Call to Prayer - January/March 2014

Call to

God his deep intellect with as-he-determined, this world its wisdom with him becomingacquainted to-know was-not-able. Therefore, he those-who-believed announcement beingdone of-good-news foolishness through saving appropriate saw.

Prayer January – March 2014

1 Corinthians 1.21 in Tatar, Russia

Elyse Patten

the latest numbers ■ Wed 1 Jan (New Year’s Day) Nawdm (Togo), Krio (Sierre Leone), Coatecas Altas Zapotec (Mexico), Cishingini (Nigeria), Oku (Cameroon) and Maka (Paraguay) – just a few of the languages in which new Scriptures were published last year. We estimate that over 2,800 of the world’s languages have some Scripture. Praise God with us!

■ Thu 2 The Ma’luli language New Testament (Asia) is among the Scriptures-in-waiting: the draft is complete and now being prepared – in checking, typesetting and printing – for release. Pray for the many language communities who are waiting while Scripture projects are in progress.

■ Fri 3 Gal is spoken by 350 people, Pasi by 600, both languages of Papua New Guinea. They are among the 100 million people who have no part of the Bible and no work yet begun.

Pray for God to move powerfully across the world, bringing up workers and resources for the massive Bible translation need.

■ Sat 4 There are over 6 million Tatars worldwide, but their heartland is by the Volga River in the Russian Federation. When the Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) began working with the Tatar people in the 1970s, Bible translation in the Soviet Union was very risky. Thank God for those who got involved, despite the personal risk.

God of the Tatars too

■ Sun 5 When the country opened up in the 1990s, workers from Wycliffe and the United Bible Societies joined the team. The New Testament was 1

■ Mon 6 At the launch of the New Testament a Tatar man clutched the book to his chest and exclaimed, ‘God is not only God of the Russian; he is my God, God of the Tatars too!’

The Tatar New Testament and Old Testament portions are available as a published book, an online book, audio both online and offline, and as an app for mobile phones. Pray that Tatars will engage with the Scriptures.

■ Tue 7 At the end of 2013 the Tatar Bible was submitted for publication. This represents over 30 years’ work. Pray for the publishers (IBT) as they put the text through a number of rigorous tests, typesetting, making corrections (no doubt!) and eventually sending it to the printers. The dedication is expected to be in 2015.

■ Wed 8 Aydar asks for prayer for the health of team members and their families, so that nothing will prevent the completion of the work, and for the spiritual awakening of team members who are not believers.

■ Thu 9 The Wycliffe workers who have been part of the team are moving into new roles. One couple has already taken up an assignment in Africa. The other couple, M and T, is still looking to God for his way forward.

■ Fri 10 The Tubas language is closely related to Tatar, and T was asked to help in the completion of the New Testament, which they aimed to submit to publishers at the end of 2013. The Tubas editor had a baby in September. Mother and daughter are doing well. Pray that God will move in Tubas communities by his Spirit and his word!

Aydar and Tubas are pseudonyms.

Marc Ewell

published in 2001 and a number of Tatars were trained for the ongoing work.

Pray for Aydar, the Tatar man who has been leading the team since 2000.

on this day…

‘Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’

(Matthew 6:34) Pray for today’s challenges.

Find more prayers for specific days throughout this edition of Call to Prayer.

■ Sat 11 Today a trauma healing workshop begins in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, for the people who already attended one last September. (Trauma healing includes Biblebased counselling.) Pray for the participants and the staff, that the result of the workshop will be many more people healed, and ready to help others heal, in a very troubled country.

Bud as he leads discussions, and for envisioned French churches.

■ Tue 14 Jeff and Heather Pubols, who work in computers and communications for the Wycliffe Global Alliance, are moving to live and work in ■ Sun 12 Since October, and until June this year, Europe during the first quarter of 2014. Pray for Wycliffe partners PROEL Spain are running their God’s provision of the additional financial support new Masters in Applied Linguistics, training students they need for this and for God’s help with all the in Bible translation and the linguistic work that details of the transition, including finding housing surrounds it. Please pray for the students, teachers, and a vehicle. administrators and for the financial issues they face.

■ Wed 15 A small team at the head offices is ■ Mon 13 Today, Bud Speck, Wycliffe’s Europe looking at how Wycliffe in the UK funds projects Area Communications Coordinator, will meet with around the world. Pray for God to give them the Wycliffe France team to help them think about God’s eye views, as they consider all the factors, their plans for communicating, to churches including how giving and stewarding money serve in France, the need for Bible translation. Pray for the global and local church.

