Serve in Bible impact

‘Our overall goal is seeing people accessing and using the Scriptures so that lives are transformed as God speaks to them.’

Katherine O’Donnell, serving with Wycliffe in Tanzania

Translating the Bible is not the main goal of Wycliffe. Rather, translation is the necessary means to the end of seeing lives changed as the word of God is understood and applied in the lives of individuals and in the life of the Church.

Bible impact specialists work alongside churches. They do so to equip and encourage people to engage with the Bible in their own languages in life-changing ways.

Skills and experience

Training is provided by the School of Language and Scripture. Scripture impact workers are often relational people. They enjoy sharing their vision and enthusiasm with Christians from a wide variety of church backgrounds.

The work of Bible impact is varied. Some examples of what Bible impact work looks like in practice are:

• Bible listening and reading groups – groups of people gather to read or listen to the Bible and discuss how they can apply God’s word to their lives
• Training church and Sunday school leaders – equipping leaders so they can engage adults and children more deeply with the Bible
• Audio Bibles – recordings of the Bible that are distributed through special media players, apps, the radio, or online
• Scripture apps – smartphone apps which combine the Bible text and audio so people can read along as they listen
• Bible storying – using selected oral Bible stories to give people with little or no biblical knowledge an overview of the Bible, and to help Christians grow in faith
• Scripture songs – connecting Scripture with local music and helping communities to create Scripture-based songs they recognise as their own and can use to worship God and share the good news
• Radio – Christian radio programmes that play the audio Bible and Scripture songs to a wide audience
• Local arts workshops – exploring how to use local art forms, like drama, to communicate Bible stories
• Trauma healing – workshops that offer hope to victims of trauma, using Bible passages to help bring healing through God’s word. Read more about trauma healing here.