A Bible translation for a large language group of Asia should be completed within two years. However, over two million speakers of a southern dialect of this language have nothing from the Bible yet in written form. They live in a neighboring country and use a different script. In 2011 the Gospel of Matthew was adapted into this second dialect. A few trial copies have been distributed. Please pray that God will prepare people's hearts, that even this first portion of God's Word will bear fruit, and that a team will soon be formed to work on the whole Bible.
Pray for the Urat team to make great progress in Bible translation this year. They have completed the first draft of the New Testament and are working through the many details of checking and correcting the manuscript. Ask the Lord to protect the team from any hindrance to their progress. Pray for a positive and healthy working team spirit amongst them.
A strong hunger to read the New Testament in their own language has surged among the Buglere of Panama. Two leaders of the group have visited various distinct communities and the response has been incredible. Everyone wants to have a New Testament in their own language and read it. This is an answer to many years of prayer and a new motivation to pray. Ask that God will speak to the hearts of the Buglere through the power of His Spirit.
Focusing on Vision 2025, SIL and the Wycliffe Global Alliance America initiated “The Comprehensive Project: Passing the Torch,” in 2009. The first three years of the project are completed. Now it is time to evaluate it. In February, a process of evaluation will be initiated and will continue for 8 months. Some of the participating organizations will help to compile the information, so that it may be evaluated to see if everything is moving forward to reach the proposed goals. Pray for this process: for the flights, the schedules and the interviews of those involved and for the compilation of the data for the final results.
Pray for translation teams who have had to leave their field assignment due to health problems. Pray that they will experience God’s healing and provision. Pray against discouragement and that God’s spirit will continue to be at work in those projects that have been put on hold.
As a team works on translating the Bible into another language, their work is checked by a translation consultant. The consultant makes sure that the translation is both accurate and easy to understand by readers. In Burkina Faso, as in many other countries in Africa, there are not enough consultants to keep up with the amount of Scripture that is being translated. There are currently two trained consultants and two consultants-in-training. ANTBA* desires to train all its project leaders as consultants, but this requires enough trained consultants to mentor them. Pray for the development of consultants in Burkina Faso and throughout Africa.
Praise God for the Bible translated into peoples' mother tongues, which has brought knowledge of the truth to many. In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, the Episcopal Church of the Sudan Diocese of Khartoum Bible Translation Department (ECSTD) and the Bible Society of Sudan continue to work faithfully to translate the Scriptures into the languages of the north. There are ten translation projects ongoing, including two Old Testament projects. In Juba, South Sudan’s capital, there are another ten projects translating the Scriptures into languages of the south. Pray for good progress of the Dinka Cam Old Testament. The Dinka people comprise the largest tribe in South Sudan.