Today is day two of unfoldingWord’s Church-Centric Bible Translation Forum, a gathering aimed at strengthening global collaboration in Scripture translation. The event brings 100 leaders from 18 countries and 28 language groups to Nairobi. Read about last year’s CCBT Forum here.

“Some of them work in countries that have religious opposition, all the way up to death threats and assassinations,” Dane* with unfoldingWord says.

(Graphic courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Kenya provides the neutral territory needed to facilitate a meeting of this size. Dane says, “We chose Kenya because it’s a very welcoming country, and it seems much easier for many of our global partners to get visas to Kenya than other parts of the world.”

unfoldingWord supports church-planting work among every people group by equipping believers with open-licensed biblical resources and training to translate God’s Word into their heart language.

“If we tried to do all of this translation work ourselves, we would immediately exceed our capacity. That’s why we are equipping a network of church planters and disciple-making ministries across the world with church-centric Bible translation tools, technology, and training,” Dane says.

“That network continues to expand, and as a result, hundreds and hundreds of new languages are being engaged in a formative process for them, individually and for their people.”

Learn more about unfoldingWord’s approach here.

“We’re not alone”: building a global family

The Church-Centric Bible Translation Forum builds upon unfoldingWord’s global church planting network, connecting believers near and far. The four-day meeting is comprehensive, offering education, training, and opportunities for collaboration and networking.

“Almost half of the people coming are new, and so it will be an introduction to how church-centric Bible translation works,” Dane says.

In addition, “They’ll have testimonies, and breakout sessions on overcoming barriers, security, funding, technology, and all of those kinds of things.”

(Graphic courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Believers gain more than practical skills at the forum. “What they tell us is, ‘It’s very difficult what we do, but when we meet brothers and sisters from other parts of the world who do this with us, we realize we’re not alone,’” Dane says.

“When they get to meet each other for the first time, face-to-face, it’s like this family that they didn’t know they had.”

Pray that the Holy Spirit would fill all the presenters and breakout leaders. Pray for the work that God is doing and is about to do through church planters and Bible translators.

Believers in Benin tell unfoldingWord, “We see Muslims giving themselves to Christ, imams giving themselves to Christ, kings giving themselves to Christ. Give us more. We want to keep going.”

Consider partnering with unfoldingWord to support this work. A $45,000 matching grant will double every gift made through December 31.

*Name withheld for security purposes. 

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord. 

Joshua Project estimates there are 483 unreached people groups in the area, while The International Mission Board (IMB) reports 739. Regardless of which figure you use, both represent millions of people who do not know or follow Christ.

The Bible is available in Modern Standard Arabic – a dominant trade language for the MENA region – but Dane with unfoldingWord says, “Many have a tribal language or a heart language which is not Arabic, and millions of people do not have their own translation of the Bible.”

Now, unfoldingWord is working to change this disparity by helping believers in the MENA region translate God’s Word for themselves. Learn about unfoldingWord’s strategy here.

“All of our Bible translation tools need to be translated into Modern Standard Arabic, and from Modern Standard Arabic, they can then go into all of the languages that cover the Middle East and North Africa,” Dane explains.

Modern Standard Arabic: A gateway for the region

Modern Standard Arabic is the “gateway” language for 20 to 24 countries, many of which lack their own Bible translations.

unfoldingWord’s Middle Eastern translation partners “are experts in Modern Standard Arabic, and they are deeply committed to sharing God’s love with the whole Arabic-speaking world,” Dane says.

He adds, “They are translating unfoldingWord’s book packages into Modern Standard Arabic. From Modern Standard Arabic, you can then translate the Bible and unfoldingWord’s Open Bible Stories into other languages that are connected to Modern Standard Arabic.”

In places like the Middle East, Christians strive to draw closer to God, yet regularly worship with precious few Bible stories and verses available in languages they understand.
(Photo, caption courtesy of unfoldingWord)

unfoldingWord’s “book packages” are software tools containing everything needed to translate an entire book of the Bible — including “a literal translation, a simplified translation, a verse-by-verse translator’s guide, definitions of key terms, short articles about handling Bible translation issues, and they’re all linked to the words in the original languages,” Dane says.

The ministry’s partner “is translating book by book so that you could have a book package of Mark, a book package of Matthew, a book package of Ephesians, and things like that.”

Translating hope

While restrictions abound in the MENA region, the hunger for God’s truth is unparalleled. Help believers translate Scripture for their people by supporting this work through unfoldingWord.

