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By Pearle At the age of 32, Pearle left Singapore to serve in South Asia. She shares with us how her journey really began long before she realised, and how God led her step by step into the mission field. 1. Can you introduce yourself, where have you been serving and for how long? Hi, my name is Pearle*. I have been with Wycliffe serving in South Asia since Nov 2013. 2. What led you to the mission field? I grew up in a multilingual family. When I was a teenager, my family moved from Hong Kong to Singapore. For a long time, I struggled with my identity and found it challenging to have to study and express myself using English, which was a foreign language to me. That gave me a little taste of the kind of struggles and challenges probably faced by the minority language groups. Because of that, the minority language groups always have a special place in my heart. God first put the desire to be involved in Wycliffe’s work in my heart through an issue of Yi Jing Xing back in 2001, when I was about to enter university and was seeking God’s purpose in my life. That issue called for people to participate in various roles to bring God’s word to the unreached people groups in their heart languages. I was challenged by the call. From my own experience, I know that people’s lives can only be transformed and set free if they know who the true God is by knowing His Word. So, I prayed and responded to God’s call that night. However, it wasn’t until 12 years later that I set foot on the mission field and started serving. Looking back, I recognise that God has His good plan and good timing to equip me mentally, emotionally and spiritually for my serving in South Asia. 3. Why did you decide to work with literacy and multilingual education? I actually knew nothing about literacy and multilingual education (MLE) for children when I first got interested in Wycliffe’s ministries. My passion and burden in adult literacy and multilingual education for children among the minority groups grew over time. I used to think that I must become a Bible translator in order to be involved in Wycliffe’s work. So, I thought I might have mistaken God’s call when I realized my strength is more in applied linguistics. After completing my studies, I asked for a short-term mission opportunity to explore other areas of Wycliffe’s ministry to be certain of God’ call. It was during my 10 weeks in Bangladesh that God introduced me to Wycliffe’s work in literacy and multilingual education, and helped me realise that this is where I can fit in with this big Kingdom project picture. God has a good plan for each of us. He subsequently gave me an opportunity to work in a local adult literacy programme to gain some working experience. During those years, I kept in touch with Wycliffe members serving in multilingual education and joined their work for short trips so as to familiarise myself with this area of ministry. South Asia contains many minority language groups who still live in a dominantly monolingual environment. They have limited access to the Scriptures and education in a language they can understand. When I heard that South Asia has a great need for this area of ministry, and I had a chance to visit to see the needs first hand, I decided to go to South Asia. 4. What are some challenges that you face in your work? I work with multiple language groups in our literacy and multilingual education ministries. We often face unpredictable changes due to weather, local political and social situation and resource constraints. Also, each group or even individual has their unique worldview, culture and ways of thinking and doing things. That calls for humility, patience and readiness to embrace uncertainties and approach matters with an open heart and mind. It also requires me to understand the unique needs of each group and be flexible so that I can contextualise our ministries to fit their contexts and support our local partners more effectively. It has been a great learning experience for me thus far to realise my own shortcomings and witness how God is working in my life and also in the country to accomplish His purpose. All our projects are in the remote areas with challenging terrain. Landslides and road closure is frequent especially during monsoon season. Besides, people are engaged in subsistence agriculture and animals raising. This narrows the window period when we could visit them, conduct training workshops or implement literacy classes. It also urges us to learn to be sensitive to God’s leading and grasp the opportunities when they come, take each step in faith and trust God to lead and open doors even when we do not necessarily have all the resources we need at that moment. 