The team leaders are suffering from malaria and have had to be hospitalized.  This is of particular concern as they have had repeated cases of malaria.  Please pray for good health for the whole team and community and also for encouragement for the remaining team as they continue to work without the direct guidance of the team leaders.

A dream come true for the Puguli people: Burkina Faso

During this quarter the dedication of the Gospel of Luke (Feb. 19, 2012) was a significant event in the life of the young church among Puguli. During this dedication only the church leaders (pastors, deacons) were invited. During the ceremony the elder of Puguli deacons named Kouakou took the floor and said: Since my youth I’ve battled to have at least one church in a Puguli village. Today we have more than 10 churches. But I never dreamed about a Bible in our language. I even never prayed for a Bible in our language because it seems to me a foolish request. Today I’m so blessed to see how God not only provided for churches but also for Scripture in our own language.  Today Puli people are experiencing King Salomon blessing. We ask for churches, God gave us churches and above all provided for the Word that will strengthen these churches and speed up the believers’ growth.

A few days later, Jacques, leader of the Puguli project received the following phone call from a man named Kamou from a neighboring village who said: «For the first time I can believe that God is speaking Puguli. I bought the book and when resting on the roof of my house (Many of their houses have flat roofs) I started reading. When I’ve finished reading Luke I couldn’t believe it that I’ve understood all and it’s the Word of God. God truly speaks Puguli and I’m eager to read the next book. »

Rain Forest International School (RFIS) needs teachers: Cameroon

Rain Forest International School (RFIS) exists so that missionaries can fulfil their God-given tasks in Central Africa confident that their children’s educational needs are being met. However, in the coming school year, RFIS will find it particularly difficult to accomplish this goal as we are experiencing an extreme teacher shortage. While we could use teachers in most subject areas the greatest needs are in English (we currently have no English teachers), Science and French. In December we will also be without an IT/Computer manager.

RFIS serves students aged 12 to 18, preparing them for the next stage of life including further education in their passport countries. Our students come from 13 different countries and represent 11 different mission organizations. The RFIS curriculum is a combination of courses we have developed ourselves, American style curriculum and British based curriculum. The most common reason that teachers enjoy working at RFIS is because “these are the best students in the world!”

For more information about RFIS or to find out how you can serve at RFIS please visit our website at www.rfis.org or write to rfis-director@rfis.org. Thank you for praying for this need. We look forward to seeing how God will answer.

Program Priorities for 2013 and beyond set at Program manager Meetings

OneBook ‘s program met to establish program priorities moving forward. In the context of a world-wide project funding shake-up, especially in regard to significant cutbacks from Wycliffe USA, the OneBook team has set the following program guidelines:

OneBook will have a maximum of 106 languages in fiscal 2013. This means that we are only replacing languages that have come to completion during fiscal 2012.

OneBook will invest significantly in consultant capacity building over the next 3-4 years

We must build a consultant development fund starting in FY13. The key reason for this is we already have a large backlog of drafted chapters of the Bible which are yet unchecked by consultant.  We feel it would be irresponsible to continue taking on more input without the capacity to serve it properly. In fact, developing consultants is our most urgent need and top priority over the next few years.

Second, we have determined that we will need to have an additional 50-60 full time translation, literacy, scripture use consultants placed among our partner agencies by the year 2019 if we want to meet the goal of completing 250 NT projects by the year 2035. Without them we will not be able to complete the task! Today all of our partners have access to only 29 consultants combined. To properly fulfill their responsibilities our partners need over 100 by 2019!

We have invited our partners to submit proposals for the development of consultants.

We invite you to pray that the priorities set by OneBook for Year 2013 will be led by the Lord and His plan will be accomplished.

Pray also that funding will be provided for all current translation projects and for the development of many more national consultants.

Burkina Faso Director needs visa approval to come to Canada for OneBook Fundraising Event

Please pray that Boureima Ouedraogo, director of ANTBA (Association Nationale pour la Traduction de la Bible et l’alphabétisation) in Burkina Faso, will get a visa very soon to be able to come to Canada. He is the main speaker on a OneBook fundraising tour in Quebec and Ontario, scheduled for this coming June.

