(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that involves people in the acceleration of Bible translation efforts, is raising matching funds for the New Ireland Translation Institute (NITI) in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. Following through on a new model of collaboration of Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Associates is helping national translation teams at the institute to get the New Testament translated into the last 15 languages in the region that are without Scripture.
New Ireland is a smaller and very mountainous island off the coast of the island New Guinea and travel there is limited to boat and airplane. Papua New Guinea itself comprises an area slightly larger than California. According to SIL’s Ethnologue, 830 languages are spoken in Papua New Guinea, representing 12 percent of the world’s languages. Although English is the nation’s official language, few in Papua New Guinea speak it.
National translators living in the New Ireland Province regularly travel from their villages, sometimes across the open sea, to the New Ireland Translation Institute to carry out the work of Bible translation. They rely heavily on the support of Wycliffe Associates for everything from their food during the training to the computers they use for translation work.
Among the national translators are Bina, an elderly woman who is almost completely blind, who travels to the institute from a village with no road access; James, a man whose son was murdered in the jungle, and Susan, whose husband was murdered and daughter injured in a brutal machete attack.
“These people are committed to bringing God’s Word to their people,” says Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “Despite impossible travel conditions, health problems, and personal tragedy, they persevere! Nothing can stop them, except for a lack of funds.”
Christians in the New Ireland Province region say there is a resurgence of the traditional worship of the spirit world among the people.
This year, it will cost $270,000 to fund the 15 translation projects underway at the New Ireland Translation Institute. Through a matching challenge, gifts to support Bible translation at the New Ireland Translation Institute will be doubled.
Wycliffe Associates involves people in accelerating the work of Bible translation through their time, talents, and treasure. Because millions of people around the world are still waiting to read the Scriptures in the language of their heart, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as they can to translate every verse of the Bible into every tongue to change every heart. The organization partners with nationals, mother tongue translators, staff, volunteers, and supporters to direct and fund these efforts, as well as provide logistics, networking, and technical support. Through a growing global network, Wycliffe Associates is striving to overcome local limitations of time and resources to achieve the goal of beginning the translation of God’s Word in every remaining language that needs it by 2025.
In 2010, the organization mobilized 4,381 volunteer and staff members to accelerate Bible translation in some 59 countries. Additional information is available at www.wycliffeassociates.org or by calling 1-800-THE WORD (1-800-843-9673).
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