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.

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.

“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. 

There aren’t enough essentials like food and shelter to go around. Now, as fighting picks up in Sudan and thousands of refugees come across the border, tensions could erupt into conflict. Over 47,000 refugees fleeing violence in Sudan have arrived in Chad in the last 30 days.

There’s at least one silver lining: “When you have Sudanese refugees coming over into Chad, and you’re translating unfoldingWordⓇ Open Bible Stories into one of the Sara languages, the number of people that you [can] reach with the Gospel expands exponentially,” Dane with unfoldingWord says.

“There are several different dialects in Sara, but they can all understand each other, and there are various people groups in the Sara language.”

unfoldingWord partners with church planters in Chad to bring the Gospel where it’s never been. More about that here.

Through collaboration, dedication, and a shared vision, communities are gaining access to God’s Word like never before.
(Graphic, caption courtesy of unfoldingWord)

“Chad has about 80 unreached people groups, [which] totals about 10 million people who don’t have God’s Word in their language,” Dane says.

“Church planters need the Bible in all the heart languages of Chad to plant healthy churches and disciple believers.”

Whole Bible, Whole Nation: Chad

According to Joshua Project, roughly half of Chad’s population identifies as Christian, while the remaining half is a mix of Muslims and animists.

The latter groups have posed a significant challenge for unfoldingWord partners, creating an opportunity for growth and innovation in their collaboration.

“Those groups have been very difficult, almost impossible, for these church planters to penetrate until now,” Dane says.

“The ‘Whole Bible, Whole Nation’ strategy equips our partners to create a movement of Bible translation and church planting to reach all of the least-reached people groups in their nation.”

While believers now have a proven strategy, this doesn’t mean the process is simple. One people group in Chad shunned believers simply because they were different.

“They would just block you out. They wouldn’t even eat with you,” Dane says. “Everybody [who] doesn’t practice their religion their way is considered unclean.”

Then, church planters asked this people group to review some unfoldingWordⓇ Open Bible Stories they had translated into the people group’s language. This review led to a lunch invitation. “That was just extremely important,” Dane says.

“It (eating together) means familiarity; it means friendship. Now, that door is open.”

Here’s how you can help unfoldingWord reach more people groups in Chad.

“We have some future translation work planned, but we need funding for that,” Dane says. “It’s a group of eight languages that want to get into Scripture translation.”

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord.

Instead, the conflict is escalating as it enters its third year today. The Rapid Support Forces have killed more than 300 people in two aid camps since Thursday.

unfoldingWord partners are among the 14 million people forced to flee their homes. “All of their lives are at risk, and they’re all worried about their families,” Dane* with unfoldingWord says.

“Most of them have experienced being displaced, yet they’re still working [and] translating the Bible for their people,” he continues.

“They see the Gospel and people meeting Christ as the only thing that will save their country.”

Scripture in minority languages

unfoldingWord teaches indigenous church planters how to translate God’s Word into their heart languages. More about that here. “There are 11 Bible translation teams working in Sudan’s unreached people group languages,” Dane says.

“Our partners there have completed drafting 20 New Testament books into Sudanese Arabic. They’ve drafted and have done the secondary checking on five Old Testament books.”

“They see the Gospel and people meeting Christ as the only thing that will save their country.”
(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

One minority language group, for whom Sudanese Arabic is a second language, works parallel with the Sudanese Arabic translation team. “The [group was] able to tell the guys doing the Sudanese Arabic work, ‘Wow, these are excellent tools. Thank you so much. We’re using them right away,’” Dane says.

“The [group] has already translated our unfoldingWord Open Bible Stories, which are 50 Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation, for evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and translation training,” he continues.

“They’ve been trained to use all our tools, and they’ve completed five books so far: Jonah, 3 John, 1 Timothy, Ruth, and Esther. So that’s where things stand regarding the actual translation progress.”

Courage in action

This translation work doesn’t happen in a vacuum but within the context of persecution and risk. When Sudan’s war began, Dane interviewed the head of unfoldingWord’s partner organization, who says Sudanese church planters know their Gospel work puts them in harm’s way.

“He said, ‘In Sudan, if you’re going to obey Christ and plant churches and preach the Gospel, your life is forfeit. We carry our death certificates in our pocket,’” Dane recalls.

“They know they may die doing this, and yet they do it anyway because they love God and their countries.”

Now that you know, could you hit the “share” button? “With Ukraine and the war in the Middle East, Sudan is getting ignored,” Dane says.

“Share their story as much as you can on social media.”

Additionally, you can help this vital translation work continue in Sudan by giving to unfoldingWord’s “Whole Bible, Whole Nation” project. Your support drives a holistic process that reaches remote regions, equips communities with the tools they need, and trains church leaders to bring the Bible to life for new generations.

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord.

The government responded with force, and chaos spread throughout the country. At least 63,000 people have fled the capital. “The [U.S.] State Department has issued a level four warning for Americans, which is their highest level,” Dane with unfoldingWord says.

“They say, ‘If you go [to South Sudan], you should leave a DNA sample with your family doctor so they can identify you later.’”

Hostility between President Salva Kiir’s allies and his long-time rival, First Vice President Riek Machar, has been at its highest since a temporary peace deal was initiated in 2018. Because of the rising tensions, Germany has temporarily closed its embassy in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.

“‘There is the violent crime like carjackings, shootings, and ambushes. Foreign nationals have been victims of rape, sexual assault, armed robberies, and other violent crimes,’” Dane says, reading from a March 9 notice.

“The State Department ordered the immediate departure of nonemergency personnel from Juba because of an increase in crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”

Continuing God’s work

unfoldingWord trains and equips local believers to translate the Bible. More about that here. Partners who work on translations in neighboring Sudan are based in South Sudan.

“It’s pretty serious, but our partners are still working. They’re still translating the Bible,” Dane says.

(Graphic courtesy of unfoldingWord)

As part of its “Whole Bible, Whole Nation” initiative, unfoldingWord trains, coaches, observes and assists Sudanese partners in establishing foundational expertise in technology, software usage, translation principles, and equipping trainers. Equipping Sudanese church planters will enable them to translate the Bible into all the heart languages in Sudan.

Support Bible translation in Sudan through unfoldingWord.

Sudanese evangelists are incorporating Bible translation into their church planting strategy. Ramadan provides a unique opportunity for translators to showcase their work.

“Very often, we hear stories of Muslims coming to Christ during Ramadan because He appears to them in dreams and visions and speaks to them,” Dane says.

“The next thing you know, He leads them to someone with a Bible they can read in their language.”

Pray the Lord will use Bible translations in minority languages to introduce people to Jesus.

Header image depicts a Sudanese combatant with G3 rifle. (Photo courtesy of Steve Evans/Wikimedia Commons)

Collaboration is key to accelerated Bible translation. Dane* with unfoldingWord says, “We’re trying to bring all these people together and energize them about this work [because] if we try to do all this work ourselves, we would exceed our capacity. But the network is very powerful.”

He’s referring to a global network of churches and church planters that is focused on translating Scripture into minority languages. Learn more about unfoldingWord’s approach here.

unfoldingWord collaborates with church networks to create biblical content, technology tools, and translation training.
(Photo, caption courtesy of unfoldingWord)

“We just finished our global Church-Centric Bible Translation forum [with] about 60 leaders representing 24 nationalities involved in church-centric Bible translation,” Dane says.

“We gathered in Kenya to share the vision, inspire new initiatives, celebrate groundbreaking achievements, [and] to encourage relationships directly between the church networks.”

One translator from South Sudan met the team who created the tools he used. “He said, ‘The translation made it possible for us to translate God’s Word into my people’s language for the first time,’” Dane recounts.

“He’s thanking him [profusely], and the Jordanian guy is weeping because he finally met somebody face-to-face who was using this work outside of Jordan.”

Another church leader, this time from Indonesia, left the forum with action in mind.

“He was new to church-centric Bible translation, but he was so energized by it. He said, ‘I’m going home to mobilize my whole church network for church-centric Bible translation,’” Dane says.

Pray for this and other new translation efforts started at the forum. Request a monthly prayer calendar from unfoldingWord here.

“Not only are people being equipped to do Bible translation, they are also equipped to go deeper into God’s word than they’ve ever been able to before,” Dane says.

“We are utterly and totally dependent on God and on prayer to energize and empower this mission. Without it, we are hopeless.”

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord.

A believer we’ll call Dane says the Lord is continually setting new goals before unfoldingWord. The ministry helps believers translate God’s Word into minority languages.

“unfoldingWord helps local church networks reach the unreached and establish the Church on solid foundations. We do that by equipping them to quickly, accurately, and sustainably translate the whole Bible for their whole nation,” Dane says.

“Since 2017, we have been active in 31 countries [and] over 352 languages have been engaged; 160 of those languages are connected to an unreached people group.”

Furthermore, “Our partners have completed 35 New Testaments across five countries, and then there are 49 New Testaments in progress across 10 countries. Our partners have completed 15 [Old Testament translations] in three different countries, [with] 15 in progress across nine other countries,” Dane says.

Thanks to the first-ever translation of unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories into another Iranian language, twenty people have come to Christ, and a new house church has been launched in Iran.
(Photo, caption courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Crediting unfoldingWord’s achievements to the Lord, he adds, “Were it not for His grace, we couldn’t have done any of this at all. We feel privileged to be part of what God is doing.”

To understand how unfoldingWord comes alongside Gospel workers, let’s say you’re a church planter in Iran. “We’re not coming in to do the work. We’re coming in to equip you to do the work and to catalyze a movement of Bible translation,” Dane explains.

Farsi is the national language, but more than 70 languages are used in Iran. unfoldingWord could help you reach one of the people groups that speak a minority language.

“Farsi is the language of government control, of oppression,” Dane says.

“But you go in there with the Gospel in their language, and immediately they know that you care about them and that God cares enough, more importantly, to speak their language.”

Learn more and connect with unfoldingWord here.

unfoldingWord’s Whole Bible, Whole Nation Iran project delivers hope for all unreached people groups. Together with ministry partner Transform Iran, believers co-labor to ensure that all people have a Bible in their heart language. Pray these efforts will bear much spiritual fruit.

Additionally, many dangerous world regions still need to be reached, requiring specially adapted resources. Ask God to help unfoldingWord finish that work.

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord.

Access to God’s Word is limited in most languages, to say the least, and study resources are even harder to come by. Dane* with unfoldingWord says, “These people need contextualized resources developed by their own pastors and leaders in their own countries.”

Helping these believers is not as easy as handing them an English Bible commentary and asking the community to share.

Believers need to have resources in their heart language to truly understand the deep meanings communicated in the text. However, translating critical study aids into another language isn’t as straightforward or simple as it may appear.

(Graphic courtesy of unfoldingWord)

For example, “If you wanted to take a Baker New Testament commentary and translate it into, say, Sudanese Arabic, you would have to have a copyright license and renew that copyright license every year,” Dane says.

“You can get those licenses if you have a lawyer to do the work for you, if you can afford it, and if you have time. These folks don’t have any of that stuff,” Dane continues.

“We’re providing [believers with] the means to do this [work] themselves.”

Yet even when church planters create study aids in their heart language with help from unfoldingWord, the aids aren’t always accepted. One young Gospel worker in South Asia found this out the hard way.

“They had done a nice translation. They had packaged it; I think it had a cross on the cover. His grandpa took one look at it and said, ‘That’s a foreign religion; I don’t want to have anything to do with that,’” Dane recalls.

“Because it looked like something from the West, Grandpa didn’t trust it.”

Everything changed when the worker explained his role in creating the resource. “As soon as grandpa understood, ‘Hey, this is in our language, and my grandson helped do this,’ the trust factor just went through the roof, and he was willing to listen and learn,” Dane says.

“When you bring something into a culture from the outside, they don’t necessarily trust it; they need to have a hand in [developing] that resource. We’re equipping local church networks in these hard-to-reach areas so that they can write their own commentaries and Bible translations.”

Here’s how you can help. “This summer, we have a generous donor who has provided a $100,000 matching grant, and we’re calling [it the] ‘Race for the Nations’ campaign. This will help fund Bible translation work in Chad, Benin, and Eurasia,” Dane says.

“If people wanted to be part of it, we would certainly welcome that and be grateful.”

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Suzy Hazelwood/Pexels.