Sixty Wycliffe Global Alliance leaders are meeting in El Salvador, May 14-16. Give thanks to God for these strategic meetings where all can be together in one place. Pray, please that: the participants will appreciate the importance of promoting Bible translation; all will understand the necessity of working in an integrated, collaborative manner; and they will commit to embracing new goals and assume major responsibilities to support Vision 2025*. Pray for the special dinner on May 14 for a group of pastors and church leaders: they will be challenged to participate actively in Bible translation.
ATALTRAB * became 20 years old on April 23. On April 28, the anniversary was celebrated throughout 37 local churches in N'Djamena and Moundou**. The vision for Bible translation was shared with this theme: "The Church in Chad faces the challenge of Bible translation." Pray that by God's Spirit, many churches will embrace the importance of mother tongue Scripture for all peoples, in Chad and beyond. About half of Chad’s language groups still need translation.
Pray for the training of members of the Board of ATALTRAB* being organized by Wycliffe Africa Area with directors Mundara Muturi and Michel Kenmogne. The training will take place May 17-20 in N'Djamena**.
Pray for translation activities in three language projects Mango, Niellim and Tunia. Mango has some portions of Scripture. So far, there is not any scripture translated into Niellim and Tunia. Pray also for the assessment of literacy classes that is taking place at this time (mid-April to mid-May) in the Ngambai project. Thank you and God bless you!
Since March, a new team has been forming to provide resources for language communities in this region. Three workers are now in place, and others are on the way. Pray for all that is involved as they begin – finding appropriate apartments, meeting local people and building friendships, doing language learning, and setting up an office. May the team develop good relationships with local people and partner agencies, and may they be a catalyst for language development and translation. In May the new team will get together to plan their work for the next few months; pray for a helpful time of team-building.
God has created intricacy and variety in nearly 7,000 languages worldwide. We honor God when we study his creation and strive to understand it. Linguistic analysis also enables good alphabet design and accurate scripture translation. A scholar is working on a number of linguistic papers, some of which are related to a language of Eastern Europe: his dissertation is in the final stages before printing; a draft paper on intonation needs extensive revision; he is also preparing to present a paper to a linguistic conference in Spain. Pray for God to guide his research and writing and to give him clear insights into how this language works.
A large team focusing on languages across this region is in the process of dividing into two groups, each associated with a smaller area. The new structure went into effect on May 1, so this is a major time of transition. There will be sadness as people leave the team they know, along with excitement about new possibilities. Pray for the two group leaders – Tracy and Roelie – that God will give them wisdom, insight, and vision as they lead their teams into new ways of working. Pray that each person involved will move forward with confidence and find fresh courage and faith in the Lord.