Churches can help translate the Bible

USA (MNN) — It might seem natural for the Church to be a part of the Bible translating process. But, that’s not always the case.

Tim Born with Wycliffe Bible Translators explains, “What I’ve seen, over my years here at Wycliffe, is the need to demystify the idea that there’s the church out there, and then there’s the Bible translation workers.”

Now, Wycliffe’s church partnership team is marrying the two concepts. Their goal is to engage entire churches, not just individuals, to join the movement of Bible translating.

“What we’ve been doing is actually creating models that churches have piloted with us where they actually, as a whole church body, go on a journey with a people group. They can partner with a people group, help them get their Scripture. A lot of churches like to sponsor the translation whether they want to adopt verses of Scripture or take up an offering,” says Born.

The way Born sees it is if churches highly value the Gospel, then they’re going to want to share it. And if churches, who are completely dependent upon God’s Word, take up the call for translation, then the time for every people group to have their own Bibles should be close by.

After all, the momentum for translations has rapidly picked up in just the last ten years. But it can’t be done without the help of the Church through each individual church.

“In the late 90s you had about 3,000 remaining languages that a Bible translation needing to be started. Today, actually as of last week, that number dropped under 1800. And it just continues to happen more and more rapidly. The beauty of it has everything to do with how the global church is responding and becoming involved in God’s Word for every single language,” says Born.

God has always used the Church to carry out His mission in the world, and the Bible is foundational to that mission. That’s why Wycliffe is committed to seeing the Bible translated for every language that needs it.

Partnering with Wycliffe USA by sponsoring a Bible translation is one way for Christians to experience what it means to live out God’s Word through engagement.

So ask yourself: What can I do?

Start with Wycliffe, who offers different resources to help get churches connected. All it takes is one person getting involved. And with all the opportunities, what’s stopping you and your church from being a part of the Bible translation movement?

To learn more, click here.