"A global church developing new partnerships for mission faces an impossible task, but God is the God of the impossible."
(Samuel Escobar, in The New Global Mission)

A landmass stretching more than 16,000 km from north to south, covering 11 time zones and encompassing more than 1,200 languages and countless diverse cultures and ethnic groups—this is “the new world,” the colorful collage known as the Americas.

Over recent centuries, the Americas have been flooded with immigrants, but indigenous peoples still account for about 47.5 million of the 876 million people living in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Many indigenous groups, of all sizes and with varying levels of contact with majority-language populations, have maintained their mother tongues—languages completely different from those dominant all around them.

It is in these languages, in the Americas, that Wycliffe’s work began, and Bible translation is closer to completion here than in any other region in the world—about 300 language projects are completed! Work is now progressing in 343 languages, mostly in Mexico, Brazil and Peru. Another 107 have been assessed and are waiting for translation to begin. Around 47 other languages, with the largest concentrations in Brazil and other countries of South America, still need to be surveyed to determine the translation need.

An exciting movement has begun in the Central and South American church in recent decades, as the Latin American church has stepped into the role of a missionary-sending force. Today thousands of Latin American cross-cultural missionaries are serving around the world and within Latin America. Wycliffe International is actively partnering with mission organizations in Latin America to promote the growing awareness of global missions and the worldwide Bible translation movement. Believers in the Americas are transforming their own areas and spreading the Word to indigenous people groups at home and around the world. An area once seen primarily as a mission field is now also a mission force. The combined impact of the South, Central and North American church, along with the church of the Caribbean, demonstrates the power of God as He works through His people.

“The evangelical church in Latin America continues to grow at a six percent annual rate. This represents more than seventy-five million people in 2005; this number is projected to top one hundred million by 2010. Along with Africa, it represents one of the two largest powers for cross-cultural evangelism worldwide,” writes David Ruiz, president of COMIBAM Internacional. COMIBAM Internacional—a leadership development and capacity building ministry that promotes cooperation, networking and partnership between all those involved in missions in Latin America, Hispanic North America and the Iberian Peninsula—sees partnership as central to the future of missions. Wycliffe and its partners throughout the Americas are inviting the whole Church to become a missional church, focused on sharing God's Word and passionate about seeing lives transformed by His power.