Pray for Chad

The Chadian Arabic New Testament* was recently dedicated in N’Djamena, Chad’s capital. 20,000 copies in Arabic script are now available for sale, but the container with 20,000 copies printed in Roman script has still not arrived in Chad. Having the New Testament available in both scripts will mean more people can read it in a language they understand. Pray that God will use this translation mightily to reveal Christ.

* This New Testament is a joint project of WEC International, Bible Societies and SIL International, Wycliffe's key partner.

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.

* Chadian Association of Literacy, Linguistics and Translation of the Bible.

**Moundou is the second largest city in Chad.

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!

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**.

*The Chadian Association of Literacy, Linguistics and Translation of the Bible.

** N'Djamena is the capital and largest city in Chad.

BEDJOND (Nangnda people); Chad; 142,000. The dedication of the Bedjond New Testament took place between Christmas 2012, and New Year’s Day 2013! They chose this time so they could have a harvest in order to feed all the people who were coming. Pray that the Nangnda people will use the New Testaments and be spiritually transformed. May many come to know Christ as their Savior and Lord.

GARAP; Chad; 6,000. The translation team is working toward completing the New Testament by the end of 2015. A high percentage of Garap people go to church. God has provided a new exegete for the project, and the quality of the translation has improved considerably with his help. Pray that he will continue to make good progress. Ask God to keep the team healthy, especially one translator who has recently had numerous illnesses and whose wife has not been doing well either. Pray for more openness with the Kim, a neighboring people group. The groups resent each other, but the Lord can bring reconciliation.

CHADIAN ARABIC; Chad; 896,000. The Chadian Arabic New Testament was expected to be printed in late 2012 or early 2013. Lift up its transport back to Chad, praying that it will arrive safely. Pray that the Word of God will have a tremendous impact in the lives of the Arabic-speaking community. Pray that many native Arab speakers will be touched and come to know the Lord. There are very few believers right now.

GUERGUIKO; Chad; 13,000. The Guerguiko live in the mountainous region of central Chad. The main exegete helping the team lives in another country. Ask God to provide finances for him to be able to travel to Chad twice a year. Pray for excellent progress when he does meet with them in person. Pray for the translators to carry on doing good work on their own. Pray for a consultant to be available to go over the work when the exegete is present with the team. Lift up the whole team for continued health and unity.

KUO; Chad; 15,000. Orthography changes and health have delayed the team, but typesetting is now scheduled for February 2013 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Lift up the typesetters, that all will go well. Pray for the printing that will take place in Korea, and for protection for the printed books on the long road back to Chad. Ask God to provide funding for publishing the New Testament. Pray that Scripture-use efforts will prepare the people to use the New Testaments well. And ask God to use His Word to greatly impact the Church that has been struggling in the past few years due to false teachings.

KUO; Chad; 15,000. Pray that the team members will persevere and finish the remaining translation and consultant checks in preparation for typesetting scheduled in 2012. Ask the Lord to provide funds for this final process and for safe travel to Cameroon where the typesetting will take place. Praise God for annual Scripture-use courses that encourage different denominations to use the Scriptures already available. Pray that the Holy Spirit will create a new hunger for God’s Word and that young people will continue to be interested in learning how to read.