FAITH COMES BY HEARING FAMILY
Thank you for faithfully praying for the health, safety, and protection of our ministry’s leadership, employees, and their families, as well as hundreds of partners in the field worldwide, during this pandemic.
Praise God for keeping us all COVID-free and for allowing us to continue working in two shifts per the New Mexico governor’s orders.
Praise God for the team we have hired this year—both here in Albuquerque and around the world through partnership with Wycliffe. We have three open positions now. Please pray that the Lord provides the right people to join us in these roles at the appropriate times.
Pray for all of us to set aside our objectives and goals and align ourselves with God’s will for our ministry and the advancement of the Kingdom!
AMERICAS
Venezuela:
- Pray for the many who are unable to pursue a source of income due to the present restrictions.
- Pray for a pastor we partner with—his niece fell and was taken to the hospital; days later, the pastor received news that she died in the hospital due to COVID-19. Pray that God would comfort them in their grief and uncertainty.
- Praise God that even in the midst of chaos and uncertainty, the Venezuelan people are engaging with the Word of God in audio.
Colombia: Pray for the Misak people. The coronavirus has affected their community greatly: They recently had 28 cases of COVID-19 out of 31 tested. They live far removed from traditional medical facilities, and their community is accentuated by poverty.
Peru: Pray for our partner—a key influential leader among many tribes and people groups within the jungles of Peru. He is currently isolated at home, fighting the coronavirus. His four children depend on him since his wife passed away a little less than a year ago. Pray also for the Word of God to continue to work among the many people groups who live in the depths of the jungle, as they are now more isolated than ever.
EURASIA/MENA
Central Asia and Egypt: Praise God! We’ve had a breakthrough in shipping Audio Bibles to these places. However, please continue to pray for several details that still need to be worked out.
Middle East: Pray for ongoing translation and recording needs for several minority languages.
Russia: Pray for more like-minded partners and greater usage of audio and video Scripture recordings.
Regional: Pray for ongoing digital outreaches taking place in several countries.
PACIFIC/OCEANIA
Indonesia:
- Pray that the Lord will open the door to begin several of the New Testament recording projects in rural areas that had been scheduled for July, but were cancelled due to COVID.
- Pray for non-Christian communities hostile to the Scriptures being available in their languages in digital formats. May God soften their hearts and make them open to His truth. For those who have received the Scriptures via a Global Bible App, pray that God would open the eyes of those who do not yet know Him personally and encourage the few who are believers.
- Praise God! The Old Testament recording of a contextualized Indonesian version is well underway. This recording will be a great help to local missionaries seeking to reach their non-Christian neighbors with a translation that pronounces the names of places and people in a way that is familiar to the target audience.
Solomon Islands:
- Pray for the Sa’a New Testament recording that just began in northwest Guadalcanal. In order for the project be completed in a timely manner, consistent support from the community and freedom from distractions are required.
- Praise God! The Malaita Scripture Use team received a shipment of 100 Proclaimers in languages spoken on the island, and they will soon begin listening groups working with local churches and village leaders. The feedback we have already received from previous efforts is very positive.
Papua New Guinea:
- Pray for two recording projects stalled by COVID: the Yipma and the Kanite New Testaments. May God allow these projects to resume as soon as all applicable COVID restrictions are removed while providing for safe travel for the readers and a speedy, efficient recording process.
- Pray for the safe arrival of a recent order of Proclaimers sent to a YWAM base in the Southern Highlands.
Vanuatu: Pray for wisdom and divine guidance for the Nafe-speaking people, who recently completed a translation of Genesis. They want to record the book before publishing the text, but the community is very remote and a strategy is still being sought.
AFRICA
Regional: Pray that God would protect and provide for our African partners in various countries during this pandemic. As in many other regions, there is not an established support system in place. Often, if people don’t work, they face food shortages, so they must decide between risking exposure to COVID or starving. Civil and political unrest add to the tension.
SENSITIVE
We are working on a 5-organization partnership to launch Bible listening programs across a very sensitive area. Pray for courage, wisdom, and success as the Lord defines it.
MILITARY OUTREACH
Pray for the various chaplains and ministries that we partner with. Many are facing new challenges in sharing the Military BibleStick due to social distancing and strict military quarantines. Pray that God would give us and our partners new and unique ideas for reaching our military and veterans.
Praise God that the Military BibleStick has been available for many soldiers to use as they are in quarantine. Each soldier must not see anyone for two weeks at a time when moving to a new assignment, and a few soldiers have been stuck at their duty stations for up to six months past their return home date. The Military BibleStick has been a great comfort to them in this time of need.
Pray for the pastors as they strive to meet the hardships presented by the pandemic.
ORAL BIBLE TRANSLATION (OBT)
Pray for an upcoming virtual training planned for two OBT teams in Bangladesh. This is the first time we are conducting a project launch training online. Please pray for the many pieces that need to work together for the training to be successful:
- For all the equipment needed to be purchased, ready, and working before and during the training.
- For all the participants, who must quarantine individually for seven days before the training can begin.
- Grace and wisdom for the translation team from an ongoing OBT project who will demonstrate the process to the two new teams.
- For our trainer, Allen, and the interpreter—that they will communicate clearly and graciously, overcoming linguistic, cultural and geographical barriers.
- For the leadership of our partner, who is collaborating with us in this novel way of training so that two Bible-less communities can receive the Word in their language as soon as possible.
- For the consultant who lives in India to develop a good rapport with the teams through online interactions.
Malaysia: Pray that a translation team’s many equipment problems and personality differences would be solved so that they can continue their project.
New Mexico: Praise God! A project for a Native American language that has been trying to get off the ground for over a year has made progress and is scheduled to start this month. With the current travel restrictions and meeting regulations, it may be delayed again; pray for the team not to lose heart.
DIGITAL
Praise God for increasing stability of the new Bible.is app and Digital Bible Platform (DBP) despite a bumpy launch during COVID. Generous donors have enabled this work, and through their support, our digital efforts to get God’s Word to every person are accelerating!
Pray for wisdom and success as we work on further improvements and enhancements to Bible.is, DBP, and associated analytics.
Pray for the software development team working on Vessel, the new software to support field, virtual and OBT recordings. This is a critical path for meeting Vision 2033 objectives.
GOSPEL FILMS
Praise God! Several partners hosted online Gospel Film showings this spring in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Pray that the Old Testament film shoot with our partner LUMO in Morocco, set to finish in August and September, would not be delayed.
LANGUAGE RECORDING
Despite some recordings being canceled or postponed, we praise God that 7 new recordings have started during the pandemic, while 23 (and counting) have reached completion. Praise God for His care and protection of our recording teams, partners, and projects these past months. While some recording teams that were stranded have returned home, a few teams remain in lockdown. Please pray that the local, national, and international authorities will make it possible for them to return to their families as soon as possible.
Please continue to pray for the diligent work of our translation partners, recording teams (50), and studio workers to make Scripture available for those who need to know that God speaks their language.
