Archive for September, 2011

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A look behind the scenes

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Recently, we had a visitor on work experience here at The Wycliffe Centre. She shared some of her reactions and why she’s interested in Wycliffe’s work:

As part of my preparation for the future, I came to Wycliffe to do a week’s work experience. During the week, I got to visit several departments and see what their part is in the organization, learn about Bible translation work going on all around the world, and find out more about the 6,860 languages on this planet!

Everyone I met at Wycliffe was really welcoming and friendly (some of them were hilarious!), and made the week a great experience for me. I also got a chance to talk to some of the international students who were doing a language course at the time, which was interesting as well. All the departments I visited explained their role in the Wycliffe organization, and I was occasionally given a chance to try a bit of their work.

There are many reasons as to why I chose Wycliffe as my work experience placement. I love languages and translation. As I’ve found out more about Bible translation, it’s interesting to see the process – it takes so many years, good language skills, and lots of co-operation and effort to complete a transcript of a book from the Bible, the New Testament and the Bible itself. I found it fascinating! I first heard about Wycliffe through some people at my church, who actually work at Wycliffe, and over the past few years, I‘ve heard more about this organisation from my family and friends, and what they do.

So, I will now say thanks to everyone who had to put up with me that week, and I’m really happy that I enjoyed the week, as I was fairly nervous at first! My week at Wycliffe has been a really valuable experience.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the work behind the scenes in Bible translation, why not find out more about our internship programme? It’s a chance to serve the worldwide work of Bible translation from a UK base.

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Posted in People, UK | No Comments »

Calling everyone, linguist and non-linguist

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

It’s often all too easy, in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of life, to lose sight of God’s mission and what he is doing to increase his kingdom in the UK and around the world.  One brilliant, free opportunity to reconnect with the amazing things he is doing through Bible translation is our one-day Wycliffe and Me event.

Wycliffe and Me graphic - two people working togetherThis autumn Wycliffe and Me will be running on three separate occasions:

  •  in Linlithgow, Scotland, on 1 October
  • in York on 29 October
  • at the Wycliffe Centre, near High Wycombe, on 12 November.

The day usually lasts from 10am until 4pm, but each event is unique. In all three there will be a range of topics, aiming to give you a better idea of the wide range of activities that God is working through. There will also be a chance for you to meet Wycliffe members who have worked overseas and who can give you an inside look into what it’s like to live and work cross-culturally.

For more information and to register, visit wycliffe.org.uk/wam. We’d love to see you there and to share with you a small part of what God is doing through his word and his Church around the world!

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James O Fraser: 1886 – 1938

Sunday, September 25th, 2011

James Fraser was a missionary to China in the early part of the 20th century. He left behind a life of promise and comfort, travelled to the mountains of southwest China, to reach out to a people group who had been routinely subjugated.

This short trailer, for OMF*’s film Breakthrough, provides an introduction to Fraser’s life:

Fraser initially had very little response to his work. It wasn’t until six years after his arrival in China, that the breakthrough came: in the space of four months, 600 Lisu people turned to Christ. In 1916 and 1917, he baptised 60,000 Lisu believers. He worked with them until his death, on this day in 1938.

Despite living in one of the hardest places to be a Christian, faith among the Lisu people of China is still flourishing. Of the 850,000 Chinese Lisu, 80% claim faith in Jesus. In 1986, the first complete Bible was published in their language. But the script looks strangely unusual for the part of the world where it is read – they still use a roman script based on the one Fraser developed almost 80 years earlier.

In at least 2,000 languages around the world, there are neither Bible translations or a script. Wycliffe Bible Translators are working with partners to write the languages and to make the Bible available in them, to share the love of God with people throughout the world. Get involved with God’s work of Bible translation.

*OMF International: omf.org.uk

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Posted in Asia, Missionary life, Multimedia, People | 1 Comment »

Reading the Bible with the World

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

On September 14th, we hosted the seventh Understanding the Scriptures Biblefresh* evening class. Eddie Arthur, director of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK, shared gleaned insights about how differently the Bible is read around the world.

As we listened, we were surprised by how many assumptions we make about how the Bible is read. Eddie touched on questions like,

  • How much difference does it make to hear the Bible instead of reading it?
  • How is our reading of the Bible impacted by the massive-and-growing church in the global south?
  • How does living in a highly divided or a pluralistic society impact Scriptural understanding?

