Pray for technology

Pray for those attending the Recording and Media Preparation Workshop in mid-May. This will provide an opportunity for training in recording OneStory materials from Bible storying projects. Pray for good understanding, as the training will be in English, which is a second language for most of the learners. Ask the Lord for good communication between the coaches and participants so the training goes smoothly.

Work for sign language translation teams is increasing all the time and many workers feel increasingly overwhelmed and stressed. Pray especially for the Deaf editors as their work load gets very heavy, especially when they near production of Bible DVDs. Ask that God will help them to look to him to carry their burdens.

Deaf Opportunity Outreach International, a key agency in Deaf translation, has been involved in a brand new initiative: the first website of on-demand sign language Bibles. It hosts videos of more than 200 Bible stories in seven different languages. Now Deaf from Kerala in India, Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania can access Bible stories in their mother language. It makes the gospel available to over 3 million Deaf people and by the end of the summer, after the addition of more Kenya, Kerala and American Sign Language stories, it could reach up to 10 million! Pray for work next year as stories in Nigerian, Russian and another major sign language are added. Deafbibles.com

In March, the Kenyan Sign Language team launched and dedicated a complete set of 110 Bible stories on DVD. It is a great milestone: the Kenyan Deaf have waited a long time to have God’s word! Praise God for this launch.

Praise the Lord that a vernacular media team was able to complete the Abraham and Joseph Video dubbing in Kupang Malay in April. It has been turned in to the translation consultant for checking. Pray for the media team during their time in Australia (April 26 to July 17), that it will include time for rest. They also plan to record Scriptures in Kriol.

Praise God that Nico Daams and Edmond Teppuri could work together on remaining questions for the Nukumanu New Testament. Continue to pray for Edmond and his family -- for God's protection as Edmond finishes this final part of the translation and for God's guidance as he plans for the future. Pray for Paulus Kieviet as he does the typesetting in Holland.

Maia language scriptures will be dedicated on June 15th in Wagedav village of Madang Province. The book has 80% of Genesis and seven New Testament books. At the same time these books will be available on solar-powered audio-players. Praise God for His faithfulness to the translation team. And thank Him for the good community support from the community as this translation was done. Pray that many people will buy the book and player and hear God's Word and their lives will be changed.

Praise God for the faithful work of Adau and Domai, Bamu translators. Pray for the printing of Luke in the Bamu language in April, that all will go smoothly and hearts will be prepared to receive the Good News. Pray also for the translators as they record the completed Scriptures on an MP3 recorder. Pray that the recorder will work well for them. Ask God to give them a clear and natural reading of the text.

On March 6, the formal dedication of the Belize Kriol English New Testament was held in Belize City in St. John's Anglican Cathedral. The cathedral, built in 1812, was the first Anglican Church in Central America. The labor was done by slaves, the ancestors of Belize Kriol people. Now, 200 years later, they dedicated God's Word in their own language in this same church. The Belize Kriol people also have the New Testament on a dramatized audio CD. The music and sound effects make it come alive. Pray that this will be a great tool for beginning readers and those who don't read Kriol.

A Media and Distribution Consultation, held in Asia in early April, was a great success. This was the third such conference focused on harnessing the power of audio and visual media in order to help people in every language group engage with God’s Word. 225 people attended, representing 81 organizations, and visas were granted to all who applied. Around half of the participants were hands-on workers in language communities, and the other half were media service providers. Many prayers were answered as the consultation was planned and run. Praise God for new partnerships begun, new ministry products designed, and new skills acquired.