Dear Friends:

Welcome to Global Connect 2021!

We hope you are encouraged and challenged by what you experience over the next few days.

The aim of Global Connect is not to develop a new strategy for the Global Alliance, but to reflect on what God has been doing through the Alliance and some of the challenges and situations we face.

My hope is that you will be able to discuss the content of Global Connect with others in your own organisation, and also with friends and partners from other organisations. And then, having collected those thoughts, to record them (either written or on video) and send them to me at phil_prior@wycliffe.net.

These notes will be shared among the Alliance leadership team, and highlights compiled into a report that I hope will be available to all Alliance organisations in early 2022. This is a way for us to share our thoughts, hear from each other and learn together, even while international travel remains heavily restricted.

This guide will provide an overview of the event and some starter questions for your conversations—though, you are welcome to develop your own questions as the Lord leads you.

With the exception of the opening ceremony and the worship songs, you are welcome to continue to use and share all the material in the weeks after the event.

Timing

• All times for the videos are shown in [hh:mm].
• There is a suggested time for each discussion, this is to help you plan. However, if you need to make these times shorter or longer you are welcome to do so.
• Break times you can schedule as necessary.

Suggestions for running your own event

• Please manage your own schedule for Global Connect. With the exception of the Opening Celebration, you can watch the videos and hold the discussions at a time that works for you.
• All videos are available for download. If you have unreliable internet access, it may be beneficial to download the videos in advance and show them locally.
• All videos have been subtitled into English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Indonesian.
• The text files used for the subtitles are also available from the website, should you wish to provide additional translations.
• Each day has time set aside for discussion. We hope you are able to meet with colleagues and friends to share your reflections on what you have heard.
• The following schedule is a suggestion of how you can run this event. Please read through the details of the week and consider where you will need to make adjustments to suit your local situation.

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Monday

1: Opening Celebration [01:00]

Download the video in English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Break

2: Stephen’s Address [00:21]

Download the video in English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Stephen Coertze is the Executive Director of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.

Discussion 

• What stands out to you from Stephen’s address?
• What would you like to hear more about?
• If you had the opportunity, what would you ask Stephen?

Please pray about what you hear in Stephen’s address.

Please take notes from your discussions. At the end of the week, send them to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

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Tuesday

3: Devotion and song [00:10]

Download or stream the devotion in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Alliance board member Rev. Dr. Bambang Widjaja from Indonesia leads our devotion.

Pray [00:10]

Pray as appropriate for today and anything relevant to your personal/organisational situation.

4: Introduction to Bible translation day [00:04]

Download or stream the video in English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Bryan Harmelink and Paul Kimbi introduce our focus on Bible translation.

5: Bible translation

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

This video is broken into three sections looking at The Journey of the Alliance, Stories About Bible Translation and Aspects of the Movement. After each section, you will be asked to pause, discuss what you have heard and pray about the topics covered.

- The Journey of the Alliance [00:20]

• The development of the Philosophy Statement: Paul Kimbi
• Realization of the direct role of the Alliance in BT programs: Bryan Harmelink
• Board directives revisted: Agnes Lid

Discussion [00:20]

Pray about what you heard and discuss what stands out to you and why.

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

Break

- Stories about Bible translation [00:41]

• Tefera Endalew - Executive Director - Wycliffe Ethiopia
• Fajak Avajani - Director - Episcopal Church of Sudan Translation Dept. (ECSTD)
• Luis Cervantes - Director of AIDIA - Perú
• Ayu Suwandi - Director, Pusat Penerjemahan Alkitab (PPA) GMIM - Indonesia
• Ruben Dubei - Executive Director - Wycliffe Romania

Discussion [00:20]

Pray about what you heard and discuss what stands out to you and why.

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

Break

- Aspects of the Movement [00:40]

• Oral Bible translation
  • Swapna Alexander - Lead Bible Translation Consultant - Faith Comes by Hearing
• Sign Language translation
  • Mark Sorenson - International Translations Director, DOOR International - USA
  • Rob Myers - President & CEO, DOOR International - USA
• Consultant care team (Asia-Pacific):
  • Barry Borneman / Simon Wan / Poh San Kwan / Evelyn Gan

Discussion [00:20]

Pray about what you heard and discuss what stands out to you and why.

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

Close

To give the topic of Bible translation the attention it deserves, we've extended the coverage to include two additional Bible translation-themed sessions on Wednesday.

Pray about all you have heard and discussed today.

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Wednesday

6: Devotion and song [00:11]

Download or stream the devotion in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Alliance board member, Rev. Dr. Bambang Widjaja from Indonesia leads our devotion.

Pray [00:10]

Pray as appropriate for today and anything relevant to your personal/organisational situation.