And scattered throughout these thought-provoking ideas were stories both humorous and touching. You can download the talk through iTunes, or listen along with the powerpoint on our website, at wycliffe.org.uk/eveningclasses.

And if you enjoyed this, you’ll love next month’s too: ‘How to understand the meaning of a passage’ will be on Wednesday 12 October. See you there!

biblefresh logo*Biblefresh: a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Posted in BibleFresh, Evening Classes, Multimedia, Podcasts | 1 Comment »

A Togolese Adventure

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

A couple of months ago, a small group of young people headed off to Togo to visit a Bible translation project that they have been supporting and praying for through WYnet, Wycliffe’s Youth Network. One of the adventurers, Nathan, reflects:

“I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect before I went to Togo. I’d never been that far away from home before or even left Europe, so culture shock was probably unavoidable. Several things immediately hit me when I arrived: the heat, the humidity and the road safety (or lack of it!).

On the first full day in Bassar, when visiting a church, I was captivated byseeing how the church service was conducted. Although the style of sermon and the arrangement of the church were far removed from what I’m used to, the Lord was definitely working.

I enjoyed sampling a new culture, with new customs and practices. Buying from the local market was certainly a new experience! Other activities like farming and cooking traditional meals helped give a better idea of what the culture and everyday life is for people there.

Seeing how the Bible translation happened was a highlight of my time there. I had a vague idea of how Bible translation worked but having the opportunity to get hands on and fabricate some Scripture booklets was great. It made the trip worthwhile to have something to distribute to people.

The Lord has really given me enthusiasm for evangelism and world mission since this trip. I’ve been praying for Bible translation in Togo for about three years now, but this trip gave me a far better picture of the actual situation and the specific things that need prayer.

The final thing that I took away from the trip was a new appreciation for the beauty, grandeur and majesty of the world that God has created. Seeing the stunning hills and landscapes there was just amazing. It became clear to me that God made such a wonderful world because he is such a wonderful God. That was probably one of the last things I thought I would take away from the trip, but for me was actually the biggest thing I learnt and the thing I will remember most.”

WYnet are devoted to supporting Bible translation and encouraging each other in their walks with God. If you’d like to know more, visit wynetuk.org. You can support Bible translation – even if you’re not quite of WYnet age anymore – through Wycliffe Bible Translators.

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Posted in Africa, Short-term, UK | No Comments »

Calling Pray-ers

Sunday, September 18th, 2011

When The Jesus Film in the Kuo language was being shown in Chad, five men who spoke a neighboring language turned up to see the film. They couldn’t really understand Kuo, but the man sitting next to them spoke a little of their language and did some on-the-spot translation. It was a difficult task, given it was his first time seeing the film himself.

The following day, one Kuo translator had some visitors. The five men were there, asking how they could arrange to see the film again, so they could understand it better. The translator found The Jesus Film in their own language and arranged the viewing. But when he got to the venue, he was surprised to find more than just the five men – more than 100 men, women and children had turned up to see the film.

One person believed as a result of seeing the film in his own language. In fact, on average, someone in the world turns to Jesus in response to The Jesus Film every eight seconds. It has been translated into more than 1,100 languages. Find out more about The Jesus Film at jesusfilm.org.

Today, thousands of people in the UK are praying for Chad and the impact of The Jesus Film in mother tongue languages. They have been prompted to pray by our prayer diary Call to Prayer.

God is using Bible ministries, like Wycliffe and The Jesus Film, to bring people to himself. If you want to pray for work like this, you can be informed by Call to Prayer. You can read Call to Prayer on the blog sidebar, receive it by email or even read the good old fashioned paper copy. Sign up here.

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Posted in Africa, Languages, Multimedia | No Comments »

Beyond our dreams

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Niffer Davey has been working as a translation consultant with a group of languages in Nigeria for the past five years. These languages have all been simultaneously translating the gospel of Luke – in each it’s the first book of the Bible to be translated.

But the translation has not just been a matter of words on a page; the Bible is being translated into the hearts of those involved in the translation, as Niffer (left) explains:

“Even though these men were chosen as translators by their communities, they always struggled to believe that they themselves could ever actually understand the Bible. They believed that it was too difficult, too spiritually complex and too mysterious.

But their spiritual lives have been changed by understanding that God wants to communicate with them! One of the team has decided they want to go to seminary, and learn to understand the Bible more. Another now regularly preaches in his mother tongue and holds Bible studies after church, as a way to engage more deeply with the text. The translators run twice-weekly literacy classes and are committed to doing the translation work and to engaging their community for no salary whatsoever!

Plenty of challenges remain, including engaging the whole community with what they have learnt.  But the changes that have already happened have been beyond all of our dreams!”

The project Niffer is involved with is called First Gospel. It supports a language community as they develop the gospel of Luke and the Jesus Film, as well as recorded Scripture and literacy resources, for the first time in their language. You can support projects like this through First Gospel.

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Posted in Africa, People | 3 Comments »

The Bible gets personal

Monday, September 12th, 2011

The point of Bible translation is never only a book. While Wycliffe workers spend many years ensuring accurate translation of a book into a book, the point is not the book but to see lives changed, as people hear God’s word.

The Sursurunga people of Papua New Guinea have had the New Testament for little over a year, but already they have been convicted of sin that was deeply engrained in their culture. This is an account of the impact Bible truth had on their way of life:

Sursurunga people grow up with the belief that if they allow their young children to cry, evil spirits will come to take the child’s spirit, and the child will become sick and die. In order to keep their children from crying, parents start lying to their children from the day they are born.

Because of this belief, lying has become an integral part of their culture. However, when Sursurunga parents learned [...] that lying is a sin against God, they were convicted to change the way they relate to their children.

[...] One grandfather went home, called his family together, and confessed to them his sin of lying to his kids when they were small, saying that the moon would eat them if they cried. One of his daughters had started telling her kids the same lie. He picked up his 9 month old grandchild, told her he was sorry, and asked her forgiveness. He asked his whole family to do the same thing, and he prayed, asking God to cut this sin from his family. (Account written by Karen Weaver)

There’s more to this story – read more on TheWordisLife.net.

What struck me most was the radical response people had to the truth they learnt in the Bible: they were willing to forego a cultural way of life to obey God’s word. Am I willing to do the same? Do I even let the Bible get personal in my life?

Learn more about how God changes lives when his word is translated, and get involved.

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Extreme Bible Reading

Friday, September 9th, 2011

This Biblefresh* year of celebrating the 400th anniversary of the KJV has been wonderful so far, not least by the way that it has provoked people to get back into the Bible for themselves.  In the news today David Bathurst’s record-attempt exploits have been reported, which should probably carry a health warning!

World record attempt crumbles after Bible reader nods off
An effort to break the world record for reading aloud, by reading out the entire Bible, failed after the reader lost consciousness while reading Jeremiah.  (full post from Christian Today)

Despite having to take a rest on Saturday, he went on to complete his reading on the Sunday.  David is to be commended for having reached as far as Jeremiah, though he would have read these verses from Psalms along the way:

‘I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety’ Psalm 4:8
‘In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for he grants sleep to those he loves’ Psalm 127:2

So, it appears the Lord’s love overcame him in his record-breaking attempts.  Many other churches have taken up similar challenges to have Biblefresh* Bible-read-a-thons this year, and have had great fun in the process. 

Meanwhile, over 340 million people worldwide do not have access to even one verse of Scripture in their own language, and Wycliffe Bible Translators along with partners are helping to change this fact.  You can be involved.

biblefresh logo*Biblefresh: a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

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The YouTube Bible

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

As part of the celebrations of the anniversary of the King James Bible, one of the many celebratory projects that has been launched is The YouTube Bible. It’s aim is to have video of people reading every chapter in the King James Bible. That’s 1189 chapters!

Prunella Scales and Timothy West read their selections

You’d probably be surprised by the people involved. There are politicians, like Boris Johnson (Isaiah 11) and John Berkow, the Speaker of the House of Commons (Jonah 1). There are writers, including former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion (Ruth 1). Actors Timothy West (Revelation 1) and Prunella Scales (1 Samuel 16)  have contributed, as have academics Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Library, (Jonah 4) and – surprisingly – Richard Dawkins (Song of Songs 2). And Prince Charles has read John 14.

But the King James Bible wasn’t written just for the politicians and royalty. It was written for us everyday folk too. And that’s important in this project. If you are interested in contributing to The YouTube Bible, you can find out how on the website, kingjamesbibletrust.org.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible translation. But in many languages, spoken by more than 300 million people, not even one chapter of the Bible is available. As we contribute to more people hearing the KJB, we can also help more people to hear the word for the first time. Wycliffe Bible Translators are involved in translating the Bible, around the world, for people who have never heard it. Find out how you can give the Bible.

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Posted in BibleFresh, Culture, Multimedia, UK | No Comments »

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