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Wycliffe Bible Translators

Bible Translation

Help others to translate God's message of love into languages and lives.

Bible translation is a team effort involving both nationals and expatriates, short-termers and those who can commit to serving for longer. Translators can find themselves being challenged intellectually, physically, emotionally and spiritually as they seek to bring God's word to those who have never held or understood it.

For an expatriate, successful participation in a translation project will require:

  • A good knowledge of the local language and culture.
  • A commitment to identifying gifted mother tongue translators and training them to participate fully in the task.
  • A thorough understanding of the Scriptures, so that the original message can be communicated clearly in the local language.
  • Careful checking of the translation work to make sure it communicates accurately, clearly, and naturally.
  • Time invested in helping members of the language community read and apply the translated Scriptures for themselves.
  • Interaction with church leaders and government officials to encourage ongoing support for the project.

Outsiders involved in translation often learn the language and culture of a group by living with people and taking time to build relationships. Expatriate staff normally work as co-translators with mother-tongue speakers of the language, or serve as consultants to mother-tongue speakers who do the actual translation.

Translation work is usually carried out under Wycliffe's partner organization, SIL International and often in partnership with other national and international Bible translation organisations.

Training for translation is provided by the European Training Programme. Applicants for translation work are usually educated to degree level, have a good understanding of the Scriptures and enjoy working with people.