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we have heard Psalm 44 ■ Thu 16 You prayed: Bible student Inocêncio was attacked and robbed last year.

After this was included in Call to Prayer, three different people got in touch to give money to Inocêncio so that he could buy a new bike. Praise God! ■ Fri 17 You prayed: Wycliffe in the UK moved offices on 4th November last year from their longtime home at the Wycliffe Centre.

Everyone in the offices says a big ‘thank you’ for your prayers.

They were marvellously answered as we saw the office move go more smoothly than we had anticipated. (The new address is at the end!)

■ Sat 18 You prayed: The Ntcham Bible was being prepared for publication but enthusiasm from the community wasn’t strong.

The Bible Society of Togo is working with the community and with diaspora Ntcham speakers. Pray that enthusiasm will grow. The publication work is underway, and this should be the year the complete Ntcham Bible is launched.

■ Sun 19 You prayed: The person responsible for prayer sharing and coordinating communications from parts of Europe, Asia and Africa is on an assignment break.

Praise God, an experienced colleague has agreed to take up the prayer role! We’re still looking for someone to take up the communications role.

Please keep praying.

■ Mon 20 You prayed: The Sinte Romani New Testament, published in 2011, saw an incredibly positive response.

Nearly the entire stock of printed New Testaments has been distributed. Now the team needs wisdom: should they republish the New

22 Jan

Testament and separately publish the Old Testament on which they are working, or should they wait and combine them in one volume?

■ Tue 21 You prayed: DOOR International (Deaf Opportunity Outreach) launched the first on-demand sign language Bible website.

Deafbibles.com is going from strength to strength. Last year, the team added more sign language Scripture in Kenyan, Keralan and American Sign Languages, bringing the number of languages represented to eight. Next year they plan to add even more, in Nigerian and Russian, and in one other.

■ Wed 22 You prayed: In November, to mark Wycliffe’s annual day of prayer, people gathered in churches across the UK at Frontline Prayer Live to pray for the Bibleless and celebrate what God has done.

It was uplifting to hear the UK Christians praying passionately.

Thank God for the diligent intercessions of his church.

Pray for the already-begun preparations for next year’s prayer gathering!

Kerala Sign Language, 21 Jan

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Spanish speakers. It covers the basics that workers need to know about working with minorities and includes 10 days visiting a small community.

The latest course is underway. Pray for the students and teachers.

functioning literacy

■ Sat 25 Last year, workshops in Asia were preparing material for schools in two language communities to help young children learn in their own languages, and then to transition to the more widely spoken language. Pray for the teams as they prepare stories and artwork in time for use in schools in March.

■ Sun 26 A worker in Congo-Brazzaville says, ‘There’s not space here to tell you how successful the alphabet workshop with three languages was or about how it took me 24 hours to travel 150 miles in order to check the Beembe picture dictionary, a language which hopes to publish the New Testament in 2014.’ Thank God for the progress in literacy-related work in Congo.

Credit: Elyse Patten

■ Thu 23 Seven students have just completed the first part of Wycliffe’s literacy training course at Redcliffe College, Gloucester. Some will continue their studies while others will head overseas to put their learning into practice. Pray that they will be a blessing to the communities they serve and will have opportunities to train others.

■ Mon 27 The language communities of Papua New Guinea are numerous and dispersed. Pray for more literacy specialists to choose to work in the country and for more Papua New Guineans to choose to train in literacy and teach in their own and neighbouring communities.

Elyse Patten

■ Fri 24 The UK is far from the only place where Wycliffe workers are being trained for literacy work. CILTA is a graduate course in Peru, aimed at

on this day…

■ Tue 28 On this day… The Global Connections conference is up and running. Global Connections is a network of UK-based organisations reaching the world: Wycliffe is part of that network and our director Eddie Arthur is a trustee.

The participants need clear thinking as they discuss ‘where the UK church fits in today’s world’. Pray for cooperation and communication. globalconnections.co.uk ■ Wed 29 Nigeria: Pray for unity and vision in the Kuce language project. Many in the community, even among

Eddie Arthur, 28 Jan

believers, still live in fear of the spirits. There’s a lot of anxiety to get the current stage of the project finished.

inspiring. Pray that project teams would be encouraged by the visit.

