Global Connect 2021 - Event handbook
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
News
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05/2025 Global
05/2025 Global
‘We’ve come very far, very fast’
A tech observer outlines what AI will mean soon for workplaces and ministry
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Global
Tech pioneer: Christians ‘have to show up’ for AI
Silicon Valley pioneer Pat Gelsinger was CEO of Intel Corporation until December 2024. Quickly realising his career in technology was not finished, he joined the faith/tech platform Gloo in early 2025 as the executive chair and head of technology. He is also a general partner at the venture capital firm Playground Global. Gelsinger was instrumental in the development of cloud computing, Wi-Fi, USB and many other everyday technologies. He estimates his work has touched 60 to 70 percent of humanity. Here are highlights of his keynote talk at the 2025 Missional AI Summit. You can watch his entire talk here. Pat Gelsinger (left) is interviewed onstage by Steele Billings. Both are with Gloo. Watch the full interview here. Is technology good or bad? Technology is neither good nor bad. It’s neutral. It can be used for good. It can be used for bad. … If you think back to the Roman roads, why did Christ come when he came? I’ll argue the Pax Romana and the Roman roads. … The greatest technology of the day was the Roman road system. It was used so the Word could go out. Historical example I will argue Martin Luther was the most significant figure of the last thousand years. And what did he do? He used the greatest piece of technology available at the day, the Gutenberg printing press. He created Bibles. … He broke, essentially, the monopoly on the Bible translations …. He ushered in education. He created the systems that led to the Renaissance. That’s a little punk monk who only wanted to get an audience with the pope because he thought he had a few theological errors. I’ll argue (Luther was) the most significant figure of the last thousand years, using technology to improve the lives of every human that he touched at the time. How today compares to the dawn of the internet AI is more important. AI will be more significant. AI will be more dramatic. … This is now incredibly useful, and we’re going to see AI become just like the internet, where every single interaction will be infused with AI capabilities. In the 75-year-or-so history of computing, we humans have been adapting to the computer. … With AI, computers adapt to us. We talk to them. They hear us. They see us for the first time. And now they are becoming a user interface that fits with humanity. And for this and so many other reasons that every technology has been building on the prior technology, AI will unquestionably be the biggest of these waves, more impactful even than the internet was. On the need for AI development to be open-source It is so critical because we’re embedding knowledge, embedding values, embedding understanding into those underlying models, large language models and every aspect that happens. It must be open, and this is part of what I think is critical about us being together here today. We need to be creating trusted, open, useful AI that we can build humanity on. On the need for Christians to help build AI systems We have to show up as the faith community to be influencing those outcomes, because remember what happened in the social media. We didn’t show up, and look at what we got. So are we going to miss this opportunity for something that’s far more important than social networking with AI? Where it truly in the models embeds every aspect of human history and values into it? We have to show up, team. What we do with large language models is far more important because truly we are choosing how we embody knowledge of all time into those underlying models. They need to be open. They need to be trusted. What Christians must bring to the process If we’re going to show up to influence AI broadly, we have to show up with good engineering, good data, good understanding, good frameworks. How do you measure things like ‘Is that leading to better character? Is that leading to better relationships? Is that creating better vocational outcomes? Is that a valid view of a spiritual perspective?’ We need good underlying data associated with each one of these. And for that we’re actively involved. We’re driving to create that underlying data set. Because we need to show up with good data if we’re going to influence how AI is created. How should this work? For the AI systems we need to create good benchmarks. If I ask about God, does it give me a good answer or not? If I ask about relationships with my children, does it give me good answers? We need to create the corpus of data to give good answers to those questions. And, armed with that good data, we need to show up to influence the total landscape of AI. We want to benchmark OpenAI. We’re going to benchmark Gemini. We’re going to benchmark Claude. We’re going to benchmark Copilot. This is what we’re going to do at Gloo, but we want to be part of a broader community in that discussion so that we’re influential in creating flourishing AI. Technology is a force for good. AI that truly embeds the values that we care about, that we want to honour, that we want to be representing into the future and benchmarking across all of them. Oh his role with Gloo We are going to change the landscape of the faith community and its role in shaping this most critical technology, AI, for faith and flourishing. That’s what we’re going to do at Gloo and we need all of your help and partnership to do so because if we don’t hang together, we’re not going to influence the outcome, right? ‘Here am I, Lord’ I don’t think I’m done. … You and I both need to come to the same position like Isaiah did. Here am I, Lord. Send me. Send me. Send us. That we can be shaping technology as a force for good. That we could grab this moment in time. This is the greatest time to live in human history. We’re going to solve diseases. We’re going to improve lives. We’re going to educate every person in poverty. We are going to solve climate issues. We are going to be using these technologies to improve the lives of every human on the planet. We are going to shape technology as a force for good. Here am I, Lord. Send me. ••• Story: Jim Killam, Wycliffe Global Alliance Translated with ChatGPT. How was the translation accuracy? Let us know at info@wycliffe.net. Alliance organisations are welcome to download and use images from this series.
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