This massive project, only a few years old, is already having a tremendous impact. Dane says in December 2024, a young man from Sudan shared the following with the Middle Eastern staff:

“Thank you for the book packages that you translated. We have, for the very first time, translated God’s Word into [the language of] my people group. My people group has never had this before. People are coming to Christ. We’re planting churches in Sudan and South Sudan because of your work.”

Millions across the MENA region are still waiting to hear God’s Word in their own language. unfoldingWord and its partners are making that possible — one translation at a time.

Learn more about unfoldingWord here.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Ben White/Unsplash.

“Some people had leading roles, others worked backstage, but all of them were catalysts who equipped the Church and empowered it to reach the world,” says Dane with unfoldingWord.

unfoldingWord follows their example, acting as a catalyst for the global Church in today’s context, he adds.

“We want to see the Church go throughout the world, and it was always God’s primary means of reaching the world in the first place – the Church of Jesus Christ,” Dane says.

Breaking down barriers

unfoldingWord collaborates with indigenous churches and church-planting networks to establish a church in every people group and make the Bible available in every language. Learn more about that here.

Along with teaching believers how to do church-centric Bible translation, “We try to catalyze Bible translation organizations to adopt open-licensing strategies for their translation resources and software,” Dane says.

“It’s incredibly important for the global Church to have this (information), especially in the Global South. They don’t have lawyers that can negotiate copyright licenses year after year.”

unfoldingWord partners with the global Church to make Scripture accessible in every language through open licensing, translation, and collaboration.
(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Removing barriers is part of the ministry’s original purpose. unfoldingWord “has been advocating for open licensing of Bible translation resources since before we were founded in 2017. The people in leadership were doing that way back in 2010,” Dane says.

Today, “we count at least 32 Western organizations that are releasing open-license portions of their content for the global Church.”

Find your place in the story

Partnership is another key catalytic component. At unfoldingWord’s annual Church-Centric Bible Translation Forum, “We bring together church planting ministries, disciple-making ministries, [and] Bible societies, for networking, training, and collaboration,” Dane says.

“That benefits the global Church in its mission to translate and proclaim the Gospel.”

This collaborative effort includes you. “We have several ‘Whole Bible, Whole Nation’ projects around the world. If a church is looking for a mission [project] and they care about getting God’s Word out, that’s a great way to do it,” Dane says.

Check out unfoldingWord’s “Whole Bible, Whole Nation” projects and ask the Lord how He’d have you support this work – whether through financial means, prayer, or advocacy.

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord. 

As an Illuminations partner, unfoldingWord catalyzes church-centric Bible translation around the world. Dane says unfoldingWord exists to see “the church in every people group and the Bible in every language.”

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

unfoldingWord partners with church planters and church networks worldwide to fulfill this mammoth purpose. “We don’t make Bible translations; we make Bible translators. We are equipping people to become excellent Bible translators,” Dane says.

“It’s the primary way God has called us to participate in the Great Commission. We catalyze and equip church networks so that they are empowered and successful in reaching the least-reached.”

Translation testimonies

On a practical level, unfoldingWord supplies tools, technology, and training to help church planters translate God’s Word into minority languages. More about that here.

“We see what we do as kind of ‘turbo-charging’ church planting ministries around the world,” Dane says. “They are already trying to do Bible translation because they need it; they can’t wait.

“It takes too long to get a Western missionary to go. They need the Bible like, yesterday, in the heart languages of the people groups where they are.”

For example, Benin has more than 50 indigenous languages. Many still lack Scripture, and the most recent New Testament took 20 years to publish. One church planting partner there recently told Dane, “When I first got involved in this and I heard how long that would take, [I] said, ‘How are we ever going to do this? How are we ever going to get the Bible in all these languages?”

Believers shared the following after receiving Bible translation tools and training from unfoldingWord:

“Our encounter with unfoldingWord completely changed our perspective. Now we know that Bible translation can be done in a more inclusive, effective, and efficient way than ever before. We’re proud to be involved, and we’re ready to make a sacrifice to make this dream a reality.”

Consider supporting unfoldingWord’s “Whole Bible, Whole Nation” projects through financial partnership.

Most importantly, pray. Ask the Lord to bless unfoldingWord’s global work in Bible translation and church planting. You can also become an ongoing prayer partner here.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash.

First, technology enables believers to complete work they would otherwise struggle to do.

“They’ve taken technology tools that our folks created, most notably the one called translationCore, and they have turbocharged it,” Dane with unfoldingWord says. “It serves as a checking tool, which is essential in Bible translation, [and] an initial drafting tool as well.”

