The Latest Prayer Items

Language program managers are skilled in helping translation and literacy projects move steadily toward their goals. But, if they are to be effective, they need to be life-long learners. Please pray for a training event that will be held for language program managers, 21-25 May in Germany. It will be attended by 15 participants and 4 staff working with projects in various countries of Europe and West Asia. Ask for wisdom, good health, and stamina for Margaret, the workshop leader. Pray for staff as they finalize the training modules; participants as they complete tasks in their current locations in order to be away for a week; safe travels for all; and significant learning for each person.

 Mary Pearce has coordinated 25 colorful posters based on the linguistic discoveries of Chadians during "Discover Your Language" Courses for a presentation at the World Congress of African Languages in neighboring Cameroon, August 20-24, 2012. Minority groups, who see their languages being eroded by contact with majority languages, are becoming enthusiastic about linguistics as a result. However, the promised funding for sending 10 young Chadian linguists to this conference has not materialized. Please pray that the Lord will provide the funding before May 15 for these 10 Chadians to attend this conference, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Please pray for wisdom and discernment for SIL International's Global Publishing Services management team as they make financial decisions based on a recently tightened income and expense budget. They are concerned about accomplishing the publishing ends of SIL and Wycliffe, while also paying partners for their services, website fees, printing, promotion, archiving and the distribution of materials. The Lord has a plan.

A storying use workshop was held in the Guera region of Chad from 18-20 April 2012.  The workshop trained people from six language groups to train others to run storying circles in their communities.  In a storying circle, people learn to tell oral Bible stories in the local language.  The communities concerned all have churches, although some are very small, with only few members.    Pray that the participants will be successful in training others to use the oral Bible stories effectively in their communities.  Pray that the stories will help Christians to grow in their understanding of their faith.

Scripture in audio-visual formats can be more accessible than in print form. A Christian worker reported that a local woman called to thank her for the gift of Scripture on DVD. She said it was exactly what she had wanted. Although she doesn’t have time to read, she and other women listen to the DVD while they work at home making carpets. Another family reported that when they wake up in the morning, they put on the DVD and listen to the New Testament. Later they sit and read along with the Pentateuch on the TV screen. Pray that the Holy Spirit will use the Word to bring about repentance, faith and hope in these listeners.

A translation of the New Testament is approaching completion in a language of the Mediterranean region. Consultants are currently checking drafts of the Epistles. Pray that the checking will go smoothly and result in better accuracy and clarity. Pray for the editorial committee as they make plans for a volume of Old Testament selections. The leader of the translation team is struggling with health problems and sharp criticism from some quarters. Ask God to grant him strength, health, perseverance and peace.

A team has been working for several months to develop plans for all the remaining Bible translation needs across the Mediterranean region. They hope to design structures that will facilitate strategic planning with partners and equip all those who wish to share in the work of translation. Pray that the right people will be identified to fill the leadership, administrative and technical roles in this large project. Pray that all the agencies involved will work cooperatively with each other, partnering in new ways so that each people group in this region can have God’s Word in the language that speaks to their hearts. May God be glorified as His people work together in unity.

On Friday evening, on his way home from church in Mbeya, Tanzania, Edmund Mwanawalaya was attacked, savagely beaten, robbed and left unconscious in the street.

Edmond is part of the Safwa translation team. This Thursday, with his fellow translator Amon, they were due to begin the process of checking the book of Acts with John Macaulay, a translation consultant from the UK.

Please pray for Edmund, that he would recover fully from his injuries. For his family and colleagues, who are obviously concerned for him at this time. And for the Safwa translation. It is not unusual for Bible translations to be faced with obstacles at key moments in the process, so please pray for the work of the Safwa translation team.

From April through December, a development team is hard at work on a project to devise a tool that will allow others to find out a given language's vitality. Such a vitality scale will aid communities in knowing which language would be best to achieve their changing social, cultural, political, economic and spiritual goals. The team leader writes that the team is willing but is overextended and spread over thousands of miles. Pray that God will remove obstacles and that the team will have wisdom to know what the next steps should be and how to do them.

After some anthropology meetings in Dallas, Texas, two members of the Africa Area team continued on to Baltimore, Maryland to give papers at the Society for Applied Anthropology conference. Presenting the papers was part of these two anthropologists' professional development plan in order to become consultants. Praise God, the papers were well received and the experience was very positive. It is inspiring to watch these consultants-in-training grow in their abilities to lead and teach others in the complex cross-cultural context of Africa. Pray that God will continue to work through them and their unique skills in their countries of ministry—Kenya and Mozambique.