What Type of Ministry?

In the Christian world, there is room for all kinds of ministries: Bible Translation, Evangelism, Relief, Development, Publishing, Technology, Education, Media, Christian Growth, Foreign Missions, Support, and Advocacy, to name a few.

Where would Wycliffe Associates’ ministry fall in this array?

1.      Hmm, Bible translation? Wycliffe Associates, who call themselves ‘one of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations’[i], boasts of doing translations in two weeks, with people who have no more than two weeks of training. They are not willing to do the long-term work that Bible translation needs. Their mission statement is ‘Accelerating Bible Translation’, so I guess it’s not Bible translation, or at least not honest, hard-won Bible translation. It’s more like the fast food version of Bible translation: it looks good and fills you up (for now), but you’ll pay for it in an assortment of unpleasant ways later.

2.      On the other hand, they say that they are just serving a support role, providing the training and resources for the native speakers to do the translation in their own language. “Ownership begins with church members being empowered to translate Scripture and ensure the quality of the translation, followed by Wycliffe Associates developing leaders to facilitate and lead workshops and ultimately lead the national or regional Bible translation program.”[ii] Maybe that means they’re a support organization, but a support organization that bears no responsibility or ownership in how the translation turns out, or in whether the program goes forward. Is that really support? No.

3.      Wycliffe Associates says they are not accountable for the low quality translation because they don’t do the translation.So if they are just an organization that goes into an area for a short time, then maybe they are really evangelistic as Ministry Watch categorizes them.

Let’s compare them to another organization that goes into a location for a short time. Billy Graham festivals and crusades last only a few nights but, “it is not just an evangelistic event; it is a process of prayer, training, outreach, and followup.”[iii] Each one of the above four processes involves a lot of work. For example, the follow-up from the event is making sure everyone who came forward has some future contact with a church.

BillyGraham.org describes their events, “A Franklin Graham Festival isn’t just in the community a few days and then gone. It’s a Spirit-led process that begins months, even years, before, through the efforts of people like you, and it continues to affect and shape lives for years afterward—and for eternity!”[iv] Maybe the revival team leaves, but the effect of the revival doesn’t leave.

Is Wycliffe Associates like that? No! They steal translators from other programs. They train for two weeks. For example, the Sawi people, about whom Bruce Smith wrote, we see lots of attention given to the language group over time, but typically the two weeks are over and the ministry ends. Plainly, not a great evangelistic outreach.

4.       WA claims Technology Advancement is another area of impact their impact. In my research I haven’t been able to learn much about what apps they are creating. Bruce Smith wrote in his blog, “God’s Word in every language took a giant step toward reality as our TranslationStudio was released for free download in the Google Play store”^[v] But TranslationStudio is not affiliated with Wycliffe Associates,according to Unfolding Word. 

The WA 2019 Annual Report made mention of a Tablet for National Translators, Bible Translation Recording Kit and Print On Demand printers, so there are three pieces of technology, and those three probably contain lots of software apps. Based on what I am seeing, I would classify them as a Technology organization.

5.      On their website, Wycliffe Associates also claims to do community development as their third main area of impact. This seems to be done through bringing clean water and giving eye glasses. Does this make them a community development organization? No, because there’s no report of how often this happens.  There is again no record of this in their 2019 Annual Report. So what community development work really happens?

While Wycliffe Associates likes to think of themselves as ground-breaking, fresh and new; they really are taking what other people are already doing well, giving it a new name, and, to my way of thinking, doing it poorly.

 

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[i] https://wycliffeassociates.org/who-we-are/for-the-press/press-release/687

[ii] https://wycliffeassociates.org/our-impact/translation-strategies/white-paper-mast-an-introduction/

[iii] https://billygraham.org/what-we-do/evangelism-outreach/festivals-crusades/for-pastors/follow-up/

[iv] https://billygraham.org/what-we-do/evangelism-outreach/festivals-crusades/for-pastors/

[v] https://brucesmith.wycliffeassociates.org/2014/10/09/introducing-translationstudio/

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash