"In the Autumn of 2003, nobody knew if the translation of the Bible into the East African language Nyungwe would ever be completed; pastor Semo, one of the most important translators, had suffered a major stroke and could no longer speak. Nobody else was prepared or able to lead the team of translators," writes Wycliffe's Judy Boothe. "But God had a wonderful plan: pastor Semo would be healed before the eyes of his relatives, in his home village - surroundings which had been hostile to the Gospel for a long time. And so it came to pass: while pastor Semo was visiting his home village, two of his sisters each dreamt that he would speak again. The same day, an itinerant preacher came to the village. When he saw pastor Semo, he said 'Today, you will speak again,' laid his hands on pastor Semo and prayed. Pastor Semo was immediately able to speak again. The whole village was in tumult, and many came running to see the miracle with their own eyes. Pastor Semo didn't lose any time, and immediately resumed work on the Bible translation, together with four other Nyungwe speakers."
The Bible in 2,377 languages
Wycliffe reports that the Bible is now available at least in part in 2,377 languages, with translation projects currently underway in 1,678. Wycliffe staff are involved in 1,376 of these projects. In 2004, 82 new projects were started. Translations are needed into further 3,000 languages. There are 6,912 known languages, and Wycliffe aims to have at least started translating the Bible into all of them by the year 2025.
Source: Wycliffe, "Welt der Schrift" ("World of the Word") 2/2005