OneBook is absolutely convinced that local indigenous translation teams are the best way to complete Bible translation projects. We celebrate with the Canadian Bible Society and the Inuit translation team as they have completed the first indigenous led Bible translation in Canada.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/13/inuit-language-bible-finished-after-34-year-project/

Every 3 or 4 years the Wycliffe Global Alliance has an international conference. “Look 2012” will be held in Chang Mai, Thailand from May 3-9.

• Major topics to be dealt with include:
• The state of Bible translation today
• SIL re-invention and its ongoing implications
• Bible Translation and the Church
• Future strategies for the Wycliffe Global alliance
• And lots of time for networking with our partners

Ned and Wayne have appointments over meals with 16 of our 18 partners-usually their CEO and board chair. On Sunday evening May 6, Ned, Efi Tembon (OneBook’s board member and CABTAL director) and Wayne are hosting the OneBook awards dinner. They will share OneBook’s hopes and plans for the future, and present Wycliffe India with the Partner of the Year award. Efi will close the evening by sharing on “Best practices in church engagement” with all of our partners.

International Conference in Chiang Mai

Many of the leaders of our operating partners will be attending the International Conference in Chiang Mai. Please pray for them both in the large group meetings as lots of information is being conveyed and in the many ‘coffee break’ conversations where networks are built and personal needs are shared. Our partners are facing changes in the way they relate to one another under the Wycliffe Global Alliance.

Gbaya, South Sudan

The Gbaya team recently had to move from Khartoum in Sudan to Wau in their homeland in South Sudan as all South Sudanese people were told to leave Sudan.  They have now made the move to their homeland but in the town of Wau.  The power is not very regular and they are having trouble doing their computer work and printing materials due to this irregular power supply.  They think they will need to purchase a small generator but they don’t have the funds for this equipment at this time.  They also praise the Lord for being able to attend a Revelation Workshop as the book of Revelation is the last book they need to start translating.

Keliko, South Sudan

The Keliko team has a very ambitious plan for the next six months.  They hope to have the books of Romans and Ephesians consultant-checked, complete the computer check done on 12 New Testament books and do an initial printing of Mark, Galatians, Hebrews and Revelations.  They also plan to print out a new book of songs and hold a workshop to teach these songs so the churches will be able to fully use them.

Laro, Sudan

The Laru people live in the Nuba Mountains which is located in Sudan but the Laro people really want to be part of South Sudan.  There is war in the Nuba Mountains and because of this many of the people are displaced and scattered in many areas outside and within the country.  There is much insecurity which is making it difficult to plant their crops this year which is resulting in famine in the area.  The Laro Bible translation team is not able to visit the home area to do Scripture-checking and literacy work.

Aringa, Uganda

Praise the Lord for all the work that is being accomplished.  The goal is to complete the rest of the New Testament translation by the end of the year.  Literacy is being promoted in the schools now with all subjects being taught in primary 1 to primary 3 in the Aringa language in 30 schools, and the goal is to soon have it in all 130 schools in the Aringa area.  Almost all the churches in the area are using the newly-translated Scriptures in Bible reading and preaching.

Awing, Cameroon

Please pray for the team and especially the current project leader and main translator Alombah Godlove who has been unable to work because of a broken leg (a result of a fall on the slippery roads , while visiting communities for the project) and resulting illness due to complications since early August 2011. The team has therefore presently only one full time translator. Three potential candidates for becoming translators have been chosen by the churches and they will attend their initial translator’s training this month, with subsequent evaluation as to who are the most capable of them. The two best will be chosen as translators.

From Roy Eyre, Wycliffe Canada President

• Becky, my wife, received her permanent residence! This was a major topic for prayer over the last year, and it led to a mad scramble at the end… and a good story that I’ll have to share in my next email. The end result was a real answer to prayer.
• My executive assistant is leaving. We are currently accepting applications and looking at resumes. Could you please pray that I would find the right person who can fill the high expectations for a role like this, but also will be around long term?
• I will be flying to Thailand this Saturday for two weeks of meetings with all the leaders in our Bible translation work around the world. I’m very excited to meet many of them that I’ve heard of but never had a chance to meet. There are also a couple of major topics on the agenda that need prayer. So please pray for honest discussion and unity among the participants.
• While I’m gone, Becky and the kids will be flying to the US to spend three weeks with family and friends. Please pray for Becky as she travels with the kids this Saturday.

OneBook’s new office dedication—A Success

On April 19, Wycliffe Canada had a going away party for OneBook at their Calgary office in the morning. It was followed in the afternoon with an open house at our new office attended by over 50 people. We still have one office space that could be sublet to another organization.

Pastor Elijah was promoted to glory on April 27: Southeast Asia

• Thank you for praying for him during his final illness. The Lord granted him a special desire: to say thank you and good-bye to his doctor in Bangkok. As a colleague said, “The Lord honored his gratitude and value for relationship, therefore, the Lord granted him the grace and resources.” Once he returned from that trip, he quickly deteriorated but still was able to serve his church one last Sunday before his passing.
• Please remember his wife and seven children (one who is married, some working, some still in school). They express their gratitude for your prayers and for God’s grace on Pastor Elijah’s life. Also remember the completion of the New Testament which he drafted and is now being checked by others of his team.

Please pray for a peacefull und democratic settlement to this situation. Pray also for the Christians in Governement and Army that they mare able to be peacemakers and light in these dark days.

One of the biggest challenges in Sudan is the difficulty of getting visas, allowing expatriate technical advisers to live in Khartoum and work with the Episcopal Church of the Sudan Translation Department. Pray for a solution to this problem.

Consultants Needed: Burkina Faso

As a team translates the Bible into another language, their work is checked by a translation consultant. The consultant ensures the translation is both accurate and easily understood.  In Burkina Faso, as in many other countries in Africa, there are not enough consultants to keep up with the amount of Scripture that is being translated.  There are currently two trained consultants and two consultants-in-training.  ANTBA* desires to train all its project leaders as consultants, but this requires enough trained consultants to mentor them.  Pray for the development of consultants in Burkina Faso and throughout Africa.

*Association Nationale de la Traduction de la Bible et de l’Alphabétisation (the Bible Translation and Literacy Association in Burkina Faso).

Funding: Burkina Faso

ANTBA*, the Burkinabé Bible translation and literacy association, is working in more than twenty languages in Burkina Faso. Inadequate funding for the projects has meant they have had to reduce activities, such as ongoing training for Bible translators and literacy workers.  Pray for increased funding so that these translation programs can continue to make the Word of God accessible to all the communities in Burkina Faso.

*Association Nationale de la Traduction de la Bible et de l’Alphabétisation

Funding system: CABTAL*, Cameroon

All the project write-ups are now in the funding system. But one of our major partners and funders is going through serious crisis. Please pray that God will bless this organization and carry it safely through this crisis in a way that will promote the ministry of Bible Translation. Pray also for their financial situation, that God will provide sufficient funds to carry out the ministry without any hitches.

*Cameroonian Association of Bible Translation and Literacy

Pastor Elijah’s Amazing Recovery: Kana Project, Southeast Asia

Pastor Elijah’s health got better and better since he returned to his home. Last week he got well enough to make a trip to say good-day to his doctor, who had treated him very well and had become a friend]

His wife was amazed that there were people coming to provide food, cooking and care. Visitors went to sing hymns and say prayers all the time. The church members also decided to fast and pray for him for ten days. During that period of time, his fever went away. He got stronger and stronger and able to walk around in the house. He was even able to travel to see his doctor and say goodbye.

It is a miracle. The Lord has answered the prayers of many, especially those cries of the people who love Pastor Elijah.

OneBook Upcoming Events: Calgary

Please pray for the Program Management Meeting that will be held on April 16-18 at the OneBook office. The main topic that will be covered is the development of the ‘Partner Progress Indicators’ that helps OneBook and its partner organizations to communicate expectations and track results. Pray for good communication and wisdom among the participants.

OneBook is holding an open house at its new office on April 19. Please pray for many people to come and get inspired by the work of partnering in Bible Translation and Literacy. Pray also for good planning of the event and for those who will be presenting the work.

Martin Engeler, one of our OneBook program managers is currently attending a Lusophone Conference in Portugal to discuss issues facing projects in a Portugese-speaking context. Pray for understanding, and concrete plans of action to be made.

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I thank you for being a supporter of our ministry and for being concerned about the quality and accuracy of the scriptures we produce.

I can unequivocally say that the scriptures that are being translated and have been translated by OneBook and by our partners at Wycliffe worldwide over the past 75 years meet the highest standards of

• Accuracy to the original languages

• Clarity of understanding by the people reading them

• Naturalness of reading and communication as they are shared with people who have never heard the Word of God before

• Relevancy to the people groups involved

Today there is a controversy fuelled on the web by many who do not understand the whole issue, the context, the people the translations have been translated for, or the process that the translators and thechurch leaders in that community have gone through to provide the Word of God in mother tongue. It centres on familial terms and the use of Allah for God.

This issue has been boiling away in the US for about 6 months, but it seems that it has only been in the last month that this issue has been raised in conversation with Canadians. It also came up 15 years ago in relation to the translation of Luke in the Jesus Film, and over 400 years ago in the Malaysia and Indonesian council of churches.

We affirm the statement that:

The Wycliffe Global Alliance organizations and their personnel are not omitting or removing the familial terms, translated in English as “Son of God” or “Father,” from any Scripture translation. Wycliffe continues to be committed to accurate and clear translation of Scripture. The eternal deity of Jesus Christ and the understanding of Jesus’ relationship with God the Father must be preserved in every translation.

Wayne Johnson

President

1-866-489-2261 office

wjohnson@onebook.ca

PS: If you would like more information please click here or ff you would like further discussion, please feel free to call me.

Praise God for those who are sharing the importance of Bible translation with churches and young people in India. Four families have committed themselves to this work. Ask God for strength as they travel to various cities and share with large and small groups. Praise God for the young men and women who hear the call of God in their language and commit themselves to the work. Ask God to provide for them financially, spiritually and in every other way.

Concern for unreached peoples: Global

Ethne is a global network focused on serving people groups who lack an indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize their own people. Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) is planning a prayer campaign for 2012 with a goal of 1,000 prayer groups who will look to God together for spiritual harvest among such groups. The 21-day prayer campaign (watch for new materials coming soon) will take place September 30 to October 20 with the theme “Let My People Go!” based on Exodus 8. Please pray now for the Lord to guide and bless the preparations.

Sabaot full Bible dedication in Kenya, June10th

A date is set for the Sabaot full Bible dedication in Kenya and it will be June 10^th, 2012. Wayne Johnson, OneBook president, David Duncan, OneBook project manager, representatives from The Gideons and a few others will be attending. Please pray that the dedication will touch many hearts and give them a desire to know God and His Word. Pray also for protection in travel for the Canadian delegation and for encouragement as they witness the work of God amongst the Sabaot people.

Scripture nearing completion – Oku: Cameroon.

OKU; Cameroon; 40,000 people. Pray for protection and victory at this time when Satan multiplies attempts to frustrate the work. Praise God that technology and computers are working for the team, and pray for a way to meet the desired completion date in 2012. Ask the Lord to surround the team with encouraging and supportive people as they work toward their goal in the difficult task of Bible translation.

Cameroon Association for Bible Translation And Literacy: Cameroon.

Praise God for:

• The success of the 25th Anniversary celebration and the occasion we had to share the vision of CABTAL with the larger public.
• The point person’s training which was held on January 14th at the SIL regional office in Bamenda. Many more persons have been trained and equipped to preach and to present the vision of CABTAL during Bible Translation Sundays or in their churches. Pray that they will use their new abilities to expand the ministry of CABTAL by sharing of the vision of Bible Translation.