Process check [00:15]

Is there anything that you discussed yesterday that you need to revisit?

The next two sessions were originally planned to be part of the Bible translation day. They are included today to allow more time for discussion.

7: Bible Translation Programs Philosophy [00:08]

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Download or view the Bible Translation Programs Philosophy in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Paul Kimbi gives some background to the Bible Translation Programs Philosophy and encourages us to think through the implications.

Discussion [00:20]

• How do you factor transformation into the Bible translation programs you manage?
• What does a successfully transformed community look like?
• Who do you collaborate with on these programs?
• following on from the previous question, how is that collaboration, and do you share the same vision?

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

8: Impact of COVID-19 on Bible Translation [00:15]

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Keyeh Emmanuel, Executive Director, CABTAL, reflects on the positive and negative impact of COVID-19 on his organisation.

Discussion [00:20]

• What are the challenges that you, and your organisation, have faced during this season?
• Are there new things that you have discovered during this time that you want to keep doing in the future?

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

Break

For the rest of today and Thursday, we present a short series of podcast messages from Mark Sayers and Liddy Pickens of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia. These are intended as springboards to further conversation, so listen critically, thinking about what you agree with, or disagree with, and why.

9: Introduction to the Networked World [00:25]

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

10: Implications of a Networked World [00:18]

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Discussion [01:00]

• What were the industrialised influences - the hubs of power - that have shaped your culture and society, your community, your organisation?
• Mark states, “We are now in a flatter, more connected world, where power is more distributed”.
  • Is this true in your context?
  • How has this shift impacted you and your organisation?
  • How are the cultural shifts in the rest of the world impacting your society and your work?
• What does your network look like?
• Where are the connections?
• Are there parts of your organisation that are unconnected?

Pray about the future. Where God may be taking us. Ask him to show us the way forward, where we need to be open to seeing the new things he’s doing in a new way.

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

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Thursday

11. Devotion and song [00:11]

Download or stream the devotion in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Alliance board member, Rev. Dr. Bambang Widjaja from Indonesia leads our devotion.

Pray [00:10]

Pray as appropriate for today and anything relevant to your personal/organisational situation.

Process check [00:15]

Is there anything that you discussed yesterday that you need to revisit?

12: Power issues [00:21]

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Discussion [00:30]

• How has power shifted in your organisation, or between those you work with?
• What are the implications of this for yourself and those you work with?
• Are there places where you have lost or given up power, where you can now see God being at work? Or areas where power has drained away, or you feel powerless, where you could look for God bringing renewal?

Pray about our attitudes to power, especially where these have damaged relationships. Pray about where power has been lost and where God may be at work doing something new.

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

Break

13: Complexity and chaos [00:21]

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Discussion [00:30]

• How have you seen connections bring more instability and complexity into your networks?
• How are your networks attacked and what are the implications?
• Are you aware of unhealthy competition in your networks? What is a godly response to this?

Pray for each other and how we respond to instability and complexity

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

Break

14: Transforming radical individualism [00:24]

Download or stream the video in: English | Spanish | French | Portuguese | Indonesian

Discussion [00:20]

• How is individualism affecting your organisation and your networks?
• In the midst of competing networks and individuals, how are you discerning the future?

Pray for your organisation, your networks and the Alliance. Ask God to bring forward any final thoughts that you should share or record.

Please take notes from your discussions. What questions, comments and ideas stood out? At the end of the week send notes to phil_prior@wycliffe.net

Close

Pray for what has been discussed and shared this week.

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Friday

Meeting with Stephen Coertze

For Executive Directors and Presidents of Alliance organisations. This has been arranged by each Area Director.

Notes

Please ensure you send any notes for the week to phil_prior@wycliffe.net. We will compile these notes and identify global and regional themes, questions and responses, then share them with Alliance organisations.

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A Missional Leadership History

The Journey from Wycliffe Bible Translators to the Wycliffe Global Alliance

Coming soon from Regnum, Oxford; estimated publication date: April 2022. To be available in print and e-book.

This book draws from chronological records and first-hand reports spanning from 1942, and the formation of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the US, through 1980 and the emergence of Wycliffe International,  to 2011 and the founding of Wycliffe Global Alliance,  and concluding in 2020,the first year of Covid-19 and the Alliance’s first executive-level leadership transition. The book places the narrative of Wycliffe in the context of current events, church history and organizational leadership trends. It invites the reader to reflect on what it means to participate in God’s mission of redemption and restoration. It also provides insights into how mission leaders have grappled with the evolving dynamic of the global church, responding appropriately in ways that ultimately altered the very fabric of what the original leaders had created. The book offers a unique historical and missiological exploration of how leaders made decisions that affected the practice, direction and future of a major mission movement.