About Phil Troutman – MissioPhil

Training Bible Translation Consultants at DIU

August 26, 2023August 26, 2023 Phil TroutmanLeave a comment

First cohort of the Graduate Certificate in Translation Consulting program, with me and another instructor — First cohort of the GCTC program, with me (front right) and another instructor (front center)

One of the greatest joys in my ministry with Wycliffe Bible Translators is teaching courses at Dallas International University. DIU exists for just one reason: To train current and future Christian workers to serve effectively in cross-cultural ministries around the world. Most students at DIU are preparing specifically for work in Bible translation.

This summer, DIU began offering a new program of study leading to a Graduate Certificate in Translation Consulting (GCTC). Our first group of students, four men and two women, are from three different countries. At the end of June, I traveled to the Canada Institute of Linguistics (CANIL) in Vancouver, British Colombia along with another DIU professor and our Academic Dean. There we held a week of orientation to kick off the new program. The GCTC will prepare these men and women to help local translation teams ensure that their translations are faithful to the original biblical text and understandable to the people who will use them.

Our Fall 2023 semester begins at DIU on August 23. I will be teaching “Cultural Competence and Communication,” the second course in the GCTC program. I am excited about this course! My passion is teaching Christians about other peoples and cultures so that they can clearly communicate to everyone God’s message of love and hope through Jesus Christ! I know God is going to bless me and my students as we gain competence in crossing boundaries of culture and language with the Good News.

Thank you for partnering with me in prayer and finances so that I can serve with Wycliffe by teaching at DIU! Through your partnership in prayer and finances, we are taking God’s Word to those who need to hear.

Co-workers in God’s Service

In 1 Corinthians, Paul teaches a fundamental principle of building God’s Kingdom. He writes, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow … The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose. … For we are co-workers in God’s service” (1 Corinthians 3:6, 8-9 NIV).

That’s what you and I are! I spend my days teaching future translation workers how to make sense of new cultures. You work hard every day doing your job for God’s glory, so that you can support the ministry of Wycliffe Bible Translators. And that makes us partners with each other and with God. What an amazing privilege we have to serve God together!

As your co-worker, I invite you to partner with my Wycliffe ministry through prayer and regular giving. If you are ready to do this, please go to wycliffe.org/partner/philtroutman and click “Pray and Stay Connected” to become a prayer partner, and click “Give” to become a financial partner. Together, we can make God’s Word available to all peoples!

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all things”

Rejoice the that New Testament in the Vitu language of Papua New Guinea was dedicated on July 27, 2023. This means that more than 5,000 Vitu-speakers now have access to God’s Word in the language they understand best!
Pray that God will give me wisdom, organizational skill, and stamina as I teach at Dallas International University while also working to raise up a team of prayer and financial partners to sustain me in my Wycliffe ministry.
Give thanks that God continues to call men and women from around the world into the ministry of Bible translation. Many of these future Bible translation workers receive their training at Dallas International University.

Partner with my Wycliffe ministry

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Contact Phil Troutman by email at phil@missiophil.org.

Contact Phil Troutman by postal mail at: 7712 NW 25th Ter. / Bethany, OK 73008 / USA

Language Barrier

June 22, 2023July 19, 2023 Phil TroutmanLeave a comment

      Recently, my wife and I visited our son and his family in Tbilisi, Georgia, in southeastern Europe. The day after we arrived we went sightseeing. We saw so many fascinating people and places! But, everywhere we went we also felt a peculiar sense of strangeness. At first, we didn’t know what was causing it. When we finally figured it out we gained fresh insight into the need for all people to have the Bible translated into their own language.
      What was bothering us? We were experiencing a language barrier! Everywhere we lived as missionaries we had been able to understand at least some of what people were saying and read some of what was written on the roadsigns. But when we listened to people speaking in Georgian we couldn’t understand a word, and when we looked at signs written in Georgian all we could see were squiggles.
      On Sunday we worshiped at an international church. Inside, I saw a stack of books. I picked one up and opened it, but it was in Georgian, so the words meant nothing to me. For me to understand that book, someone would have to translate it into a language I could understand.
      And then it hit me: What I had experienced when I opened that book was exactly what millions of people experience today. The only Bibles available to And then it hit me: What I had experienced when I opened that book was exactly what millions of people experience today. The only Bibles available to them are in a language they don’t understand, so when they open one, the squiggles inside mean nothing to them. For them to receive the message of God’s Word, someone will have to translate it into a language they can understand!
      We at Wycliffe Bible Translators have good news for those people: Right now around the world, translation teams are working to translate God’s Word into more than 3,500 languages. But there are still over 1,400 languages, spoken by 118 million people, into which no portion of Scripture has been translated and for which no translation project is yet underway.
      Does it move your heart to think of the millions of people who still don’t have God’s Word in a language they can understand? Would you like to help change that? If so, I invite you to become a partner in my ministry with Wycliffe Bible Translators. If all of us will work together, we can make God’s Word available in the language of every people on earth!

Wanted: Partners in Ministry!

