Wycliffe Bible Translators USA

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Wycliffe Bible Translators USA: Helping All Languages Receive the Bible for Themselves

A man in a Bible school studies a passage of scripture.

For more than 70 years, Wycliffe Bible Translators USA has helped people around the world translate the Bible into their own languages. They also help with language development, literacy, and other spiritual and physical needs, believing that these further the impact of God’s Word to the heart, body, and soul of a person.

The mission and vision of Wycliffe USA started in 1917 when a missionary named William Cameron Townsend went to Guatemala to distribute Spanish Bibles. He quickly discovered that many people couldn’t understand the Bible in Spanish because they spoke Cakchiquel, a language without the Bible. Cam believed that everyone should be able to understand the Bible, so he started a linguistic school called the Summer Institute of Linguistics (known today as SIL International) that trained people in Bible translation. The work continued to grow and, in 1942, Cam officially founded Wycliffe Bible Translators USA.

Renato Leuto Sanuma displays his mother tongue Scriptures branded with his name. He wears his best dress throughout the course of the 2012 CONPLEI Congress. Renato travelled a long way from his village to attend the Congress and is monolingual - he travelled with a missionary translator friend.Today Wycliffe continues to work toward helping all languages receive the Bible for themselves. There are an estimated 1,700 languages likely needing Bible translation to begin, and Wycliffe is working faster than ever to reach those languages as soon as possible. The organization does this through partnerships with mission organizations all around the world to see the life-changing message of the gospel made available to everyone who still needs it.

“Wycliffe USA benefits from CapinCrouse’s wealth of knowledge and expertise through like-minded client relationships in the faith-based nonprofit industry,” says John Krehely, Chief Financial Officer at Wycliffe USA. “Because CapinCrouse conducts the audits of all of the U.S.-based Wycliffe organizations, the synergy and efficiency we experience by their ability to see the full scope of mission and financial activities is a benefit to Wycliffe both domestically and abroad.”

 

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Photos and video courtesy of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA.