Just months ago, the world shut down . . . businesses closed, local markets shuttered . . . we all quarantined as COVID-19 had varying effects on countries around the world.
While you and I may have found that the first couple weeks brought a slower pace and more family time, quarantine and lockdown were completely different for believers in persecuted countries.
The unreported reality is that authorities in countries opposed to the gospel are using COVID-19 to increase persecution of local believers—especially national Bible translators. This has meant more surveillance, increased interrogations, and arrests—and since believers are supposed to be staying in their homes, the global pandemic has made them an easy target.
You and I don’t know what it is like to be a target because of our faith—to live constantly looking over our shoulders to see if someone is watching. But even with the threats and dangers, national translators press on!
Time to Stand Firm
I have been praying fervently for national Bible translators during this time. They need the power of the Holy Spirit to guide them, protect them, and give them the strength to complete the good work God has prepared in advance for them to do.
I wholeheartedly believe that now is the time to pray on their behalf as they face spiritual battles . . . “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).
But prayer is only the beginning. We can also take action. Two language groups have reached out asking for tools, technology, and training—the hardware, the software, the teaching—to launch national Bible translation in their own heart language.
Even in the midst of heightened persecution . . . even with the police actively working to intimidate these brothers and sisters, they refuse to give up.
Gathering for Bible translation workshops in these regions was already risky for Christians, but now, whole networks of underground believers are threatened with exposure—they can be harassed—lose their jobs—be driven from their homes—arrested—tortured—and worse. Yet, they are still asking for help! Not help to hide but help to keep going!
The Source of Real Hope
These national translators know that real hope comes from God’s Word. And when they translate God’s Word into their heart language, their friends, family, and neighbors experience that same hope for the very first time!
Seeing their amazing faith has filled my heart with joy. And I am committing myself to doing everything I can to equip them for the work of translating the Scriptures into the language of their people.
I know that you are passionate about getting God’s Word into the hands of men and women desperate to share the power of Scripture with their communities . . . so I am inviting you to help meet an important need.
To launch two Bible translations in Asia—providing all the translation tools and resources for translators to work safely in these highly persecuted regions—will take $39,000.
I know you will be praying for our brothers and sisters, and your prayers will help sustain them as they endure a world of intensified scrutiny and unforeseeable obstacles. And your gift today will ensure that they have the resources they need to give God’s Word to their friends and loved ones.
Your generosity will bring the light of God’s Word to hostile and spiritually dark places that you and I can hardly imagine . . . people living in a world of danger we can only experience through movies and books. For them, it’s real. It’s every day.
Please join me in standing with these national Bible translators—to equip them spiritually and materially to wage spiritual battle in their world so they can take God’s Word to their people in the language of their hearts. Please click the link below to learn more and to partner with these national translators right now!
