Pray for United Kingdom

The weekend starts now, as people from across the UK travel to the GO2013 mission festival. It’s a chance to explore how God could use them in different ways around the world. Ask God to give people a heart to see the nations come to him, and pray for all the missions represented there as they answer questions and inspire enquirers. gofestival.info

Training is vital to the process of Bible translation. The training arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the United Kingdom is moving. They write, "Please pray as we establish the Centre for Linguistics, Translation and Literacy at Redcliffe College." Pray especially for a smooth process for changes in the Master's degree accreditation.

The training arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the United Kingdom is moving. Please pray as they establish the Centre for Linguistics, Translation and Literacy at Redcliffe College. Many practical details need to be put in place before July including: 1) the successful installation of what seems like miles of new library shelving at Redcliffe; 2) careful preparation by a specialist library software firm, for the incorporation of Wycliffe's library catalogue into the Redcliffe library system, and 3) the physical move of the library, physical and electronic files, furniture and equipment in early July. Thank you.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK, has been sold. Change can be very difficult and it heralds huge transitions in individual lives. Pray that God would powerfully meet all staff who are feeling low, worried and upset; that he would lift and heal their brokenness and provide miraculously for all emotional and physical needs.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK, has been sold.  Centre Services staff will carry a heavy load in the coming months as they will largely be responsible for closing up the Centre as well as continuing to accommodate conferences until the end of August and continuing to run the Centre for the office staff until November.  Please pray that the workload expected for the Centre Services staff will be achievable and that they would sense God’s grace and strength on a daily basis.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK, has been sold leaving each individual and family who currently live on Centre with just months to find new and affordable places to live.  Pray that God will provide at just the right time.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK, has been sold.  This means that many of the Centre Services staff will lose their jobs.  Please pray for new and suitable jobs to be found for each person.

The training arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK is moving.  Please pray as we establish the Centre for Linguistics, Translation and Literacy at Redcliffe College.  With the move comes a need for accreditation of Master’s Degrees from a university other than the one currently giving accreditation. Pray for a good reception of the finalised ‘validation documentation’ by the University of Gloucestershire, as they prepare to review our Linguistics and Literacy MAs in April.

The training arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK is moving.  Please pray as we establish the Centre for Linguistics, Translation and Literacy at Redcliffe College.  Praise God that some teaching staff are committed to going to Gloucester; please pray for them as they relocate.  Pray for others shortly to be invited to join the staff. Pray as well for the preparations for office space for Wycliffe staff at Redcliffe.

The training arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK is moving.  Please pray as we establish the Centre for Linguistics, Translation and Literacy at Redcliffe College.  Pray especially for good interactions with all the prospective students who are beginning to apply for the new-style Wycliffe courses at Redcliffe. Patience is needed amongst the staff of both Redcliffe College and Wycliffe as they learn together how to handle applications for the new courses.

The training arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK is moving.  Please pray as we establish the Centre for Linguistics, Translation and Literacy at Redcliffe College.  Many practical details need to be put in place before July including the successful installation of miles of new library shelving at Redcliffe, careful preparation by a specialist library software firm, for the incorporation of Wycliffe's library catalogue into the Redcliffe library system and the physical move of the library, physical and electronic files, furniture and equipment in early July.

Over the next year there will be a number of significant events relating to our work in the UK. There is always potential for confusion if we don’t communicate clearly about them. Please pray that we would help Christians understand the nature of mission and the impact of Bible translation. This isn’t just about ensuring that Wycliffe has a bright future in the UK, but also about sharing the joy and passion people experience as they read God’s word for the first time in their own language. Oh, that similar joy would be experienced in the UK by Christians!

The Communications team in the UK are currently undertaking a review of all the publications we produce. Are they helpful, do people enjoy reading them, do we produce them in an appropriate format, should we be including more stories, pictures or writing less? There are lots of questions to answer. Please pray for a good response and clear direction as we seek to do a better job of getting Christians in the UK excited about what God is doing around the world through Bible translation.

Please pray as people respond to the most recent UK appeal from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Pray for a good response so that we can continue to support Bible translation projects around the world.

The Two Week Stint will be held in France from 27^th July to 10^th August. It is designed to offer students from the UK and Europe a chance to make themselves available for God to use them and their skills in the support of overseas mission. There will be opportunities to get involved in doing creative writing, producing literacy materials, making language awareness raising posters for Sub-Saharan language groups as well as to blog, to tweet and to do some amateur dramatics. So far there are ten students enrolled. Please pray for another twenty to sign up!

The Go 2013 Festival is being held from 3-6 May 2013. The event is a combined effort of a number of mission agencies. It is designed as a long weekend to find out more about overseas mission and to enjoy good worship, fellowship and teaching.  Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK is sending several members of the Church Engagement team to be involved. Please pray that lots of people will show up, that the weather will be good and that the Lord will speak to hearts there.

Health and strength is vital for getting God’s work done, especially when workers are few. Long term illness and other family needs are stressful on all concerned, and limit time and energy for work.   Please pray for health and strength for the staff of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK and their families.  Pray for wisdom for those facing new and urgent family situations and seeking to re-balance the needs of work and family.

The world is not a safe place. British members of Wycliffe Bible Translators have recently been caught up in violent burglaries as well as strategic withdrawals from the Central Africa Republic and Mali.  Pray for wisdom for staff in leadership and personnel roles at home and overseas as they help, encourage and support members who have faced some very challenging situations.

Early summer is a busy time for the Personnel Services team of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK.  This is the time of year when many staff serving overseas return to the UK for home-leave or short visits.  Pray that returning staff will feel listened to and supported through debriefs and interactions with Personnel staff, and will be equipped to continue in the work they are doing. Pray too for wisdom and problem solving skills.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK, has been sold.  Please pray for the Personnel Services Department as they prepare for the office move.  They will need to “sort and spring clean”, and want to take the opportunity to evaluate the way they operate and see what changes should be made as they move to a new location.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK, has been sold and the training arm is moving to Redcliffe College in Gloucester.  There will be a great deal of change and extra work created by the move.  Please pray for all the staff at the Wycliffe Centre as seek to keep going with essential ‘business as usual’ as well as dealing with the move.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK. The training arm is moving to Redcliffe College in Gloucester. In addition, the Centre has been sold and the administrative offices are moving to new premises locally. Pray for the Personnel Services team as they seek to support those most affected by these changes which will include house moves, assignment changes and even some redundancies.  Pray for patience, grace, compassion and good problem solving skills.

Changes are afoot as the Wycliffe Centre, home to Wycliffe Bible Translators in UK, has been sold and the administration offices will be moving to new premises as well as the training arm moving to Redcliffe College in Gloucester.  Paul Morriss, head of the IT department says, ‘We are busy enough with day to day activity and with the extra workload imposed by the move (tidying and sorting is the first activity) it is hard to know how we will cope.'  Pray that God will provide all the necessary strength, health, manpower and problem solving skills.

The UK training arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators is moving to Redcliffe College in Gloucester. Please pray for Tim who is working on getting the linguistic software working at Redcliffe one and a half days a week.  He is working remotely and will need people available soon to test it.  It all has to be working by July and so will need to be ready for testing before that. Patrick from the IT department is working on a complicated project.  Please pray that he will be able to finish this before the move takes place.

Praise God for local volunteers who support Wycliffe Bible Translators by helping out in the UK offices.  The IT dept has recently had one such volunteer leave.  Please pray that someone else will come to take their place.

Relocation from overseas to the UK does not always feel like 'coming home'.  For a family moving back to the UK, challenges include loss of friends and familiar places, new schools, new work roles, and re-adapting to UK culture which feels as if it should be familiar but largely is not. Those leaving home and starting university often have a sense of “not fitting in”.  Such feelings can last months or even years.  Please pray for families relocating to the UK this summer.

Summer is a busy period for the Personnel Services department of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK.  Many members return from overseas for short breaks, home leave or further periods of training. Others are relocating to UK for several years.  All need input at some level, whether support, advice or debriefing from Personnel Coordinators or CHED (Children’s Education and Family Services). Please pray for strength and wisdom to meet the varying needs that the department members encounter on a day-to-day basis.

The Wycliffe Centre in the UK is partly staffed by interns.  Please pray that God would provide, at the right time, all necessary interns with willing hearts and the right skills to help run the Centre throughout 2013.

As project funding teams deliberate over allocation of funds in the coming weeks, please pray especially for the projects supported by churches and individuals in the UK: that the churches' income would be protected and that giving to world mission would remain a priority. Pray also that they would be excited by what God is doing through them around the world and that, as a result, their excitement would be infectious.

Every year members of project funding teams meet together to discuss project funding requests submitted from around the world and to commit their financial support for the next 12 months. However, this year the meetings have to take place virtually rather than face-to-face. Please pray that communication would be clear, that the process would run smoothly and that the funds would be in place to enable Bible translation to continue.