I joined Wycliffe in July 2013, and at that time there were
an estimated 209 million people speaking 1,967 languages still needing a Bible
translation project to be started in their language. A few months later,
October 2013, the annual projections had reduced that number to 1,919 languages
without Scripture. Here are the new numbers, as of October 1st,
2014: "estimates suggest around 180 million people speaking at least 1,860 languages are understood to 'likely need Bible translation to begin.'" That means that since I became part of this organization, the number of Scriptureless languages has been reduced by over a hundred! Exciting time to be involved. The full 2014 statistics report is available online if you want to read more.
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| Six boxes of a newly printed version of Luke in a language of northern Tanzania are sitting in our office, waiting to be checked and sent up by truck to the receiving people groups. Praise God for what He is accomplishing all over Tanzania and right in this office! |
And yet new Scripture needs are always showing up, especially from the point of view of a language surveyor. I've been doing research for some future surveys, and in this area there are speech varieties which are considered part of a language with a Bible or a translation project, but whose speakers can't really understand or use the translation because their language is too different. These speech varieties may need to be added to the language list in the near future! Pray for wisdom for surveyors and those determining where to start language projects. There's a lot of need still.
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| pictures from survey |