      Like all members of Wycliffe Bible Translators, I am sustained both spiritually and financially by my team of ministry partners. There are two ways you can partner with my Wycliffe ministry:
      First, you can become a prayer partner who commits to praying regularly for me and the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Your prayers will play a vital role in helping me and other translation workers make God’s Word available to the 118 million people, speaking 1,435 different languages, who still don’t have any part of the Bible in their language. Would you be willing to become a prayer partner with me in my Wycliffe ministry? If so, go to wycliffe.org/partner/philtroutman and click on the “Pray and Stay Connected” button below my picture.
      Second, you can become a financial partner who commits to making regular financial contributions to Wycliffe to sustain me in my ministry. Your regular gifts will help make it possible for me to serve full-time as an anthropology consultant for Wycliffe translation teams and as an instructor at Dallas International University. Would you be willing to become a financial partner with my Wycliffe ministry? If so, please go to wycliffe.org/partner/philtroutman, enter an amount in the box at the top of the page, and click “Give” to initiate your partnership.
      If you’re not sure what part God wants you to play in the work of Bible translation, would you pray and ask God what you should do? Thank you so much!

“Pray without ceasing!”

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV).

      In each edition of MissioPhil, I share (1) an answer to prayer so you can rejoice with me, (2) a prayer request you can lift up to God with me, and (3) a reason for us all to give thanks. So, for June, 2023:
      1. Rejoice with me that God has provided additional financial partners to help sustain me in my Wycliffe ministry. My partners’ monthly giving now supplies 27% of my ministry budget needs.
     2. Pray with me that God will give me insight as I develop a new course about culture and communication at Dallas International University, as part of a training program for new Bible translation consultants. I will teach the course for the first time this fall.
    3. Give thanks with me for the wonderful visit we had with our son and his family in Tbilisi, and that they are well and enjoying life in the beautiful country of Georgia.

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To partner with this ministry, please go to wycliffe.org/partner/philtroutman.

“Jesus Speaks Sena!”

January 23, 2023June 22, 2023 Phil TroutmanLeave a comment

In 1993, my wife and I went to Mozambique to serve among the Sena people. I noticed that our Sena pastors preached in Sena but read the Bible to the people in Portuguese. Portuguese is the official language of Mozambique, however only those who have finished at least primary school can understand it well. But most women haven’t been to school at all, and many men haven’t finished. So, when the pastor read the Bible to people in Portuguese, most understood little or nothing.

So, I began searching for a New Testament in the Sena language. The only one in existence was a paraphrase produced by the Catholic Church in the 1980s, called Mphangwa Zadidi, that is Good News. I got a copy and began reading aloud from it whenever I preached. I will never forget how the people reacted the first time I read the Good News to them in Sena. They got quiet, leaned forward to hear better, and then exclaimed, “Bvesa! Yesu asalonga Cisena!” “Listen! Jesus speaks Sena!”

After that, when I visited a church I always took copies of the Sena Good News to sell. People crowded around: “I want to buy the Good News in Sena!” They cost $1.00 each—a lot of money for most people. But Sunday after Sunday, they bought every copy I had. Unfortunately, by 1998 the supply was exhausted and no reprint was planned. People would ask me, “Did you bring copies of the Good News in Sena?” They were so disappointed when I told them, “I’m sorry, there aren’t any more!”

But God was already working on a new way to get His Word to the Sena people in their language. In the mid-1990s, SIL, a Wycliffe affiliate, began a project to produce a fresh translation of the New Testament into Sena. After years of translating, checking, testing, and printing, in 2008, the Cibverano Cipsa, the “New Testament” in Sena, was published. Today, it’s available in book form and also online in text and audio.

Having God’s Word in their own language changes people’s lives! But we missionaries can’t do the job of Bible translation on our own. We need partners to help us. There are two ways you can partner with me as I serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators. First, you can become a prayer partner, someone who commits to pray regularly for me and the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Your prayers will play a vital role in helping translation teams make God’s Word available to the 128 million people, speaking 1680 different languages, who still don’t have any part of the Bible in their language.

Would you be willing to become a prayer partner with me in my Wycliffe ministry? If so, please email me at phil_troutman@wycliffe.org to be added to the list.

Second, you can become a financial partner, who commits to making regular financial contributions to Wycliffe to sustain me in my ministry. Your gifts make it possible for me to work full time as an anthropology consultant for Wycliffe translation teams. Would you be willing to become a financial partner for my Wycliffe ministry? If so, go to wycliffe.org/partner/philtroutman to initiate your partnership.

If you’re not yet sure what part God wants you to play in the work of Bible translation, would you pray and ask Him what He would have you do? Thank you so much!

Read It Every Day!

Christians should make the Bible a vital part of their lives. One way to do so is to read the Bible every day. Here’s how to get started: (1) Obtain a Bible in a modern translation, such as New International Version (NIV) or the New Living Translation (NLT). (2) Set aside a time each day to read; 10–15 minutes is fine. (3) Read one titled section of a chapter. I suggest you start reading in the New Testament book of Luke, followed by the book of Acts. (4) If you miss a day’s reading, don’t fret about it. Just pick up the next day where you left off.

If you are ready to try reading the Bible every day, please email me at phil_troutman@wycliffe.org to let me know so we can read together!

“Pray Without Ceasing”

Near the end of his first letter to the Thessalonian church, the apostle Paul gives them—and us—these instructions: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22). That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? It is God’s will for us to rejoice, pray, and give thanks. So each month, I want to share with you 1) an answer to prayer, so you can rejoice with me, 2) a prayer request, which you can lift up to God with me, and 3) a reason for us all to give thanks to God together. So for January 2023,

Rejoice with me that God has provided me with the first of people to be financial partners with my Wycliffe ministry. Currently, their monthly giving provides 15.9% of my ministry budget needs.
Pray with me that God will call more Christians from around the world to the work of Bible translation, so that translation projects can be started in the 1680 languages that still have no part of the Bible at all.
Give thanks with me for the 6,000+ members of Wycliffe Bible Translators around the world who are giving their lives and careers to help make God’s Word available to everybody in the language they understand best.

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