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Warning: this is heavy letter. For those new to EBO, this is not the typical fare! But sometimes life and ministry are gritty and raw, more Lamentations and less Psalms of praise.
This week marks my 4th anniversary working with Seed Company supporting Bible translation in South Asia. In its 26 years Seed Company has grown to now fund over 950 active Bible translation projects around the world. This means supporting local organizations working with mother-tongue speakers in these 950 languages, planning, training, consulting and equipping the most local expression of the church to get the Bible into their own heart language. Every month now approximately $2 million is sent to support these workers. And true life transformation is happening, among the poorest and most marginalized communities in the world. Every month, for 26 years years, the funds have flowed as the work expanded. Until now.
Suddenly, literally overnight for us who are liaising with field partners, this continuity of funding has been radically altered. The source of the problem is dwindling reserves and a need to align our spending with the always cyclical nature of non-profit funding. The result is temporary belt tightening for some, a temporary 8-month halt for some, and permanent cancellation of funding for others. Among my projects there are 15 languages--all well planned, well managed, high performing teams--whose funding is suddenly stopped at least until September. For 20 others the funding is being permanently stopped.
For 12 of these language in N*, these are all translations that I had a significant role in starting. I was there from Day 1 of engaging with these communities and then training them. These are friends, and their very modest salaries will stop, barring a miracle.There is no such thing as unemployment benefits there. They are all shocked and disbelieving, as am I.
And yet they are full of faith and expectantly looking to God for what He will do. Their poor village churches are committed to raising funds. The local missionaries helping these teams are giving and asking their home churches to give. And Laura Beth and I have given. Will you join us to seize this opportunity? Our local church has agreed to receive funds, provide the appropriate tax receipt, and send funds directly to support the translators in the 12 languages in N*. Simply click here to go directly to their online giving portal and select the "Bible Translations" Fund from the drop-down list. Or checks can be sent to the address below, which will save the 1% fee charged by the giving portal. $300 can support one translator for one month; $14,400 will support all 48 translators for a month; and $115,200 will keep them all going for 8 months. What can we do together to keep the translators in these 12 languages translating?
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Top: testing Scripture in a mountain village. Bottom: a village church worships
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Looking Back
- I've recently completed checking the final verses of Luke's Gospel with the "Kungka" team. This time we worked remotely, sending my corrections and their responses back and forth online, then meeting for video calls to work through final details.
Looking Ahead
- I'm planning another trip back to South Asia soon, maybe in 10 days, maybe a week later than that. The funding turmoil has made it hard to plan. Pray for clarity soon!
- On this trip I'm hoping to attend the dedication of the NT and partial OT in one language, and to check the very first verses of Scripture for two new languages, and also to work with partners to rework plans and proposals in light of the funding changes.
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In Memory
On January 22 I received word that my friend Silas had died suddenly of a massive stroke at age 54. Silas was a translator on the Branchu NT team starting in 2001, and was the team leader for the OT translation since 2010, now just 2 years from completion. He was a man of integrity, gentle and patient, who leaves an amazing legacy for his people. Please pray for his grieving family and for the Branchu team who are left without their strongest member.
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To end on a happy note, we all had a wonderful Christmas celebration together, enjoying all three boys home for the week. Such a gift. We are incredibly proud of the fine young men that each of them are.
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