Secondly, tech tools from unfoldingWord help believers work efficiently, completing more work in less time. “They’ve translated the New Testament faster than anybody we’ve partnered with,” Dane says.

“They have completed 10 New Testaments, text versions. They have completed one New Testament in audio, and two more audio New Testaments are underway for 2025. They also have 10 Old Testaments underway; those would be text versions.”

When God’s Word speaks your language, it speaks to your heart. This is why unfoldingWord equips local believers to translate the Bible into the languages they know best.
(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Finally, technology fosters key connections. Team members collaborate on projects using digital means, and some believers discover the Lord’s leading through technology.

“One of the brothers, a key leader, shared how God called him into ministry, not through a pulpit,” Dane says.

“Pastors preach sermons, and God calls people to ministry in a church. This guy came to his call to ministry through technology.”

However, the authorities are also highly skilled with technology, so pray for believers to have wisdom and discernment.

The government’s “surveillance apparatus is really powerful,” Dane notes. “They are concerned that the translation of the Bible and the truths that it teaches might foment a rebellion.”

Help unreached people groups receive Scripture in their heart languages here.

“We’re equipping our partners and aiding them in any way we can so they can translate the Bible into all of the languages represented there, especially the ones that are unreached,” Dane says.

“This country has [several dozen] unreached people groups out of a total of 119, so that is over 9 million people.”

Header image is a representative photo courtesy of fancycrave1/Pixabay.

Though the Gospel has a historic presence in this particular country, the spiritual needs are still staggering.

Dane with unfoldingWord says, “The Joshua Project lists about 195 million people in that country that are unreached with the Gospel. The Gospel has been there a long time, and so there are Christians in the country — but still, 250 million people do not have God’s Word in their heart language.”

The country is home to more than 700 language groups. But despite decades of faithful effort, only 100 New Testaments and 34 complete Bibles have been translated. Dane adds, “The demand for Bible translation far exceeds the capacity of traditional methods and organizations.”

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

The Whole Bible, Whole Nation project by unfoldingWord focuses on using the national language as a bridge to translate Scripture into minority languages.

“We used to call it a gateway language,” Dane explains. “Now we call it a strategic language. If you can get all of our translation tools into that strategic language, then they use them and they can translate the Bible for those…250 million people in that country that do not have God’s Word.”

UnfoldingWord recently signed a memorandum of understanding with a large church in Islands-Asia to integrate translation tools into local training.

“Already, the church’s Bible translation ministry is utilizing our technology,” Dane says. “God is moving in a very powerful way.”

Local leaders recognize the urgency. Dane shares the story of Birhan, a former forensic auditor turned Bible translation advocate. Birhan is from a local tribe still waiting for a complete Bible. “People will come to him and say, ‘Oh, you just need it in the national language.’ But he says, ‘No, that will never be enough — because of how the devil has tricked my people with false teachings.'”

As Birhan says, “We’ve been waiting 170 years for the Bible in our language. Finally, we are working on it.”

You can support this Whole Bible, Whole Nation initiative by visiting unfoldingword.org to pray, donate, or learn more.

Header photo courtesy of Tim Wildsmith/Unplash.

A recent Pew Research study shows that the technology usage gap between Americans under 30 and those over 65 has significantly narrowed over the past decade. However, within the Bible translation community, a digital divide still exists.

Dane, a spokesperson with unfoldingWord, a ministry dedicated to enabling church-centric Bible translation, says traditional translation methods often require high-tech infrastructure, formal training, and external oversight. This creates barriers for many language communities that need God’s Word in their heart language.

One of the biggest challenges, Dane explains, stems from a common misconception: “The question goes like this: ‘I thought only experts with PhDs could translate the Bible. How can we know church-based Bible translations are trustworthy?”

This perception and a global decline in the number of qualified Bible translation consultants created a bottleneck. “It drove the creation of unfoldingWord’s software toolset that we call translationCore,” Dane says.

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

translationCore is a suite of open-access digital tools designed to empower local churches and translation teams with quality control, accuracy checks, and collaboration support. More about that here.

The impact is already visible. “This team [in Myanmar] is working on a translation that will reach over 600,000 people who have never heard the story of Jesus in their language,” Dane shares.

By streamlining the translation checking process, translationCore drastically increases efficiency.

“They tell us, ‘When we have to check a Bible translation by hand, manually, we can get through maybe 10 verses a day. When using translationCore, we can check 100 verses a day,’” Dane reports.

unfoldingWord provides these tools free of charge to the global Body of Christ, but continued development depends on support. “We share these tools… without charge, but they aren’t free,” Dane notes.