5. What are some encouraging moments in your ministry? There is a parent representative who joined our ongoing discussions and workshops for a new multilingual education programme. He did not have a chance to go to school when he was young, so he picked up simple reading and writing skills through friends after he grew up. At the closing of our first curriculum workshop, he shared with us excitedly that for ten years, he had been dreaming that one day his children could learn well and his illiterate wife could also read and be involved in their children’s education. As he heard about the multilingual education programme, he was very excited because finally he saw that his dream was not a wishful thought but it could come true. He has been participating actively in our subsequent material development workshop. It touches my heart to see that God answers this parent’s heart desire and enables him to be part of the team that contributes to the programme and make his dream come true. Most of an adult bilingual literacy programme participants are women who have received no or very little education previously. Many of them were not only illiterate, but they also could not understand or speak the national language. Because of that, in the past a lot of them did not dare to mingle with people from other language communities. They also did not know how to access public health service because they could not read to access information on the posters and pamphlets. It was encouraging to see them speak with confidence in front of a crowd at the end of the literacy programme, that they not only picked up basic reading and writing skills, but also found their identity and were empowered to express their thoughts confidently in front of people. We also saw many minority language group children in our multilingual education programme blossomed and integrated well into the mainstream national language medium education system as they grew up. That was a drastic contrast from the timid young children they once were, who could not understand or speak the national language when they first came to school. It reminds me that each of them is created uniquely in the image of God and they are precious in God’s sight. And this is what we would like to see – people finding hope and experiencing transformation and wholeness in their lives physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually. 6. What would you tell someone who is thinking about missions? When I first started thinking about missions as a late teen, I was impatient and eagerly wanted to start the journey and go to the field as soon as possible. Over the years, I have come to realise that actually the journey started from the moment I was born (Ps 139:13-16). It is good to look back to our past and discover what God has been doing in our lives through our family, our studies, training and life experience to get to know ourselves. You would be surprised to see how God has used every moment of our lives to mould us and equip us to become who He wants us to be and be ready for the purpose He has set in our lives (Eph 2:10). To run this journey well, we need companions and supporters to come alongside us. So, share your thoughts with your pastors and people who are spiritually mature and know you well. They can journey with you to ascertain God’s calling in your life and when is the right time to go. If you have already developed specific interest and burden for a people group, a place or a type of ministry, start a conversation with people involved in those areas to find out more information about the field. I find it helpful to be able to go on several short-term trips (e.g. a few weeks to a few months) to expose myself to cross-cultural living, start building relationships with people, and develop a realistic picture of life and ministry in the field. This would also help you know yourself more in the process – your strengths and weaknesses, blind spots, concerns, your limitations – to make informed decisions and thrive in the field for long term. 7. How can we pray for you? I will start my second term of assignment from April 2017 and continue with my existing ministries. It is my desire to widen and deepen my relationship building with both international and local friends. Pray for me to find a good balance between work, rest and relationship building and keep a close walk with God. I would appreciate your prayers for me and my colleagues to have wisdom and good understanding to support our local partners, journey with them and build them up effectively too. Thanks! *Names have been changed for security reasons

by Vera “If God had told me on the very day I became a Christian that one day He would send me to the Philippines to translate the Word of God for a special people group, I would have cried out, ‘That’s impossible!’ This is the incredible story of the Obo Manobo New Testament. The Gospel came to the Obo Manobo people in the late 1930’s. However, it took more than 70 years before they finally have the New Testament in their heart language.” “I am thankful that through Bible translation, God is transforming lives, equipping His church and discipling a nation.” In 1989, I, Vera, together with Ena, an American colleague, was assigned to begin a translation project among the Obo Manobo people in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. For over twenty years, we lived among the people in Sayaban, a small village on the slope of Mt Apo. The Manobo people are estimated to number at least 70,000, residing in six different districts. The Manobos were ashamed of their language and ethnic identity. They were looked down upon by other majority groups. We soon found out that although over 80 percent of the Manobo people claimed to be Christians, they were still living in fear of the spirits around them and steeped in witchcraft and superstitions. Many did not have a personal relationship with God or known