The Journey August 2024: Wycliffe Austria celebrates 40 years

A journey through 40 years of Wycliffe Austria in the main auditorium of the new NOVUM building

Wycliffe Austria was founded in 1983, but the first two Austrians were called to join Wycliffe Germany 10 years before that. One of them was Wolfgang Binder, who in 1983 became our first and longtime director.

From 1973 onward God prepared several Austrian pastors and church members to join the Austrian Wycliffe committee which was founded in March 1979. Their job was to make Wycliffe known in Austria and prepare the founding of Wycliffe Austria as an organisation.

It was quite a surprise for me to realise that I also had been called by God even before a Wycliffe organisation existed in Austria. In 1976 I attended a Christian youth event in Salzburg, Austria, where I picked up a Wycliffe brochure at one of the info tables. I was fascinated by the possibility to combine language research with Bible translation. Later I learned that there had been no Wycliffe organisation represented at this event. However, the brochure had been there for me.

Once Wycliffe Austria was incorporated, the first 20 years were years of growing as an organisation. God provided young people, and from 1990 until 2008, almost every year a family or single was sent out from Austria to join SIL. Austrian Wycliffe members have served in Central African Republic, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania.

In 2009, we were hit by a major crisis which almost rendered us insolvent. It was a difficult time, but God carried us through. He protected the organisation, and through different donors and Wycliff organisations he provided the funds needed to continue our ministry.

From 2010 onward we struggled with the fact that no more new members joined the organisation. Looking at those years in the documentation, it became clear that we had needed these years to make sure that Wycliffe Austria was in compliance with new legal requirements and regulations.

During those years we also lost quite a few members, and it became more and more apparent that we were becoming an aging organisation, with most of the remaining members nearing retirement age. But God was still at work, providing a new, younger director to become my successor and also calling a young family to join Wycliffe. With the new director, new ideas on recruiting were implemented and have been successful.

By the way, on 29 June 2024 Again, God has provided way more than we could ever have imagined!

—Seraphin Koppler, Wycliffe Austria
https://www.wycliff.at/