisation team at Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK.
John (left) shakes Attila's hand as he hands over as Director of Mobilisation
Attila, who first came into contact with Wycliffe by volunteering at the UK base in Buckinghamshire in the early 90s, has, until recently, been serving as the Executive Director of Wycliffe Hungary. He is now looking forward to the challenge of mobilising the UK church.
“There are great opportunities with Wycliffe for people of all ages and all backgrounds. It’s not just about language work, support staff are vital to keeping operations going and we are always looking for people who can become part of the team based here in the UK.”
“Currently, there are over 300 million people waiting for a Bible translation to start in their language so there’s a big need. I’m looking forward to getting out and about and talking to individuals, and church leaders, about what’s going on with Bible translation how they can get involved.”
At a short handing over ceremony, John Hamilton, the outgoing director, was full of praise and encouragement for his successor, wishing Attila, “every blessing and success in his new role”.
Anyone wishing to talk to Attila about opportunities with Wycliffe can contact him through mobilisation_director_uk@wycliffe.org. Alternatively, there’s a wealth of information on our website for you to find out how you can be involved.
There is a new way you can donate to Wycliffe Bible Translators at the same time as providing work in some of the world’s poorest communities and making one of your friends smile.
Just Cards sells greetings cards, many of which are produced in Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa, with a percentage of the profits being reinvested in these communities as well as giving to your selected charity. Wycliffe is working in partnership with Just Cards so when you make a purchase from them you can also give 10% of what you spend back to us.
One of the biggest events in the Christian diary is Easter, so have a look on their online store at their Easter collection.
Of course, if you could encourage your friends to do the same thing that would be really appreciated.
Our Window on Wycliffe course, or WOW for short, took place at the Wycliffe Centre last week. Together with 14 participants we looked at questions such as:
Why is Bible translation important?
How does it fit in to God’s mission of reaching out to all nations?
What does it look like around the world today?
What role can I play in it?
A couple of the people involved have written about the week and put some photos on their blogs.
This week a number of people will gather to share stories of what God is doing worldwide over a cuppa and a slice of cake.
The event will take place at the Carubbers Christian Centre cafe, 65 High Street, Edinburgh on Thursday 25th February. The evening will begin at 7pm and should finish around 9.30pm.
Guest speakers will include Jen Wright talking about her experience in Cameroon, James MacDonell about Nigeria and Suzanne Marshall about Senegal. More details are available from David_gilchrist@Wycliffe.org.
… has been observed every year since 1999, and is celebrated on 21 February.
IMLD has been celebrated annually by UNESCO member states to raise awareness of the importance of recognizing cultural and linguistic diversity and multilingual education. This year it is celebrated as part of the 2010 – International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures.
UNESCO states: “Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilungual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.”
Wycliffe and its many partner organisations are working together on behalf of minority language groups worldwide, to provide God’s word in the mother tongue of every remaining language group that needs it. Find out more about how Wycliffe are involved.
On February 18th we commemorated the death of priest, theologian and Bible translator Martin Luther (b. November 10, 1483 – d. February 18, 1546).
Martin Luther
Around the 1400s, one of John Wycliffe’s followers, John Hus, was actively promoting Wycliffe’s ideas: that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, with Wycliffe’s manuscript Bibles used as kindling for the fire. The last words of John Hus were that, “in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed.”
Almost exactly 100 years later, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention into the church door at Wittenberg. Many people cite this act as the primary starting point of the Protestant Reformation… though to be sure, John Wycliffe, John Hus, Thomas Linacre, John Colet, and others had already put their life’s work and even their lives on the line for same cause of truth, constructing the foundation of Reform upon which Luther now built.
The prophecy of Hus had come true! Martin Luther went on to be the first person to translate and publish the Bible in the commonly-spoken dialect of the German people; a translation more appealing than previous German Biblical translations. His translation of the Bible also helped to develop a standard version of the German language and added several principles to the art of translation.
It is on the heels of men like Luther that Bible translators worldwide continue to make God’s word accessible to those who do not have it in their mother tongue. 353 million people are still waiting for any scripture in their own language. Could you play a part in history, participating in what God has been doing for hundreds of years - making himself known through the words of the Bible? Find out how.
The closing date for Engage 2010 teams is approaching! If you’re thinking of applying, please do so before 19 March 2010 because places are limited. This year we are offering trips to Cambodia and Indonesia in July, and Cameroon in August.
On an Engage team you’ll have the opportunity to experience for yourself what God is doing in His church through the work of Bible translation and other ministries in another part of His world. You’ll come back home bursting with stories about people you met and their inspiring faith, about how God’s Word is transforming lives, and with new friends and experiences that you’ll carry with you the rest of your life.
Ben went on the Engage 2009 Cameroon team, and a couple of months after he came home he wrote the following:
It’s almost a cliché to say it, but trips like these can change your life, and for me that was totally the case! It’s an experience that will stay with me forever and has massively impacted my view on the wider world and on what it’s like to be a Christian outside the western world.
