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Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 115:1
The vision of Wycliffe is to see God’s Word made accessible to all people in the language that speaks to their heart. On September 23rd, we paused to celebrate the completion of Bibles and New Testaments for people groups who are getting God’s word for the very first time. You should have been there! Local pastors and ministry representatives paraded into the auditorium amid exciting music and applause carrying the precious Bibles. Here are some interesting statistics about this year’s celebration:
- 25 languages communities
- 7 complete Bibles
- 17 New Testaments
- 1 “Hybrid Bible” (NT + Genesis + Exodus in Takwane, Leviticus – Malachi in Portuguese — permission of Bible Society of Brazil)
- 17 of 25 Scriptures available in a digital format
- 7 of 25 have launched a website
- 13 available in audio format
- 7 available in Jesus film, Luke video or Genesis video
- 7 available as Android or iPhone app
- 12 are available in the YouVersion Bible App
Statistics are interesting, but read below about one of the language communities that received God’s Word.
The Lahu Si New Testament
Upai Jasa, Wycliffe Thailand, recalls his reluctance to join the team working on this project.
“The Lahu Si New Testament translation began in the 1980s and by 2009, it was… well, it was a mess. Relationships among the team working on the project were broken, trust was nonexistent, many viewed the Lahu Si community in Thailand as being riddled with divisiveness. They saw Lahu Si churches split over the smallest disagreement, clans and communities also split.”
They had no idea how this project might move forward. God did. Read this whole story (and more stories) in the 2016 Scripture Celebration Information Sheets (page 9).
It goes right into my heart!
During our community testing as we were reading through the Lahu Si draft of Acts, a pux (the grandfather) said, “Even though I preach and pray in Lahu Na (a related language) in church, that doesn’t enter my heart as when I normally pray on my own in my own language. When I read the draft it goes right into my heart, as no other language can do.”
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