Picture books, Audio portions of Scripture, safe drinking water….these are just a few of the many projects that are funded by those of us working in Bible Translation. I have been working with Wycliffe Bible Translator project funders in Europe for the last 4 years. It’s amazing to see the wide variety of projects that we help fund all across the world! Check out some of them on this link! Should you be looking for a project or someone else to donate to at the Christmas season, I know that you will be a huge blessing to these people as we reach them with the transformational words from God which will change their lives forever!
Category Archives: Europe
Projects Galore!
Just one of 41 Million!
The new fiscal year for Wycliffe Bible Translators starts October 1. While that doesn’t mean much to many people it means a lot to me. A new year means new project fund-raising goals. And for Wycliffe that means we need to find 41 million dollars in the next 365 days!
Yikes! That sounds like a lot of money, doesn’t it? Where will it come from? What will we use it for?
I have a huge Excel worksheet which has every project listed, what country it will go to, what project it will fund along with a myriad of other details. It takes months to write-up a project and then takes lots of work to carry it out all the while writing reports on how the money was spent and how it will aid in Bible Translation.
Much of the money will come from individuals, churches and from some larger organizations. Most of it will come in $25 at a time. This is money above and beyond personal support for missionaries.
These finger puppets are telling a story!
Last year we wrote about one project that a friend of ours was involved with. She works in Guatemala. While this project is not funded by a European (and therefore not in my area) I still have a great interest in it because this friend and her husband went through training with Ken and I over 20 years ago. They are still with Wycliffe, just like we are, but their lives and their work has been completely different.
The Deditos is a small non-profit group that was formed in order to produce audio and video materials for minority people groups. They have really become accomplished as they use finger puppets to tell truths and stories from the Bible. Check out their videos! The first one has English subtitles and looks fantastic!
It’s wonderful to see how God’s people are being so creative as they get God’s Message, the Good News, into the heart language of the people from around the world!
Growth in Hungary!
Our colleague Erna (back, far right) with some seekers in Hungary.
Working for Wycliffe Europe Area allows me to share in the varied work of others in my office. Wolfgang and Erna Binder carry dual roles as the Wycliffe Austria director as well as the Central and Eastern Europe Area director. They are a huge help with some of our newer offices which opened after the fall of communism.
Our Wycliffe Hungary office opened about 10 years ago. Every two years or so they put on a week-long event called, “Camp Wycliffe”. Those interested in Wycliffe Bible Translators can come and listen to not only information about our organization but vital lectures on knowing God’s Will.
This years Wycliffe Camp took place July 4 – 8 in Hungary. Wolfgang told us, “The group was smaller than in past years but there were a number of potential applicants. One of the participants, Lilla, who already speaks four languages, even told us on the last evening that she wants to become a Bible translator. So as a result of this camp at least one additional people group could be receiving the Word of God some day!
It was especially encouraging to meet three colleagues who had attended a camp like this two and four years ago, respectively, and have become members of Wycliffe in the meantime. So, after years of sowing,a time of harvest has come (Matthew 9:38).”
Praise God with us as new workers are being raised in countries we never dreamed would be open to the gospel just a few short years ago! It should remind me to continue to pray for other nations that seem “closed” right now.
To my “home town”!
Anne acting silly on a Smart Car in Frankfurt, Germany.
I, Anne, have returned from my latest trip to Germany. I had the opportunity to work in the office, planning some meetings for the Fall, as well as participate in our twice yearly staff meetings. Like me, half of our staff work remotely from our office which is in Germany. A few staff came as far as South Africa! So it is always nice to connect with our group, pray for each other and make sure our strategies are aligned as we served our partners in Europe.
Tomorrow, we take off for New York! We’re both excited to get back to Long Island where I grew up. I have such good memories of my childhood. I had a great family, good neighbors and my family and I attended a wonderful church called Central Presbyterian Church. As the saying goes, “If the doors were open, we were there.” We had lots of opportunities to serve at Central and most of the time it was in the music ministry with my dad greatly involved in missions. Two of my loves!
So this Sunday, July 17th, we’ll be speaking at Central in the morning. Friday, July 22nd, we will be visiting the First Baptist Church of Brewster, a fantastic church we attended for five years. The next Sunday, July 24th, we’ll be speaking at another wonderful church, Dix Hills Evangelical Free Church. This is the church where my grandparents, Norman and Martha Clayton, worshiped when in New York. They, too, have stood by us for many years as we’ve served either with Children’s Bible Fellowship or Wycliffe Bible Translators. We’ll be doing a presentation we’ve entitled, “Looking Back, Charging Forward” to highlight our last 20 years with Wycliffe and the people who have made it possible.
Hope we can see some of you there! Please pray for us that our message will go forth in a clear way. Our job is not done!
Small countries taking on a large task!
Wycliffe Sweden reports on their progress
What do you do when you are a small organization in a relatively small country but called to do a large task? Read the rest of this entry »
Would Jesus get a second “grant”?
Rob Martin, from First Fruit, spoke for several sessions. (Photo courtesy of TWR, Benjamin Tangeman)
I (Anne) just came back from Cary, North Carolina where I attended a one and a half day conference titled, “Unhealthy dependency to faith reliance.” It was hosted by Trans World Radio and HCJB (another radio related ministry) but about 27 organizations were represented with myself and one other person from Wycliffe Bible Translators.
It was a challenging two days both personally and for my work. This year alone, we in Wycliffe have been challenged to raise $40 million dollars for our projects world-wide. These projects range from printing a new Bible to AIDS awareness classes held in local churches. 80% of this money will come from the United States.
But when should our brothers and sisters in Christ take over the running of these programs? We in the “west” have made a lot of mistakes. We’ve started programs that others cannot replicate on their own. We’ve created an environment where people expect the west to supply the funds. And The Church world-wide has not learned generosity.
We need to make some changes…and fast. I’m challenged to share this with my pastor and see if we can promote good practices as we serve others…even the poor in our own neighborhoods.
I bought a book while at the conference after hearing the author, Brian Fikkert, speak so well. It’s called, “When Helping Hurts.” The subtitle is, “How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor and yourself.” I have a lot of work to do. How can i share what I learned and try to make changes in a system/model that we’ve used for 100-200 years?
Brian Fikkert said, “How many people would have given Jesus a second grant after his first three years of ministry? What did he have to show for His work? Most of what matters is difficult to measure.”
What is my new measuring stick?
Here is an excellent video on a people who have done this well:
The Haugh Herald 