Editorial from the CEO

ABOVE PHOTO BY MARC EWELL

For many people around the world, the ability to switch between two or more languages is a normal fact of life. People like Elsi (read Meet Elsi), who speaks six languages, choose the language they use depending on the context.

In this edition, we focus on the impact of multilingualism and what this means for Bible translation and language development programs amongst our partner minority language communities. We ask the question ‘What does it mean that God speaks my language if I use six?’ And we dig a little deeper behind the phenomenon of language shift and loss occurring in many places around the world.

Wycliffe’s ethos has always been about serving people – the speakers, writers and users of language.

Whether through supporting diaspora and refugee communities to do translation (read Iranian Christian diaspora serves Farsi speakers worldwide), publishing Scriptures in diglot form (read Meeting the multilingual needs of the Mussau), or facilitating language preservation for speakers of languages of an uncertain future, the changing linguistic and social landscape of today presents us with a fresh invitation to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and respond in creative and compassionate ways.

Read this edition of Wycliffe Today: The opportunities of multilingualism (PDF)

This story is from Wycliffe Today – February 2018 Edition (PDF)

About the Author: Barry Borneman, Wycliffe Australia CEO. Find out more