Jesus as their personal Saviour. As a result, these people lived in constant fear of being harmed by evil spirits whom they called “owners of the caves, lakes or forests”. During those days, a Manobo would not dare to travel alone to another Manobo village unless they have a relative or friend living there. They were afraid that as strangers, they might get killed by “lambus”, a kind of poison concocted by sorcery. They were not able to overcome their fears as they did not know the truths in the Bible. They did not have the Bible in their own language. They often did not understand the Bible when it was read in English or in Cebuano, the trade language. Children parroted their Sunday school memory verses in perfect English but they rarely understood the meaning of the words they had memorised. Churches sang Christian hymns in English on Sundays. Once, I was surprised when a worship leader pointed at the words in the lyrics under “Onward Christian Soldiers” and asked me what does “triumph” means in Manobo. Pastors were afraid to address the issues of sorcery practised by members in the church. The Manobo believers were weak because they have no firm foundation in the Word of God. In the early years, it was difficult for us to find leaders with integrity to help in the translation work. It was very discouraging when Manobo Christians whom we worked with fell into moral sin one after another. There were times I was tempted to throw in the towel, but God encouraged me to persevere with His promise in Isaiah 55:10-13: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; Instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Even though in the eyes of the world, the Manobo people were despised like the thorn and the brier, but God loves them so much that He sent us to translate His Word of Life into their heart language. They were uneducated, floundering in fear and poverty yet God’s desire was for them to become a people for His own possession, that they may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light. To effect changes and transformation in the lives of the Manobos, we started a local inter-church organsation called Obo Manobo Active Language Resource and Community Development, Incorporated (OMALRACDI) in 1998 to take ownership of the work among the people, providing training for literacy teachers, pastor’s seminars, identifying and establishing income generating projects to fund literacy and distribution of the translated scriptures to the remote areas. Many Manobos live in remote hinterlands, far away from any public school, so about 40% are non-literates. Literacy work is needed to help people learn to read in order that one day they may read God’s Word. To date, over 3,000 adults have graduated from a basic literacy course. OMALRACDI has had classes held in over 100 sitios (small villages) from 30 barangays (usually a barangay has several smaller villages), covering eight municipal districts. The Manobos love music and dance but are not avid readers. One of the ways to plant God’s Word deeply into their hearts is through multimedia. In July 2009, a radio programme was established, broadcasting Christian music and scripture reading in the vernacular once a week. The Jesus film and Genesis have also been dubbed into Manobo and widely distributed. By God’s grace the Obo Manobo New Testament (NT) was completed in 2010 and dedicated on 22 October 2011. It was a joyful day for the Manobo people and also for us and those who have been faithfully supporting us behind the scene, fellow colleagues in the field and back home, and financial and prayer partners. 7,000 copies were printed and to date, over 6,000 copies of the NT have already been distributed into the hands of the Manobo people, many of them living in remote areas. This was done through the efforts of co-workers Beth and Brian Schwartz. Last year the Obo Manobo NT was audio recorded by co-workers from “Faith Comes By Hearing”. Working closely with the Manobo literacy teachers, Beth has also started distributing the audio form of the NT beginning this year. My recent visit to the Manobo has been a real joy as I witnessed the fruits from past years of sowing the Word of God. Since its inauguration in 1998, OMALRACDI has finally matured as an organisation with godly leadership. Also, since 2014, OMALRACDI conducts annual Obo Manobo Discipleship Bible Training Course for those who desire to learn God’s word. One of my highlights was sharing at a local church in Kidapawan. Since the New Testament dedication, this church holds two worship services every Lord’s Day. The second service is fully conducted in Manobo. I could see that the believers were full of joy singing in Manobo, reading the scriptures and listening to the sermon in their own heart language. I am thankful that through Bible translation, God is transforming lives, equipping His church and discipling a nation. Someone wisely said, “We can know how many seeds are in an apple, but we will not know how many apples are in one single seed.” I praise God that this is only the beginning. What we see now is just the completion of one Bible translated into one minority language. What we have yet to see is how wide is the impact on lives for eternity. This story first appeared in https://wycliffe.my/bible-translation-transforms-the-lives-of-the-manobo-people/.

