Trust God and Get Going

“God, this is your journey, your work. Please help us get out of here.”

Let’s imagine that your family and close friends have a passing acquaintance with the message of Jesus, and some might even be believers, but they want to know more. They’re hungry for God’s Word, but it doesn’t exist in their language. How far would you go, and what sacrifices would you make to get it into their language?

That’s the situation of the Zamora* people, living deep in the jungles of South America, a situation Pastor Basil* is determined to correct. Pastor Basil leads a church-centric translation team in a closed country in South America, working to make God’s Word accessible to the least reached. He had arranged a Church-Centric Bible Translation workshop for the Zamora, no small feat, but that was the easy part. The challenge was to get everyone to the centralized training location, along with food and supplies to last a week.

Americans take travel for granted. Super-highways and jumbo jets are just part of our world. Convenience stores full of every item a traveler needs line the roads and concourses, not so in the jungles of South America. Rivers are the highways, few roads penetrate the forest, and drug cartels and anti-government guerillas endanger travelers. The Bible translation team must load boats to the maximum, carrying enough supplies to last for weeks when they travel. People travel for days just to cover fifty miles. Even so, the Zamora are willing. They loaded up and launched, expecting to meet Pastor Basil in a small village several hours' journey from where they live. But he was beginning to wonder if he could even get there.

Meanwhile, in Pastor Basil's community, workers on strike blocked all the exits with buses, trucks, and other barriers, angrily demanding more pay. Moreover, since the government strongly opposes Bible translation work, negotiating their way out wasn’t on the table. City leaders might have gotten wind of where they were going. Pastor Basil and the team loaded up the vehicle anyway and began trying to find their way, praying, “God, this is your journey, your work. Please help us get out of here.” Just then, a fellow believer texted, “Take the dirt road through District B. No blockade there.” But District B is a high-crime area. They trusted God, took the road, and it led them out of the town.

The risks they run and the price they pay to make God’s Word accessible to their people make these church-centric Bible translators our heroes at unfoldingWord. We trust you share our admiration. We thank you for praying and partnering with us to equip them for the task.

Join the Movement

Your investment will help empower church networks worldwide to translate the whole Bible into their ethnic languages for the very first time.
Give Now

Stories From the Field

  • Like nothing we've ever used

    • August 05, 2024

    Following an Open Bible Stories community check in Chad, the local imam made an astounding comment, declaring, “If any Muslim says that Jesus is not the savior, he is not a real Muslim, and he should ...

  • Like the man from Macedonia

    • August 05, 2024

    Greater Reach Alliance reports that Church-Centric Bible Translation gives them the tools they need to reach Muslims in Sudan. Like the man in the Apostle Paul’s dream calling for help in Macedonia, M...

  • The Market Evangelist

    • August 23, 2024

    Christian* slung his satchel over his shoulder, swung his leg over his bike, and pedaled off for another day of evangelism and outreach in the market. His faith and dedication to reaching his Chadian ...

  • Amazing Grace

    • September 10, 2024

    Grace,* married at age 14 and a mother of two soon after, suffered physical abuse, endured the humiliation of an unfaithful husband, and finally fled to save her life. Divorce forced her to the fringe...

  • The Angry Imam

    • May 03, 2024

    “It is dangerous for us to go,” said Stephen, “We cannot avoid the dangers, but when we think about what Jesus has done for us, we know that God will help us, and we are not afraid.” Stephen serves wi...

  • Progress Against the Odds

    • July 09, 2024

    In southern India, Hindu nationalists persecute Christian leaders. Families drive from their homes and villages their sons and daughters who convert to Christianity. Courageous evangelists continue pr...

  • New Believers in Iran

    • April 08, 2024

    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. While help...

  • Hope in harrowing times

    • April 08, 2024

    As the world worries over the horrific events in Israel and mullahs call for global jihad, a hopeful fact remains. The more Islamists promote jihad, the more average Muslims are open to the gospel. In...

  • Trust God and Get Going

    • September 11, 2023

    “God, this is your journey, your work. Please help us get out of here.” Let’s imagine that your family and close friends have a passing acquaintance with the message of Jesus, and some might even be b...

  • Critical Tools for Courageous Translators

    • August 03, 2023

    The global demand for Bible translation far exceeds the capacity of existing Bible translation agencies. Doing translation in dangerous places makes it doubly difficult. That’s why members of the illu...

  • Meesha's Story

    • July 03, 2023

    In the Republic of Iran, for the church to be planted, discipled, and grown, more than 60 people groups need a Bible translation in their own language. May was Iran’s bloodiest month in the last five...

  • UKRAINE: Bomb Shelter Bible Translation

    • July 03, 2023

    Ukrainian Great Commission partners are translating unfoldingWord’s suite of Bible translation tools to make God’s Word accessible to more than 540 languages spoken across the countries of the former ...

  • All 27 New Testament Book Packages Complete

    • August 08, 2023

    It used to take western experts at least 20 years to translate the New Testament into a Bible-less language. Now, every bilingual church-planting network has access to the open-license English tools t...

  • Making God's Word Accessible to Ordinary People

    • September 11, 2023

    Sofia Ivanov speaks on the impact of unfoldingWord’s Bible Translation tools  Editor’s Note: Sofia Ivanov* is a project manager for unfoldingWord’s Eurasian Whole Bible, Whole Nation partner. Her thou...

  • Saved While Escaping

    • October 02, 2023

    “I was a terrible husband for the first fifteen years of our marriage. Every weekend, I would get drunk, abuse my wife, and ridicule her. We mistreated each other terribly,” said Siroos. “But God amaz...

  • Man on the Run

    • July 03, 2023

    Asim* serves on the Bible translation audio-video team for unfoldingWord’s Whole Bible, Whole Nation partner in Sudan. They use Bible translation as part of their church-planting strategy for 133 unre...

  • Ten Times Faster

    • March 14, 2023

    Imagine you are ordering a new internet connection or cable TV or maybe something new from Amazon and you get the message saying, “Your town is too remote and we can’t serve your area at this time. We...

  • Meet Amy & Priscilla

    • March 14, 2023

    unfoldingWord operates as a catalyst for the Church-Centric Bible Translation movement. We collaborate as part of the body of Christ to develop and implement strategies and unrestricted biblical resou...

  • Jeremiah and the Occult King

    • May 04, 2023

    When Jeremiah* first heard that his Chadian church-planting network needed his help translating unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories (OBS), he was skeptical. “I thought Bible stories were for children, l...

  • The Exponential Journey

    • April 10, 2023

    Khartoum, Sudan, April 2021. I was sitting in a small hotel conference room with the leaders of Greater Reach Alliance and half a dozen representatives of unreached Sudanese people groups. We were ta...