■ Fri 31 Between 26 January and 8 February, Ruth Hubbard (from ■ Thu 30 In just a few days, UK Wycliffe USA’s communications team) will be involved in two Church Engagement Director one-week courses as part of her Stewart Johnson is visiting MA. ‘I’m asking God for health Bible translation projects in and strength, to open my eyes Burkina Faso with members of and ears, my heart and mind, the Wycliffe board of trustees. so I can receive all he has for me Pray that the time would be to learn.’ healthy, uncomplicated and 4

february a blessing to the church ■ Sat 1 We participate in mission at God’s invitation because he wants us to be involved – praise God for the opportunity he gives to all of us to serve him. Thank God that we all have opportunities to join in his mission wherever we find ourselves, in the UK or overseas.

■ Sun 2 God calls us into mission through his church; every Wycliffe member is a member of a local church. Pray that the churches at home would be excited about the part they play in sharing the Good News around the world.

Credit: Elyse Patten

■ Tue 4 Pray that Wycliffe in the UK would do a good job of representing the global church to the UK church. Sometimes the needs and desires of partners in minority languages are misunderstood by those in what have been traditionally sending countries. Pray that we would be sensitive towards those we serve.*

■ Mon 3 Wycliffe longs to work well with churches throughout the UK. Pray that we would be good partners with churches and that, through the relationships we build, we will be able to demonstrate more Christlikeness in our work and spur one another on in our service of him.

* ‘Sending countries’ refers to nations that have traditionally sent missionaries.

on this day…

■ Wed 5 Dave Crough, in the leadership of Wycliffe Global Alliance, says, ‘In the next few months the Alliance is sponsoring four gatherings to discuss biblically-based principles for funding. Please pray for spiritual discernment during these events and ultimately for outcomes to be humbly positioned in accord with God’s eternal purposes.’

■ Thu 6 Wycliffe Denmark wants more members and supporters, and to tell more Danes about Wycliffe. Please pray that churches will be open for the team to speak about Bible translation and that individuals will be interested in supporting Wycliffe in time, finances, prayer and work.

Lene Nielsen, Wycliffe Denmark Director, 6 Feb

■ Fri 7 (cont) The Lutheran School of Theology in Aarhus elected Danish Wycliffe member Iver Larsen Theologian of the Year 2013, describing Bible translation as ‘theology at its best’. Iver has worked with the Sabaot people of Kenya for 35 years. Pray that the Lord will use the award as an opportunity for Wycliffe Denmark to share more about Bible translation.

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Iver Larsen, 7 Feb

■ Sat 8 Prayer is foundational to Bible translation, and part of the role of the UK prayer coordinator, Jo Johnson, is sharing prayer news with people in the UK. Pray for her as she explores how to use online social media to promote prayer and looks for other ways to tell as many people as possible.

clustered around the word ■ Sun 9 In the Mbeya Cluster Project, SW Tanzania, translation teams from nine related languages work together, benefiting from each other’s work and accelerating translation. These languages cover nearly 3 million people! Pray for good progress in New Testament translation and for team leader Joey Mwaikokesya [Mway-ko-KAYsee-a] as he leads this team of over 70 people.

■ Thu 13 When the Ikizu translators check their work in communities, Christians gather to hear.

But when a local radio broadcast announced a literacy session, a Muslim man turned up.

He’s not keen on translation (yet!) but he wants to learn to read and write his language. Pray for introductions to Jesus through the Ikizu team.

(2 Corinthians 5:20)

■ Mon 10 Elly Gudo, a Kenyan, worked with the Mbeya Project for several years. Now he is in Kenya training to be a translation consultant. He is raising financial and prayer support, very countercultural in this part of Africa. ‘Elly represents the future of translation in Africa,’ says the consultant on the cluster project, ‘consultancy for Africans

by Africans. He needs our prayers.’

■ Fri 14 Tanzanian cultural policy describes its 120 languages as the nation’s treasure. Yet the smallest of these ‘treasured’ languages are under threat, particularly when surrounded by more dominant languages. Pray for the Ruwila people: despite being small in number, they are pouring enthusiasm into preserving their language and teaching it to their children.

■ Wed 12 Rangi translators set up a Facebook page called ‘We speak Rangi’ where they share excitement about writing their language. Rangi speakers live throughout the country, many outside the Rangi region. One man visited the office to learn to write Rangi whose only connection is this webpage. Pray for good uses of the internet.