by Phyllis Rappa For the past 21 years, Phyllis Rappa has been working in Romblon, Philippines translating the New Testament into the Romblomanon language. This is her story of why she chose to work with this people group, the challenges she faced, and how the Word has changed the community. The province of Romblon is made up of three main islands situated right in the centre of the Philippines with a population of about 200,000 people. About half of these people speak the Romblomanon language. This language is unwritten and used in the daily interaction of the people. However, Tagalog, the national language, is used in communicating with outsiders and in official situations. Someone asked what made me decide to choose Romblon. Translators were given the option to visit various projects before making a decision. I had visited several, going all way from Manila to Mindanao and also travelling on a small plane to a tiny island in the middle of the ocean where a translator was working alone. But I did not feel peace about working in any of these places. Then I heard that the team in Romblon had decided to return to their home country for personal reasons and needed someone to replace them. I spent a week visiting them in Romblon and immediately felt peace and knew that God was leading me to that project. I informed my director about this decision and was then officially assigned to the Romblon project. When I first arrived in Romblon, I lived on the main island called Romblon, Romblon, which is the provincial capital. My house had bamboo walls and the roof was made from a type of grass called cogon. There was no electricity or running water in my village, so I had to make do with a kerosene lamp and use water fetched from a well. My first two years were focused on language learning – mostly practising with the children who lived in the neighbourhood. There was never a dull moment – I enjoyed my interactions with the many people I met because they helped to increase my language proficiency. I also made cultural observations which I wrote in a journal. My purpose there was to learn the language so that I could begin to translate the New Testament into Romblomanon. In order to begin translation, I had to produce a 1,000-word dictionary, write a description of the grammatical structure and also of the sound system. Then, a consultant came to the village to test me on my language proficiency. It was an answer to prayer when he said that I had passed this test with flying colours. Having met all the requirements, I attended a translation workshop before I could begin translating. In 1998, I completed my first translation, the book of James. Portions of Genesis were published after that. This came in the form of a storybook on the life of Joseph (Genesis chapters 37-50). After two years in Romblon, another team joined me. In 2012, together with the local pastors, we launched a Bible study of the book of Luke. We started the Bible study in the children’s church and the attendance grew from about 40 members to more than 100 members. There have been many testimonies of lives transformed. For example, a lady shared that she used to be depressed and contemplated suicide. But when she started attending the Bible studies, she was encouraged and decided against taking her own life. There have been many challenges during the course of the project. One incident was when a typhoon blew over the island. The strong winds completely stripped the branches from all the trees. A large branch flew at a high speed towards the front window of my house – but it miraculously dropped just inches from the window. Another time, I was so ill that I could not eat or drink for five days. I had to travel for 12 hours by ferry back to Manila to get medical treatment and recover from this illness. I want to thank the Lord for his grace and strength to overcome the various challenges during the course of this translation project. I am also very thankful for all the people who have prayed and supported me all this time. The fields are ripe for harvest in Romblon. As of 2017, the 27 books of the Romblomanon NT have been revised and approved by the consultant. The revised introductions to each book and the main introduction will be approved soon. What is left is the editing of the glossary, some work on the technical details as well as the scheduling of the audio recording of the NT. The target date for the dedication will be in 2018. The goal of our project is to see people’s lives transformed through the translated Scriptures and we have already seen it happening. The word had indeed has come to Romblon.

Why not do something that is worthwhile as well as fun, and guaranteed to open your eyes to a wider world? See what a young person decided to do with one year of her life, with Wycliffe.

