Chajul Ixil translation consultant with two translators

Wycliffe Bible Translators started after a man named Cameron Townsend had tried to sell Spanish Bibles to Indian nationals in Guatemala. A man said to Cameron, “If your God is so great, why can’t He speak my language?” And so, the work of Bible Translation started.

The audacious goal? Give every language in the world the opportunity to be in relationship with God as they got to know Him by reading His Words, the Bible, in their own language, what we call, their “Mother Tongue.”

That was in 1920. It was not until 1950 that our sister organization, SIL, was invited to come to Guatemala and help with three dialects of a language called Ixil.

It took 63 years with many different people to complete this task! As people died or moved away, others slipped in and took over the work.

With joy we announce that the last of these dialects, Chajul Ixil, is finished and printed. With the last one done, SIL finishes their work of translation in Guatemala. Other groups made mostly of nationals will continue the work: Old Testament translations, literacy, and other things.

Our work is always changing. With new technology and with national training, the work of Bible Translation looks different than when our founder started it 75 years ago.

I remember even 10 years ago saying, “I’ll never read the Bible on a tablet; I like my paper Bible best.” Yet, I find myself pulling up Scripture on my tablet in church and now someone reads to me from my cell phone as I do my hair in the morning.

Methods change. Locations change. But the goal is the same.

We are committed to the injustice many people still have in not being able to have access to the Good News in their own language! What is the Good News? That Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, came down as a baby, so that He could one day die on the cross for all of mankind and pay the price of sin which separated us from God, our Creator.

Thank you for your support as we continue to serve with Wycliffe.

If you want to know more about the Good News yourself, get in touch with us! It’s the best news ever!!!