■ Sat 15 When the Burunge translators visited the community to read parts of Luke, several people asked when they could start mothertongue schooling for their children. Their children struggle to learn in Swahili, the national language. At the moment, education policies in Tanzania prevent mother-tongue schooling.

mother languages At the end of the week, people around the world will celebrate their languages on International Mother Language Day. Pray for initiatives that preserve and promote languages spoken by often-forgotten peoples.

■ Sun 16 Over the past years one of Wycliffe’s companion organisations has been helping

set up websites in mother tongues. These provide access to Scriptures in text, audio and video in places where it is hard or impossible for Westerners to work. The number of sites is rapidly growing and well over 100 are in the pipeline. www.kalaam.org ■ Mon 17 More than 10% of the world’s population is illiterate and many more prefer to listen rather than read. In an Awa-speaking village in Papua 6

Aileen Agoncillo

■ Tue 11 In another large cluster, the Mara Project in North Tanzania, the team uses software that allows one language team to produce a basic predraft from the translation done by another team in a neighbouring language. This helps the translators get off to a running start instead of facing a blank page. Praise God for technology like this.

Recording Bibles, 17 Feb

New Guinea, 171 ‘Audibibles’ (Scripture on an audio player) were distributed alongside 78 New Testaments. Pray the Audibibles would effectively share the Bible message.

■ Tue 18 Last October, Wycliffe New Zealand held the country’s first course on translation into New Zealand Sign Language. Keep praying for sign language work in NZ and around the world (there’s still no complete Bible in any!).

Director of the Bible Organisation of Tonga, 19 Feb

■ Wed 19 The Wycliffe Global Alliance is made of more than 100 organisations (including Wycliffe in the UK). Thank God for the Bible Translation Organisation of Tonga and the Bible Translation and Literacy Partnership of Solomon Islands, who are the newest members. Pray for their work in the Pacific, alongside the Bible Translation Association of Papua New Guinea.

■ Thu 20 In Australia, ethnomusic specialists have been running workshops in the Ngaanyatjarra lands with musicians who want to praise God in their own languages. Pray for the music and musicians as they try to spread their new songs across the massive region (9.8 million hectares!).

■ Fri 21 International Mother Language Day has been held annually since 2000, marking a tragic day in 1952 when students rallying for the use of their mother tongue were killed by police in modernday Bangladesh. Pray for celebrations around the world, as part of Unesco, Wycliffe and other organisations.

how beautiful on the mountains Nepal ■ Sat 22 One project has been running for more than 40 years, but now is reaching the finish line. At the moment, the New Testament is being printed, and it should be ready to be launched in April. Pray for a smooth printing process, for a great celebration and, most of all, for changed hearts as God speaks through his word. (Jeremiah 24:7) ■ Sun 23 This month, the survey team is in the far west of Nepal doing research and fieldwork. Ask God to provide strong contacts with people in the language communities, safe travel, and time that is both profitable for the team and encouraging for the communities.

■ Mon 24 Four language groups are working together to draft The JESUS Film and begin dubbing it into their languages next month.

They need the right people to read the 20+ voice parts. Pray for a natural, accurate and dynamic recording that communicates the message of Luke.

Two more language teams are aiming to finish Luke during this period.

■ Tue 25 Participants from six language communities are attending a course about documenting languages and developing alphabets, both of which are foundational for Bible translation. These steps help to make a translation accurate and clear. Pray that translation work will begin soon.

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■ Wed 26 Praise God for YWAM’s fantastic aim to see Scripture in every home in Nepal! They are working with Wycliffe’s partner team so that where possible this will be in the mother tongue.

Pray that God would enable Bibles to reach people’s hands, especially where Bibles are out of print or difficult to source. ywam.org

languages joined in January. Pray for open hearts in the communities, as trainees share God’s word in this easy-to-retell form.

■ Fri 28 ‘Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.’ (Psalm 25) The Psalms provide a beautiful basis for our worship of God. There has been interest in Nepal for getting the Psalms and Proverbs into mother tongues. Pray for the follow-up to an Old Testament poetry workshop last month, which equipped teams to start these translations.

■ Thu 27 A new Bible storytelling partnership, called Carry Forward Nepal, is underway.

Twenty participants from four languages have been learning stories since September, and four more

march ■ Sat 1 Mar People who speak the world’s smallest languages face challenges in our increasingly globalised world, where their language can appear less relevant, useful or valued.

