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.
To partner with this ministry, please go to wycliffe.org/partner/philtroutman.
Copyright © 2023 by Philip H. Troutman. All rights reserved.
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