Read the rest here
Previous Engage trips have been a real blessing both to those who went and those who received them. Please pray with us that God would use this year’s teams for His glory and to build His Kingdom both here in the UK and in Cambodia, Indonesia and Cameroon.
OpenOffice 3.2, the latest version of the free open-source office software, has just been released. Version 3.2 of the popular software package includes new features and updates, one of which is a significant step for minority language communities around the world.
OpenOffice.org now supports Graphite font technology for better support of scripts and variants used by minorities. Using this technology, the support for new minority scripts becomes manageable. Just one font needs to developed for the specific needs of that minority. read more about OpenOffice 3.2
Many minority language groups around the world use alphabets that are different from those used by well-known majority languages, often with their own characters. Not only that, but unlike the Roman alphabet (A, B, C, …) many languages have characters that interact with each other and display differently depending on which other characters are next to them.
Graphite is a technology that has been developed by SIL, a partner organisation of Wycliffe, to allow these complex scripts to be displayed in computer software.This is potentially a first step for the language community as they seek to produce booklets and health materials, preserve their language and culture, and translate the Bible and other resources.
Prior to this partnership, OpenOffice supported approximately 110 languages. The inclusion of Graphite makes it possible for users of OpenOffice to implement computer scripts for hundreds of other languages.
Tamil Ligature Involving a Viramacized Consonant
There are currently more than 6,900 languages in the world, according to the Ethnologue, although some may never have a written form. Many of the remaining languages, however, require complex rules governing the way their scripts are or will be written. These writing systems require cutting-edge computer technology–smart fonts–in order to display and print properly with computers. Graphite is designed to be flexible enough to handle any orthographic need that might arise in any writing system based on any modern roman or non-roman script. read more
While for many majority-language users, the addition of Graphite to OpenOffice isn’t something that is very significant, for hundreds of minority communities around the world this represents an opportunity for their language to be written and read for generations to come.
Complex scripts are one of the topics we’ll be looking at in detail at next week’s Check IT Out event at the Wycliffe UK Centre – if you’re interested there’s just time to sign up still!
Two of our staff have recently returned from Nigeria, the second visit from Wycliffe UK people to African countries in the last few weeks. This time it was Tim and Kent’s turn to visit Nigeria. They had a number of reasons for visiting, including meeting with various international partner organisations and shooting video footage for our Eden to Eternity Tour.
Kent writes:
On Sunday I returned from a trip to Nigeria filled with two conflicting emotions: sadness and joy
1. SADNESS:
I spent 6 days in Jos, where there has recently been a serious outbreak of riots. Hundreds have been killed and thousands displaced in this latest round of violence.
- I saw burned out cars and buildings
- I travelled past a village which looked like it had suffered an earthquake and where they have pulled some 150 corpses out of wells
- I met a man who had two people in his car killed by a mob and then had to hide in the bush for two days
- I heard of someone taking 40 refugees into their home…
Killings and burnings had been done by both Christians and Muslims. It was peaceful while I was there, but much of that was due to a 6pm to 6am curfew and a heavy military presence that meant you met a check point every few minutes on the road.
2. JOY:
The rest of my time was one excitement on top of another as I met a long list of Nigerians connected to Bible translation:
- the District Head of Barde who we met “by chance” while buying a warm coke, but who is part of the Nyenkpa language committee
- the Chief who thanked us on behalf of his people for helping give them the scriptures, even though his own people are doing the work
- “Baba Duya” who has just completed Luke in his own language and who took me to hear local children say the Lord’s Prayer in Duya
- Peter who has given up a successful business to translate and who organised for the local choir to sing joyfully for us in their language
- the new Provost (President) at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria, who has a vision for people to come from surrounding nations to receive translation training up to a PhD level
- Jerry who regularly talks about Bible translation with top Nigerian church leaders, such as the Archbishop of Jos…
There was a whole lot of meeting and greeting, hearing reports from the projects, eating a wonderful variety of food and a surprise hike to a local cave which is a large part of the Duya language history. I am not cut out for roughing it like the people who do language survey!
A 6pm – 6am curfew makes life a little more complex than desired. The road blocks do make every journey 3 times longer than they need to be. BUT i found out that over 100 language projects are ongoing in Nigeria! WOW. I mean yes there are another 300 or so that need starting, but that is an AWESOME start!
Kent:
That is Nigeria. A complicated place, but one where God is certainly at work through his people.
May the Lord continue to lead us all on the narrow path that leads through this often painful land but leads to an eternal place of joy and peace.
Wycliffe UK Director Eddie Arthur was speaking at the Kingdom Come event in Belfast on Monday, where he gave an introduction to Wycliffe Bible Translators. The 7-minute talk isn’t a standard description of what the organisation does, or what its goals are, or why you should support it… take a look below to see why Bible translation is something that we believe is important:
