The Latest Prayer Items

Ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up more Papua New Guineans to step forward to train as translators, literacy workers and administration/management staff. There is a huge need for trained translation consultants in particular. And pray for the right person with training and experience to take up finance and human resource development.

The implementation of a mother tongue project in schools ends in July 2014. In the coming year the teams need to know what steps are needed to increase the sustainability of the project. Ask God that the local Department of Education continue to fund materials production and teacher training after the end of the project. A final evaluation of the project by representatives of the national government has been discussed. Pray that God would open the door for this, and that the result would be an easing of restrictions by the government on further work in the country.

One goal of a partner organisation is to train local pre-schoolers to be a new generation of learners who think and read critically so they can actively choose what they believe. The Bible is also being translated into the local language, so pray that these children will be able to read Scripture and make personal application from God's Word.

Two partner organizations are developing mother tongue based preschool education in a remote province. Please join the prayers that:
*God will use the program to help increase the local level of education
*Students will become active critical thinkers
*The preschool teachers will teach effectively and the children will learn well
*The local partner will have enough staff to meet the growing needs.

The final cycle of materials creation for the Local Content in Schools project begins in August, this time for Grade 6. In order to increase the difficulty level of the texts, this years' texts are not locally authored, but translated from the national language. Please pray for wisdom for the team member who will be selecting these texts, that they will be interesting and relevant to the children. The translation workshop wil take place in late July or early August, pray for the preparations. Ask God that one team member can quickly develop the draft competencies so they are Grade-level appropriate.

A "Local Content in Schools" project has been underway in 16 primary schools in two languages for the past three years. Grades 2, 3, and 4 already have materials, and Grade 5 books are currently being proofread for final edits. Some additional illustrations are needed for the Grade 5 materials. Please pray for the team in charge: for unity, clear communication, diligence and patience. Pray that the illustrations and the books will be ready before the end of July, when things slow down for a long holiday.

On September 4-8 approximately 35 linguists, and others, will be meeting in the Netherlands to discuss Linguistic issues. The meeting is called “Consider Linguistic Issues Carefully” (CLIC), Linguists will be focusing on linguistics training for national translators, and addressing other key issues relating to linguistics.  Pray for all the logistics, and pray for good discussions with wise and fruitful conclusions.

Various celebrations honoring the publication of two New Testaments in related languages will take place in Mexico on June 20, 21, and 22. The celebrated books are the San Jeronimo Mazatec and the Eloxochitlan Mazatec New Testaments. The dedication events will be held in the village areas. The main event, called Festival of the Mazatec Language, will be a secular event involving the schools. There will also be some smaller events in the local churches on those same days. Pray that the ceremonies will bring glory to God and will bless these two Mazatec communities.

Please pray for people living in Yida Refugee Camp on the border of South Sudan and Sudan. Pray too for workers from several organizations* and hosted by Samaritan's Purse who are there ministering healing from trauma through June 11. People from seven language groups are covering topics like "conflict" and "preparing for trouble." One of the language groups, Shatt, has no Scripture in their language. They are learning the writing system of their language and are eager to begin writing their stories. The conditions are far from easy. While the ministry teams have been there, there have been strong rain and sand storms. The workshop will end. But the needs of the people will not end soon. Please keep them in your hearts and prayers.

*The Seed Company, the Bible Society of South Sudan and SIL

Pray with PROEL (Wycliffe  in Spain) for an upcoming Mission Vision Day for Bible Translation. Members of a partner organization that works in limited access areas will join PROEL at the Iglesia Agua de Vida de La Vaguada in Madrid on June 15th. Together they will present an all-day program about missions, Bible translation, and the linguistic and translation training opportunities they offer. Ask God to use the event to inspire vision for His mission in participants.