Pray:

• For the Mofu-Gudur translation team who had a translation workshop of the Second Book of Kings last month; pray that the team will be more efficient in their work by using the new tools received.
• that the new Internet Antenna will help the Tchouvok and Mofu-Gudur teams (Far-North region) to archive their work and to communicate better with the translation consultant.

Awing (North-West): Cameroon

Pray:

• For the Awing project, especially for the translation team. Ask God to help us choose the people He wants from those who attended the training so that they can join the translators to speed up the work.
• For God to cause all the Awing in and out of the community to develop interest in the work and join it so that the work of God can advance in the land.
• For the literacy teachers, that their interest and zeal to teach the language will continue.
• For our stakeholders, that they will continue supporting the project.
• That when the book of Luke is published, people will make use of it, especially in churches.
• For Godlove, one translator of the Awing project, who is seriously sick and is now in Yaoundé General Hospital; ask God to heal him for the glory of His name.

Christians have been actively persecuted. The church has been an underground movement. Many leaders have been imprisoned.

Yet, today the church is blossoming. Over 1.5 million people have become Christians – almost 5% of the population. This fast growing church is filled with joy, with singing and wonderful worship.

There are very few national seminaries. Most pastors are lay pastors. And for almost half of the 30 million Nepalis the bible is not available in their mother tongue, the language of the heart.

OneBook has been actively funding bible translation, literacy and scripture use programs in Nepal since our inception. At our partners request we do not share people or language group names to protect the lives of our translators and the young church.

Today was a wonderful day of celebration. In fact, a double celebration.

For one people group they received the very first printed copies of the Gospel of Luke. The whole team of translators, pastors, literacy teachers and supporters were singing and dancing with joy. Their songs were verses of scriptures they had set to traditional Nepali music.

Then, before a group of 100 they had the first public reading of scripture in this mother tongue – the story of the death of Jesus as payment for our sin from Luke.

Then the second group of translators received the New Testament in their language! What joy as they saw the fruition of 6 years of intensive translation work. Then they too had the first public reading of scripture in their mother tongue – the resurrection story from the Book of Mark ending with the words “he is Risen”.

This people group has faced intense persecution including church burnings in the past year. In the next 2 months as mountain passes open up in the spring, bibles will be carried up to these people who have been waiting so long.

Our partners words rang in our ears as we finished a celebration dinner sitting on plastic chairs in a church courtyard. “Thank you Canadians for standing with us…thank you for being our partners…thank you for loving Nepal”

Wayne Johnson – on the road in Nepal

Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) has produced Audio New Testaments in over 600 languages, delivered more than 300,000 Proclaimers throughout the world, and developed Bible apps for 40 Bible Society partners. Having passed the 600-language mark in October 2011, FCBH finished the year with Audio New Testaments in the heart language of 618 people groups around the globe. All told, these languages are spoken by over 5 billion people, or more than two-thirds of the world’s population. Faith Comes By Hearing looks forward to celebrating 40 years of ministry throughout 2012. Pray that God’s guidance and blessing will strongly continue.

Wycliffe meeting: Cameroon

The Director of Wycliffe organizations in Francophone Africa will be meeting here in Cameroon from February 27 to 29, 2012 with the Wycliffe Africa Area Director, Mundara Muturi. Please pray for travel mercies for participants from Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo.  Please pray for good meetings and that God will guide their deliberations!

Typesetting of Nawuri New Testament

Pray for Zacharie Essama who is working with a translator from Ghana, typesetting the New Testament in the Nawuri language. Pray that God will keep the computers and software working well.

Dedication and distribution of a New Testament in South Asia delayed

The dedication and distribution of one New Testament in South Asia has been delayed by difficulties in typesetting. Please pray that the challenges can be overcome and that the finished book can soon be available to the people in this group.

Shortages of gas: Asia

Shortages of gas (for motorcycles, cooking, and lamps) is in very short supply in one country. Sometimes people wait in line a full day just to purchase some. Pray that the government will be responsive to the needs of the people and provide what is needed.

Gathering of translation committees from three languages in South Asia

Please pray for a gathering of translation committees from three languages in South Asia on March 4-5. The objective is to share ideas with one another and to equip them to use the scriptures more actively in their churches. Pray that the committees will each learn some practical tools and be inspired to use them. Also it is hoped that each language committee will identify one or two people who can be responsible for Scripture promotion, literature development and distribution.

Health update for Pastor Elijah: Asia

It is getting less and less hopeful that the doctor could heal his lung issue, multiple myeloma and perhaps other health issues. It also seems to be more obvious that it is not worthwhile to continue treatment. Pastor Elijah and his wife decided that they are not going to continue the medical treatment. They decided to return to their home. The people’s custom is to take the patient home when they realize that the patient is not hopeful to be healed. Pastor Elijah, his wife and their elder son are planning to fly back to their village this coming Thursday.

Pastor Elijah’s church members are looking forward to seeing him and serving him. They had wanted to take him back to the village since his son’s wedding in January. Before Pastor Elijah’s travel, he needs to take a few more units of blood transfusion and to get some energy and strength for the travel. He might also need to undergo aspiration of fluid in the lung to reduce his discomfort of breathing.

Praise:

• Pastor Elijah and his family had the courage to make a difficult decision.

Prayer:

• Pastor Elijah will have enough strength and energy to return to his village safely.
• Pastor Elijah will sense that the Lord is pleased with his life and help him to lift up his worries and concerns to the Lord.
• Courage, grace, the Lord’s presence and comprehension of the eternal hope to face death.

Bagh New Testament dedication next week: Asia

Please pray:

• That the Bagh New Testament dedication will encourage more people to daily use the Scriptures in their own language and bring about meaningful transformation at the family and community level.
• It will be a time of celebration and encouragement for all who organized the event and that many community leaders and others in the community will thirst to know God more.

OneBook’s president trip to meet with 4 partner organizations: Asia

• Please pray for Wayne Johnson travelling to Asia this week for a period of two weeks.  Pray that he will remain healthy and that there will be no delay with his flight connections. Pray also for a strengthening of relationship between all partner organizations.

We had arrived in the village of Arilo, South Sudan, in the homeland of the Tennet people. Our short stay (four days and three nights) was certainly very warm, but it was not simply the climate. Our hearts were also warmed by the people we met. We came away with many strong impressions: the deep commitment of the pastors and Bible translators to give their own people the Scriptures in their mother tongue; the women’s dancing during the lively church service; the squeaking of the pump as women and girls filled their jerry-cans with water for the long trek home each morning and evening; the faces of new friends (old and young); feasts of maize-meal and roasted goat; and listening to Tennet songs and stories outside in the evening darkness, under a small new moon.

Perhaps the highlight was sitting in on the first checking session of the newly-translated Gospel of Matthew in the Tennet language. About a dozen men (mostly pastors, elders, and school teachers) gathered to listen to the Scripture read aloud—a short section at a time—and to discuss it. The goal: to ensure it communicated the true meaning accurately, completely, and naturally, in the Tennet language. The verse, “I will make you fishers of men,” caused much lively discussion and laughter from these inland people who raise cattle and goats in a very arid climate, and never go fishing! But they thoughtfully considered the true meaning from all angles, and then very carefully crafted just the right wording in Tennet. It was hard and deliberate work!

When we boarded the MAF plane yesterday to fly back to Juba, the pilot handed us each a small, cold bottle of water from a cooler bag. Amazing sensation in our dry, dusty hands. Jerry downed his in one glorious swallow. But I just held mine against my cheek first. Doubt I’ll ever think of cold water in quite the same way again. . .

Praying that God’s Word here in Arilo will be just that: “a cup of cold water” to thirsty souls. Already the Tennet Church is alive and well. But they need more of that life-giving water of the Word—in the language of their hearts.

Jerry and Kathy—in South Sudan