The Latest Prayer Items

Focusing on Vision 2025, SIL and the Wycliffe Global Aliance 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.

In August 2011, many prayed for the Lord's blessing on the second Trauma Healing workshop in a series of three. Please pray now, during the second half of February, for the last workshop in the series. The purpose is to teach leaders to tell Bible and contemporary life stories. The selected stories help people who have been traumatized by war and its resulting instability to re-enter their communities and daily lives.

Brian Schrag, International Ethno-Arts Coordinator, requests prayer for the Ethnomusicology and Arts meeting of international leaders in Dallas, March 13-16. At this meeting, the leaders will reformulate current field strategies and training using a new book entitled 'Worship and Mission for the Global Church: an Ethnodoxology Handbook' that will be published and made available at Urbana 2012. The leaders will also develop a five-year plan for ethno-arts comprehensive projects, and develop web content on sil.org and other websites.

The Cishingini New Testament, the third of three in the Kambari Cluster project*, is going through its last translation checks before being sent to the printer. This involves almost a year of intensive checking based in the United States. Two Cishingini mother-tongue translators have left their families in Nigeria in order to work with their U.S. project advisors to see this Scripture check completed. The final stages of producing New Testaments often involve spiritual opposition, so your prayers are vital during this time. Ask God to bless the relationships between the translators and project advisors, despite the stress created by intensive work.

*The Kambari Cluster project is comprised of three languages, Tsikimba, Tsishingini and Cishingini. The New Testaments in the first two languages have been completed.

Please join Wycliffe Associates UK as they fast and pray, asking God to identify their new director. The current director will finish her term during 2012. Qualifications include: deep Christian commitment, vision for world mission, confidence to interact at director-level with other organizations, networking skills, leadership ability and experience, communication skills, ability to guide the administration, self-discipline and enthusiasm. Ask that the person the Lord is leading will hear and obey. The organization's name is changing to MissionAssist, the new working name of Wycliffe Associates UK, a charity registered in England and Wales. Contact trustchair@wa-uk.org for more information.

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.

Pray February 7-9 for a meeting where leaders try to work out a Memorandum of Understanding. That memorandum will be a key to the use of the Elementary school Bible curriculum (Christian Life Skills) in Kenyan schools. There are potentially 20,000 schools involved including more than eight million elementary pupils. When the lessons were used on a pilot basis in a few schools, the results were very positive. Imagine the transformation that can take place when they all are learning the Word of God, and applying it to their lives. Pray for the outcome that is most in line with God's will.

In Panama, a translation partner organization, PAAM, has been praying for God to send more workers into Bible Translation. They have one new candidate for CILTA  2013. Pray for her as she uses this year to raise funds, for God's provision, and for grace, strength, and wisdom. Another person has joined PAAM to coordinate the area of Promotion of the Scriptures in Use. In recent months he has been working hard, visiting and encouraging other indigenous leaders. This brother is also finishing the revision of the Old Testament in Kuna. Pray that God will continue to work through him mightily and bless him with health and strength.

PAAM - Panamanians Reaching the World

CILTA - International Course in Linguistics, Translation, and Literacy in Lima, Peru.

Two teachers encountered many difficulties on a trip they had to make on the Napo River last year. Now in mid-February, they are scheduled to make another trip on the same river. Pray for the teachers who will spend a month in the village of their destination to check stories for comprehension. Thank God: the students with whom these teachers work are learning the skills necessary to do Bible translation in their own language, Napo Quechua. Please pray that God's protection will be over all the logistical details, coordination of the people who are to be involved in getting them to their destination, and their health and safety. 

Please pray for an important global gathering 20-24 February called the International and Area Language Programs Consultation. Pray that as a result of the meetings all the participants will better understand current trends and challenges and have fresh ideas on how to be more effective in language development and Bible translation. Pray for safe travels for SIL and Wycliffe organization staff coming to Dallas from Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America and the Pacific.