SIL International, Wycliffe’s key partner, cooperates with local people speaking minority languages on writing systems, literacy programmes and language development, like dictionary making, to help them see how useful their language is. Pray for provision and open doors. sil.org ■ Sun 2 More than 80 language surveyors are working with SIL, and over the years, SIL has studied over 2,000 languages. There are still 2,000 languages that need more survey work doing in order to determine Bible translation needs.

■ Mon 3 Fifty years ago, SIL began studying the Seri language of Mexico, which only 215 people spoke. Small languages

Elyse Patten

our key partner

Consulting on language

like this are the most likely to die out. The research of SIL helped to preserve the language and now the population of Seri speakers is 800 and growing.

Pray for the Seri people and for preservative work like this.

■ Tue 4 SIL provides training not just in the UK and Peru (23-24 January) but in Australia, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa and around the world. Since the first course in the 1930s, SIL has trained more than 15,000 people! Pray for the continued expansion of training programmes to teach more mother-tongue and local workers. (Exodus 36:1) 8

■ Wed 5 The STEP programme in Papua New Guinea equips local people to start and run literacy and mother-tongue education programmes in their home villages. SIL set up the course, but now a local organisation runs it, with some SIL support. Pray for local SILsupported programmes like this.

STEP stands for Strengthening Tokples [local language] Education in Papua New Guinea.

■ Thu 6 If you were using a non-roman script and came across a consonant that changed shape depending on the vowels around it or its position in a

word, Graphite font technology (developed by SIL) could tell the computer how to adjust the letter according to the context. Pray for those who develop language technology, for creativity, patience and insight. scripts.sil.org

for SIL workers’ spiritual lives, that they would have wisdom and understanding to continue living in a way that honours and pleases God, being fruitful, and that they would know God better and better. (Colossians 1:9-10)

■ Fri 7 What SIL does is motivated by a belief that people speaking every language are made in the image of God. Pray ■ Mon 10 Nigeria: Three Vernacular Media Services interns will be finishing their internship this month and moving on to being supported mission workers. It is exciting to see God raising up more Nigerian missionaries! Pray for courage and encouragement for them as they begin the journey towards building teams of supporters.

on this day…

■ Sat 8 Today Wycliffe Switzerland celebrates its 50th anniversary. They are expecting 500 people to join them as they thank God, celebrate his works, mobilise more people and resources for the future, and continue to make the work known to more people. There are a thousand things to do beforehand, and a thousand to improvise on the day! Pray it goes smoothly.

■ Sun 9 The Wycliffe USA board of directors is in Peru meeting with national and indigenous leaders, as well as regional and international leaders. Pray for discussions marked by humility. Pray that all the logistics will flow as intended, and pray for Ruth Hubbard (31 January) as she coordinates.

the word at work Banen, Cameroon Cameroon: The Banen translation coordinator was invited to preach on Pentecost Sunday. As the translation team had checked Acts 2, this church heard the debut reading of this passage in Tunen.* Everyone understood the passage with ease and, at the end of the preaching, four people gave their

10 Mar

lives to Christ! The local pastor is following up with these people and they will soon be baptised. *Banen is the people group’s name, and Tunen is their language name.

■ Tue 11 Pray for these new Banen Christians to stand firm in Jesus. Pray that they will have access to the parts of the Bible that have been and are being translated into Tunen to feed their faith.

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■ Wed 12 In one district, the people speak a different dialect of Tunen and are therefore unenthusiastic about the literacy programme. It’s very difficult for the best-trained literacy teachers to travel that far, even with motorbikes, especially during the rainy season.

■ Thu 13 The Banen project needs an external consultant to assist the translation work.

Ask God to make his chosen consultant ready at the right time for this project.

■ Fri 14 The Banen team has been producing CD recordings of Luke in Tunen, and recently finished and started to distribute some CDs of parables. ‘Pray that they will be well received and an encouragement to all Banen,’ they ask.

■ Sat 15 Many translation projects set up a team from local

The Banen team explain their work

churches to support the work and help with raising finance and enthusiasm locally. The Banen committee hadn’t met for over a year, but now the problems have been resolved and they are meeting again. They arranged a joint meeting of churches where more than 500 people showed up to listen to God’s word in Tunen together.

■ Sun 16 (cont) Pray that local churches will grow in enthusiasm as the team and committee meet to share about the project,

and as the translation continues to be distributed.