Richard Kunene, a Deaf church leader in South Africa, yearns for the Deaf in his country to be able to experience God’s word as intimately as hearing people. “I see that the hearing churches are happy, and I worry about the Deaf,” Richard says. “They suffer. Many Deaf suffer. They struggle. For a long time, they’ve been struggling, and I’ve been praying to God, ‘How can the Deaf understand?’” Although specific numbers are difficult to identify, by the best accounts there are hundreds of sign languages around the world, used by as many as 70 million people. However, only one sign language has a New Testament, and no Scriptures exist in the vast majority of these languages. Correspondingly, only 1-2% of Deaf globally are Christians. “For 2,000 years the church has neglected the Deaf world. It’s just been off the radar screen,” says sign language Bible translation consultant Jim Dowsett. A vision for the Deaf in South Africa In South Africa more than 600,000 Deaf people use South African Sign Language (SASL), but no Scripture has been avail­able in this language. Hands with Words, founded by Lisa Craye in 2006 to min­is­ter to and with South African Deaf, began a Bible translation project in SASL in 2013 to address this need. Lisa first became interested in ministry to the Deaf in South Africa while working as a teacher at a local school for the Deaf. She found her passion in using sign language to share with the Deaf about Christ. “I discovered that when I interpreted the Gospel for the Deaf in sign language, something was happening in me that I couldn’t explain,” Lisa says. “I sensed that the Holy Spirit was really working through me to tell the Gospel to the Deaf.” It was at this school where she first met Richard’s wife, Agnes, who was working as a teacher’s assistant. During this time Lisa went on a short-term mission trip to Namibia. She thought she was going to be ministering to hearing people, but the team discovered a school for the Deaf. Lisa acted as the interpreter as the group interacted with children at the school. In subsequent years Lisa made more short trips to the school for the Deaf in Namibia with a growing team which included Agnes, Richard and their daughter, Happiness. When they returned home from one of their trips Richard asked Lisa, “What are you going to do for the Deaf in South Africa?” This challenged Lisa to start a ministry for the Deaf people in South Africa as well as in neighbouring countries. As the ministry developed, her vision for how to best work alongside the Deaf community evolved. “The DEAF don't have a Bible?” A critical point in this evolution came in October 2010 when Lisa and Agnes attended Cape Town 2010: the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism. During the conference a list of languages without translated Scriptures was distributed. They noticed that Deaf sign languages were included. “I said, ‘The Deaf [in South Africa] don’t have a Bible?’ The Bible is written in different languages [in South Africa], but there’s nothing for the Deaf!” explains Agnes. “We need the Bible to be translated into the heart language of the Deaf, so that they can be excited and understand.” Soon after, Agnes and Lisa met a woman who was involved with a sign language Bible translation in Asia. She encouraged Agnes and Lisa to contact her colleague Jim Dowsett because he worked in Sign Language translation in Africa. Agnes and Lisa left the Lausanne Congress encouraged and convinced to pursue a Bible translation project for SASL. Seven months later, Agnes and Lisa met Jim at DOOR International’s training center in Nairobi, Kenya. DOOR is an organization dedicated to facilitating Bible translation into sign languages, as well as promoting the growth of the Deaf church around the world. Jim and staff from DOOR helped Lisa and Agnes lay the foundation for an SASL Bible translation project.

by Bob Creson, President, Wycliffe USA Morgan Jackson, director of Faith Comes By Hearing, remembers the day some years ago when he visited a Konkomba village in Ghana. His organization partners with Bible translators to produce audio recordings of Scripture, and he asked the Konkomba leaders if they’d like to listen to God’s message in their language. They didn’t believe it was possible. “God doesn’t speak our language,” they said. “He only speaks English.” “But God does speak Konkomba,” Morgan said. He turned on an audio player, and the words of Matthew 1:1 in Konkomba filled the air. “This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah….” Amazed, these leaders called for villagers to assemble. Soon 300 people were listening to God speak Konkomba. As they listened, they entered into the story. They were walking and talking with Jesus. “Jesus is now one of us,” they said. “He speaks our language!” I hear stories like this all the time. When people receive the Word of God in their own language, they experience the living, breathing Jesus who became human and moved into their village (John 1:14). In Eurasia a Bible translator was reading a translation of Mark 12 to a group of teachers when she thought she heard someone laughing. Was something wrong with the text? Were listeners mocking the use of their own language? Then she realized they weren’t laughing, they were crying! Looking up, she saw a school principal with his head bowed, a pool of tears on the desk in front of him. In his own language, he’d heard Jesus commend a poor widow for giving everything she had to God, and he felt deeply touched and challenged. In Senegal, an Oniyan-speaking pastor experienced a new sense of communion with God as he learned to pray in his own language. He’d always prayed in French, the language of his pastoral training. As he helped translate the Gospel of Mark, he began to realize he could express biblical truths in Oniyan, and he developed the vocabulary he needed to pray in the language of his heart. He found that things he could never express in French, he could freely share with God in his own language. The need for Scriptures in the language people are born into, the language