Wycliffe Bible Translators building on Wales' rich Christian heritage
Wycliffe Bible Translators is looking to expand its partnership with Welsh churches and further develop its Bible translation work with a new office in the region.
The charity, which supports Bible translation around the world, is moving into the building of the Evangelical Movement of Wales, also shared by United Beach Missions.
It hopes that its new Welsh base will enable it to build on the rich legacy of mission and Bible translation work by scores of Christians from the country.
Carwyn Graves, Wycliffe Wales Co-ordinator, said: "It's a privilege for us to be able to connect churches in Wales with what God is doing round the world through Bible translation.
"A number of Welsh churches support some of our members, who continue the tradition of their forebears in Bible translation."
Between the 1800s and the early 20th century, Welsh mission workers stationed to places like Madagascar, north-east India, Tahiti and Brittany played a key role in Bible translation work.
They were among the Christians who advocated mother-tongue Bibles and literacy programmes at a time when the concept was still breaking ground.
"There is still an important place for Welsh Christians in global mission," said Carwyn.
At present, Wycliffe has 363 people from the UK and Ireland working in connection with Bible translation. According to the charity, only around 10 per cent of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world today have the Bible in their own tongue.
Carwyn is hoping that the new Welsh base will also help to raise awareness of the continuing need for Bibles to be translated for people groups that still do not have any portion of the Scriptures in their own language.
"Wycliffe seeks to serve the 1.5 billion worldwide who don't yet have God's word in their own language," he continued.
"Part of this is to share their often-ignored needs with churches in Wales, enabling these churches to support by praying, giving and sending both people and encouragement."
Wycliffe's new Welsh office will be officially launched on September 14.
