Nigeria (MNN) — Bible translation might not seem like a dangerous endeavor, but in some locations, terrorism is a necessary occupational hazard.
Wycliffe USA’s Andrew Flemming says, “God is doing extraordinary things in difficult places worldwide. The work we do and the places we engage are not always the safest places.”
Take Nigeria, for example. Believers face threats on three fronts: Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and Fulani herdsmen. More about that here.
(Photo courtesy of SIL International)
Flemming and a Wycliffe USA team visited local churches and Bible translators in Nigeria earlier this month.
“We were able to meet with a significant number of partners and go out to a community and spend some time where the translation project is taking place. We flew into Abuja, which is the Capitol, and then took a six-hour drive further north,” Flemming says.
“There is persecution taking place in that area with Christian communities. Oftentimes, that persecution is also intermixed with rivalries between groups around cattle and other things; some of that activity was near where we were,” he continues.
“In places like Nigeria, where there’s persecution, we need to pray for the Church.”
Pray God will protect Bible translation teams in northern Nigeria. Pray translation work will begin in more communities so Nigerians can understand God’s Word.
“Nigeria has over 300 different languages. Often, there is a (Bible) translation in a language of wider communication. In Nigeria, that could be Hausa or Igbo, but those languages aren’t necessarily going to speak to the heart,” Flemming says.
“They’re not going to be used in the home with the family.”
Header image courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA.