they speak in their homes, isn’t just an issue in smaller communities around the globe. It’s also a reality in the United States. Many people have their need for engagement with the Bible met using English translations, but 60 million others (one out of every five residents) speak a language other than English in their homes. Of these, two out of five admit to speaking English “less than very well.” To understand deep spiritual truths, many of these need Scripture in their first language. And even those who speak English more fluently benefit from relating to God in the language that speaks to the deepest level of their being. Digital technology is allowing people to engage with Scripture in new and meaningful ways so they can experience God’s love, his healing, and his power to meet life’s challenges. If a translation of the Bible exists in a language, it is, or soon will be, as close as the nearest smartphone. While printed Bibles may be stored thousands of miles away, a speaker of one of these languages can find digital versions on mobile apps like Bible.is or YouVersion. In one recent 28-day period, people in the United States used the mobile app YouVersion to access translations in 554 languages, requesting 626,250,279 chapters of the Bible! Emmanuel, a taxi driver in Oklahoma City, is one of the 60 million U.S. residents for whom English is a second language. Born into a minority language community in Cameroon, West Africa, and now living far from home, his mobile phone provides him access to oral Scriptures and the “JESUS” film (based on the Gospel of Luke) in his mother tongue. What language does God speak? He speaks all of the nearly 7,000 languages in the world. People can talk to him in any language and he understands. But many people—including some we meet every day—can’t understand him when he speaks. The love letter remains a closed book. The good news is that more people have more access to Him in a language they understand best, the language of their home, than ever before. On average, a new Bible translation is started somewhere in the world every three or four days. At this rate, Bible translation agencies believe that by the year 2025 everyone will be able to hear God speak clearly to them in the language they understand best. This article is taken from https://bobcreson.com .

Since childhood, Lee’s* life has always been engaged with Scripture. He is 40 years old and belongs to the Karen people, which is a minority people group in Southeast Asia. Growing up with Christian parents, Lee heard Bible stories and the teachings of Jesus since he was a child. The Bible was translated into his language more than a hundred years ago. He has always heard God's Word in the language he understands best. But he realises that it is a privilege not everyone enjoys. At the age of 25, Lee graduated from a Bible school and became a pastor. Ten years later, he completed a Master of Ministry degree and worked with the Bible League as an administrator. Then in March 2010 Lee decided to become more directly involved in Bible translation. He wanted to share Scriptures with those who are still without God's Word in their own language. However, rather than being a Bible translator, he chose to become the coordinator for a Scripture engagement (SE) team. He and his team help people to apply translated Scripture to their everyday lives. FOR LASTING IMPACT “SE is basically helping people to use the Bible,” Lee explains. He says that many people misunderstand Bible translation ministry, believing that once the Scripture is translated, the work is finished. However, SE is essential for translated Scriptures to make a difference in people’s every-day lives. “We focus not only on the product, but the actual impact on people as well,” says Lee. “The process doesn't stop when the Scriptures are translated. It lasts until the Scriptures…impact the people.” In his country there are more than a hundred minority language communities. While they all need more help with Scripture engagement, currently his team serves in only about 30 of them. They are looking for opportunities to serve more. Lee and his team visit Bible schools, churches and communities. They introduce SE programs and encourage church ministries, such as Sunday schools, to share with their students about how to use and apply the Scriptures. Through these activities Lee and his team hope to get more people actively using and engaging with Scripture in their languages. USING MULTIMEDIA IN ENGAGEMENT As Lee is on the job, he sees how multimedia is an indispensable tool in Scripture engagement. He points out that nearly all minority language communities traditionally have oral cultures. It is often more natural for them to listen or watch than to read. Therefore, Bible stories crafted in audio or visual forms are often more easily understood. Additionally, multimedia tools help language communities preserve and develop their traditions, culture and language. Lee believes that multimedia is essential for people groups that already have the Scriptures in their own language, because it helps with continued learning. And, for those who do not yet have the Scriptures, multimedia brings the Gospel in accessible forms. Recordings of music and videos with simple picture stories are examples of multimedia that oral communities often enjoy. “We can use multimedia skills to reach out to people groups without the Bible in their language,” explains