■ Mon 17 Previously we mentioned growing excitement in schools about the language due to a translation of the Cameroonian national anthem into Tunen. At the National Day celebrations, school children sang the anthem in Tunen in front of government officials and received a standing ovation!

■ Tue 18 Our magazine Words for Life will be landing on doormats in the next few days, now incorporating Call to Prayer. We want this to encourage enthusiastic and informed prayers. Pray for the Communications Team to know how to continue to make the magazine as inspiring as possible.

More at wycliffe.org.uk/wordsforlife.

19 Mar

■ Wed 19 Leaders from many different Christian organisations will be gathering in Philadelphia today for three days of meetings arranged by the American Bible Society. These meetings bring together people involved in trauma healing ministries, including a number from Wycliffe’s partner SIL (1-7 March). Pray that the interaction and information shared will forward the ministry.

■ Thu 20 Picking up displays, printing out maps, checking the technology: the UK Church Engagement team is finishing last-minute preparations for this weekend’s The Next Step event. Pray that those who attend would make God-delighting decisions about their future work, and about whether that includes Wycliffe. wycliffe.org.uk/thenextstep 10

Elyse Patten

on this day…

resource raising Mayoyao, Philippines ■ Fri 21 Philippines: ‘Before, I hadn’t the patience to read the Bible in English for even one hour because I couldn’t understand,’ said a Mayoyao woman. ‘But now that I can read the Mayoyao translation, two hours isn’t enough! And I cry so much, I have to keep stopping to pray because it convicts me of all the things I haven’t done.’ The Mayoyao New Testament was launched in 2004. Praise God that use continues to increase and for the Faith Comes By Hearing audio recording.

■ Sat 22 It took a little while, but the money, translators and training were finally in place for the translation of the Old Testament to start in 2012. Since then, the team have translated Genesis, Jonah and Ruth, and all three have been approved by an external consultant.

book and has set up an account to fund Exodus. Pray for God to provide stable funding for the project from his abundance!

(Proverbs 10:22)

■ Sun 23 Money has been trickling in for the work and has been enough to keep the project running on a shoestring. Because the overall financial target for the Old Testament is so huge, the team is raising money book by

■ Mon 24 Carmen, who leads the Old Testament translation team, also worked on the New Testament.

However, because she is a married woman with children, she doesn’t have opportunities

to do formal training. Wycliffe translation advisor Barbara Hodder has been able to give her some training and the team has been producing good quality work.

■ Tue 25 Give thanks for the Language Development Organisation, which promotes the use of the Mayoyao New Testament translation and the Old Testament portions.

Pray for abundant enthusiasm and support from the local churches for the Bible and translation team.

■ Wed 26 Pray that schools will see the power of using the mother tongue in this area, and that they will teach reading in Mayoyao. Pray for more opportunities to encourage people to use and learn from the Scriptures in schools, churches and communities.

The Mayoyao team

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what happened next?

■ Thu 27 You prayed: The Weera team were struggling with ongoing computer problems, slowing down the work.

God answered our prayers through a Call to Prayer reader: someone donated £200 – now on its way to the team – to help with their computer issues. Give thanks to God for that generous heart!

■ Fri 28 You prayed: John and a team in Southeast Asia finished the New Testament checking in May 2013.

This month the team hopes that the New Testament will be back from the typesetter and ready for the printer. Pray for celebration preparations and for a new initiative that could see radio broadcasts of Scripture in this language.

■ Sat 29 You prayed: We rejoiced together when the Gamo and Gofa New Testaments, both Ethiopia, were completed and launched.

Much of the Old Testament is now drafted in Gamo and Gofa. A lot of consultant work remains ahead. Pray that each portion will lift the translators so they have zeal and focus for the long task.

Pray for the consultants who face a huge list of books to check.

■ Sun 30 You prayed: Eva and Martin Horton were hoping to go overseas this year.

They say: ‘It looks like we’ll be in the UK one more year. Martin can study EthnoArts, better preparing him for future work. Eva will continue her mapping, focusing on mainland Southeast Asia. Please pray that God will provide for expenses related to this year in the UK and that it will be good preparation for their ministry on the field.’

■ Mon 31 You prayed: The team leader Ngbuku translation team, in the Central African Republic, was incredibly ill with no access to health care.

Sadly, before we even reached this prayer in the diary, Simon died. Pray for his family and colleagues, who miss him sorely. Keep praying for the nation, which desperately needs God’s healing.

Michael, the Weera team leader, 27 Mar

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