“Every gift helps get them fully developed and out to the people that need them most.”

You can find your place in this unfolding story — and be part of accelerating Scripture access for the world’s least-reached — by supporting unfoldingWord here.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of John/Unsplash.

“We have profound respect for the accomplishment of our brothers and sisters in the traditional Bible translation world,” Dane with unfoldingWord says.

“Several of our founders spent 30 or 40 years in that movement. We couldn’t do what we do without their shoulders to stand on.”

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

While traditional methods have made a significant impact, they simply can’t keep up with the growing global demand for Scripture in more languages. That’s where unfoldingWord comes in.

unfoldingWord’s innovative software, translationCore, is transforming how translation happens – putting powerful tools directly into the hands of the global Church.

“It is our goal to deliver a comprehensive end-to-end Bible translation tool chain that’s self-service,” Dane says. “It provides self-service capabilities for drafting, checking accuracy, and even publishing translations.”

The impact has been dramatic. According to partners working with unfoldingWord, “‘When we have to check a Bible translation by hand, we can get through maybe 10 verses a day. When using translationCore, we can check 100 verses a day,’” Dane shares.

“They have all the tools right there. They don’t have to be a PhD consultant to do this.”

As the global Church increasingly takes the lead in translating Scripture for their communities, tools like translationCore are essential. However, developing this kind of technology takes resources. You can help by giving.

“It costs several hundred thousand dollars per year to develop these tools,” Dane notes. “We really need people to step up and help us to equip the global Church to translate the Bible for themselves.”

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord. 

“The traditional means of translation that we’ve employed for decades has reached its limit in accomplishing the goal of having Bibles in all the world languages,” John* with unfoldingWord says.

“Most of the ones remaining are smaller language groups, and they’re in difficult-to-reach circumstances.”

unfoldingWord comes alongside church planting networks to begin Church-Centric Bible Translation. More about that here.

“The strategy here is to equip the local church to produce translations that no one else would be able to do anytime soon,” John says.

There are over 7,000 languages spoken in the world. Around 3,589 have little to no Scripture.
(Photo, caption courtesy of unfoldingWord)

The result is indigenous Bible translation, not unfoldingWord projects. Communities welcome the Scripture their members worked on; it wasn’t handed to them by an outside group.

“The (global) Church itself has gotten far ahead of Bible translation,” John says.

“As we go into these places and fully equip, invest, and teach them everything they need to know, their own energy and passion for having it in their mother tongue takes over.”

Sign up for a free prayer calendar on unfoldingWord’s profile page.

John says, “Difficult geographical circumstances in some of these locations are combined with heavy spiritual opposition, so prayer is of utmost importance as we try to progress in these areas.”

*Pseudonym

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord. 

Following Christ often carries a high cost. More about that here.

“If they catch you doing evangelism, translating the Bible, or leading someone to Christ, at the very least, they will put you in prison, and it could be quite worse,” Dane says.

Still, brave believers keep going – so every people group can hear God’s Word in their own language. “About half of Iran’s people speak a language other than the national language, [which] is Farsi,” Dane says.

That’s where unfoldingWord steps in. More about that here.

“We’re handing off the tools, training, and the technology to help our partners create a movement of Bible translation and church planting to every least-reached people group in their nation,” Dane says.

“It puts Bible translation into the hands of the Church, and you’re no longer dependent on Western PhD experts to do this.”

The end result is worth it all. “The first time somebody hears God’s Word in their own language, they weep,” Dane says.

(Graphic courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Help equip rapidly-growing church networks in Iran to translate and distribute unfoldingWordⓇ Open Bible Stories.

Pray for the Lord’s favor and blessing upon church-centric Bible translators in Iran.

“As soon as they’re done with that one book of the Bible, they can begin using it. They’ll share it chapter by chapter because many of these translators are pastors or house church leaders, so they can use it right away,” Dane says.

“Our partners in Iran have completed 18 translations of our unfoldingWordⓇ Open Bible Stories, which we call our translation primer, and they’re working on four New Testament translations.”

Pray for God’s miraculous healing to cover unfoldingWord’s partner, Transform Iran’s team of servant leaders. Several crises and chronic health challenges have hindered their work lately.

“Be unceasing in prayer because there are lots of obstacles,” Dane says. “There are economic, financial, government, and cultural obstacles, and obviously, all of that is empowered by spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of mostafa meraji/Pixabay.