Lee. “With the skill of doing audio recording now, we're planning to use CDs, cell phone and small devices as a means to share the Scripture. Electricity is now available in our rural areas, and even if it’s not, we have solar batteries and generators. The people can watch TV and Video-CDs easily.” Some churches among minority language communities in his country are hesitant to use multimedia in Christian education or Sunday school. They feel that they do not have enough money and manpower. However, Lee has found a way to meet this multimedia need as well. “I've learnt how to produce media tools in cheaper and easier ways,” he explains. He also hopes to host training workshops to share his knowledge with others. A PERFECT FIT Because Scripture engagement has only been an organised activity in his country for a few years, there has been no example to follow. Lee’s team has found it important to advance cautiously. For this reason, Lee completed a 10-week training course on Scripture engagement. And, he continues to learn on the job without being deterred by the challenges. “I like preaching the Bible, and I have the passion to share the Gospel... [But] I don't see my potential to be a Bible translator. Scripture engagement fits me better!” he says with a smile. An outgoing and lively personality together with excellent training help to make Lee a perfect fit for Scripture engagement. What’s more, those years in Bible school and serving in a church have helped him build a strong network with many church leaders, which is essential as he visits churches and communities. Chew Tong, who was involved in training Lee how to use multimedia, affirmed Lee’s performance: “Lee is a person with the big picture. He is able to plan well. He is also good at coordinating people.” FOLLOWING THE PIONEER Lee is thankful for the support of his family and his church for his participation in this ministry. “They regard it as God's work,” Lee shares. “Even though they feel that they are small, they see this as a way that they can be part of God’s work.” The example that he and his team have set for committing themselves to Bible translation ministry is influencing others. For example, a young man working in Lee’s office is praying about becoming a Bible translator himself one day. In 2013, the churches in Lee's country had celebrations commemorating the missionary who translated the Bible into their national language 200 years ago. Before Lee became a Scripture engagement coordinator, he only knew facts about what that missionary did – writing their grammar, compiling their dictionary, and translating the Bible into their language. Now, after serving in Bible translation himself, he sees clearly why the work this missionary did was truly significant for his people. “Now I understand, and I want to do the same, too,” shares Lee. * Pseudonym

Growing up in a restrictive West Asian country, Reza* never embraced Islam, which is the majority religion of his country. Instead, he considered himself an atheist. As a college student, he vocally shared his opinions on his university campus. One day, his secular viewpoints caught the attention of police. They seized his books and dragged him to prison in secret. His parents searched for him for three months. Finally, Reza came home from prison with a bruised face and a realization that he wasn’t safe in his own country. “You went the wrong way,” Reza’s father told him. “You don’t belong to the society.” Soon afterward, Reza fled to Central Europe as a refugee. Settling in Germany, he found a job at a fast-food restaurant, where he met many fellow refugees. One of them was bold in sharing his Christian faith with Reza nearly every day for two years. “God has a plan for you,” he told Reza. “I, my family, and my church will pray for you.” At the time, Reza brushed off his words. His mother had prayed for him to accept the Islamic faith, but those prayers had only seemed to make his life worse. A FAMILIAR FACE About two years after arriving in Europe, Reza faced trouble with his visa. He lost his apartment and his permission to work in Germany. He went to a refugee camp, where he felt lonely and discouraged. One night he decided to temporarily escape the crowded camp by taking a train ride to another town. There, he saw a sign advertising a church for people from his home country. Reza still didn’t believe in God, but he stepped inside the building out of curiosity. In the corner, a group was praying. Then, he saw a familiar face – the man from the restaurant. “Hallelujah, God brought Reza to us!” the man said. “We were praying for you.” That evening, Reza’s heart softened, and he began to follow Christ. Around this time, Reza met Robert*, a Wycliffe staff member working with refugees who speak Elegant*— a language spoken by almost four million people from Reza’s country. Robert invited Reza to help with the project, and Reza eagerly agreed. The team was able to secure Reza’s legal status in Germany, enabling him to stay. One of the first pieces he worked on was a document about why Bible translation matters. It was designed to help the Elegant translation team understand why their work was so important. Although Reza still faced difficult circumstances, his new faith strengthened him. “I was seeing how God was restoring things,” he says. “My life was not normal, but my soul was so free. The fear that I had before did not exist anymore.” TESTS OF FAITH In the past decade since Reza became a Christian, several challenging experiences have tested his faith. His relationship with his parents has been strained because he’s not been able to share with them about his work in Bible translation. However, Reza hopes to visit with them in Europe soon. His distance from his home country also offers him no guarantee of security. Even though he’s far away, he’s still received threatening calls in the middle of the night from people unhappy about his work. This is true even now, as Reza and his wife raise their young daughter while continuing the translation work. Sometimes the threats have become real. Reza had a neighbour who came from a country near Reza’s homeland. One day, the neighbour saw a Bible in Reza’s hand. “Are you a Jesus follower?” the man asked Reza. Then he punched Reza in the face, giving him a bloody nose. The neighbours called the police, but Reza declined to press charges. A couple of years later, Reza ran into the same man at a Christian conference presented by a local church. The man had been so impressed by Reza’s kindness that he became a Christian.“Then I remembered God says, ‘You do your job and I will take care of the rest,’” Reza says. “This is what I’ve experienced in my life with God.” Reza is full of gratitude as he reflects on his unexpected journey toward fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. “As an atheist, against religion, my reaction was to reject everything which had a religious feeling or was about God,” he says. “Then, how God prepared the whole way for me – it is unbelievable. But for our God, it is possible. And because of that, when I talk to people I say it is not religion – it is a relationship. FOR GOD, IT IS POSSIBLE In the past few years, Reza has taken on a larger role in the Elegant translation project, alongside Robert and several Elegant refugees. Today, he is the project manager. On top of this full-time job, he is completing a graduate degree and leading a Bible study at his church for migrants from his country. Reza strives to make sure the translations are not only accurate, but meaningful to Elegant speakers. “We need to see their background, their culture, because we can then serve them better,” he says. When he is translating certain passages of Scripture from the original Hebrew text, the words and scenes leap off the page. “I feel the relation with my culture, and I can understand it and have a picture of it,” he says. He wants Elegant speakers to feel the same connection – and he thinks they are particularly receptive because of the struggles they face in their own country and as refugees. “In that region [my homeland], sometimes people don’t know where to find real love,” he says. “My point of view is that it’s in the Bible. God reveals that in His words. We don’t need weapons; we don’t need a lot of money – just the Word. This book brings the whole of these things: love, peace.” Together, the team has translated the Gospel of John, the book of Acts, the story of Joseph, and the story of Abraham. Many other Scripture portions are in progress. The finished Scriptures have been distributed via booklets and audio CDs and have been broadcast on satellite TV and on the radio in Reza’s home country. The team has also created a website, a Facebook presence, a YouTube channel, and an iPhone app to help people download text, audio, and video versions onto their computer or smart phone. “I’ve just been amazed – people have been downloading this app all over the world,” Robert says. “Even inside [Reza’s country] where it isn’t easy to have an iPhone, people are downloading and using the app, even though there’s risk with using it.” For many of the Elegant, having God’s Word in their heart language is well worth the risk. And for Reza, dedicating his life to translation has been worth the sacrifices. “It is my vision that people from my area will know God and experience what I have experienced with him,” he says. “And it is my vision that people hear from him and be just in God’s arms. The Bible says that nothing can separate us from his love. Problems and wars don’t matter. It is true – nothing can separate us.” *Pseudonym

by Becca Coon, September 2016 (from 'Inspiring Image' on Wycliffe Global Alliance website) Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God. - William Carey A pastor of a small church among the Oshai Tripura language community reads from his Bible. Born in 1761 in rural England, William Carey led a quiet and unassuming life. He attended school until the age of 12, when he dropped out to become a cobbler’s apprentice. But when he got older, Carey felt called to share God’s Word in another part of the world. In 1793 Carey and his family moved to India. The Carey family eventually settled in Bengal, which is now India’s West Bengal and southwestern Bangladesh. With the help of a language expert, Carey diligently studied Bengali, and soon began translating the Bible into Bengali and preaching at small gatherings. After seven years with many trails and hardships, Carey published the first Bengali New Testament. Over the next 28 years, Carey and his team translated the entire Bible into India’s six major languages, as well as printing and distributing the Bible in whole or in part in 44 languages and dialects. By the time Carey died in 1834, he had spent 41 years in India and modern-day Bangladesh, and had contributed to more than 215 Bible translations.