Wycliffe Associates Using Technology to Make Bible Accessible for the World’s Unwritten Language Groups

(Worthy News) – Christians from hundreds of language groups have asked Wycliffe Associates for technology to make the Bible accessible in their unwritten languages.

The international organization involving people in the advancement of Bible translation recently has received requests for more than 300 Bible Translation Recording Kits (BTRKs). The kits, developed by Wycliffe Associates, contain user-friendly Bible translation technology to help mother-tongue Bible translation teams translate the Scriptures for themselves and create audio recordings of their work. The kits also make the Scriptures accessible for those who are unable to read.

“I have witnessed the incredible effectiveness of our recording kits,” said Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “The people receiving them have never imagined anything like this. All their lives they’ve been told the Bible is written, in book form, and read. They assumed they were left out.”

Wycliffe Associates’ BTRKs include a computer tablet, translation and recording software, a microphone, and headphones.

After mother-tongue Bible translators have translated Scripture into their language, they use the kits to make multiple copies of recorded Scripture for distribution to their respective language groups. The recordings can be accessed using a flash drive or on a mobile phone.

“We’ve seen translators use a BTRK, then go home to their village after a day of translation work, gather their neighbors around the fire at night, and retell the Bible stories they translated that day . . . the first time in human history that these stories have ever been shared in their language!” said Smith.

One Bible translator from the Philippines said he was planning to put the recordings in his sound system and place it on his veranda so his neighbors could hear them.

“There is no question in my mind that God gave us this remarkable tool to communicate His love to people who could not experience it any other way,” said Smith.

Each recording kit with all the essential components costs $500, and Wycliffe Associates already has received funding for the first 60 of the 300 BTRKs that have been requested.

“Millions are living and dying without truly understanding God’s Word,” said Smith. “Bible Translation Recording Kits are a destiny-changing tool. We need a recording of Scripture in every language so that no one is without God’s Word.”

Wycliffe Associates has distributed 771 BTRKs since the program’s start in 2015.

About Wycliffe Associates

One of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, Wycliffe Associates was organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators to accelerate the work of Bible translation. Wycliffe Associates empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation.

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22-week abortion ban moves closer to Colorado ballot

(Worthy News) – A proposal to ban abortions at 22 weeks in Colorado moved closer to being on next year’s ballot on Wednesday.

The state’s title board, made up of representatives of the Secretary of State’s Office, the state Attorney General’s Office and the Legislature’s legal office, agreed the measure dealt with only one issue as required by state law and approved preliminary wording for the ballot. However, anyone who disagrees with the decision can appeal to the board within the next week and possibly to the state Supreme Court after that.

Proponents won’t be cleared to collect signatures until those legal options are exhausted. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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U.S. judge blocks Ohio ‘heartbeat’ law to end most abortions

(Worthy News) – A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Ohio from enforcing a new law that critics said would effectively ban most abortions in the state, starting as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati issued a preliminary injunction against enforcing the “Heartbeat Protection Act,” saying it imposed an unconstitutional “undue burden” on a woman’s right to obtain a pre-viability abortion.

The law was signed by Republican Governor Mike DeWine in April, following passage by the Republican-controlled state legislature, and was slated to take effect on July 11. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

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Government lawyers backtrack, say they will try to get citizenship question on census

(Worthy News) – Lawyers for the Justice Department backtracked furiously Wednesday, saying they would examine whether the Trump administration may add a question on citizenship status to the census, just one day after DOJ officials and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said they were abandoning those efforts for next year’s survey.

The reversal came after President Donald Trump threw the process into chaos, claiming his administration was “absolutely moving forward” with adding the contentious question, in direct contradiction to officials who said they will begin printing the decennial surveys without it.

“The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.” [ Source: Politico (Read More…) ]

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Rouhani: Starting Sunday, Iran will enrich uranium to ‘any amount we want’

(Worthy News) – Iran’s president warned Europe Wednesday that his country would “take the next step” in increasing its uranium enrichment this coming Sunday, and enrich to “any amount that we want.”

The comments by President Hassan Rouhani at a cabinet meeting in Tehran further increase pressure on European partners to salvage the unraveling 2015 nuclear deal following the US withdrawal from it last year.

If signatories of the nuclear accord do not fulfill their commitments, Rouhani said, levels of enrichment will go beyond the 3.67 percent limit agreed under the deal. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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136 Arrested, 111 Police Wounded During Riots Over Police Shooting of Young Israeli-Ethiopian Man

(Worthy News) – According to the Israel Police, over 100 people have been arrested across the country in connection with the wave of protests sparked by the shooting of a young Israeli-Ethiopian man by an off-duty police officer on Sunday.

The protests dissolved into violent riots Tuesday night, following the funeral earlier in the day of 19-year-old Solomon Tekah. Police reported 136 arrests and 111 officers wounded across the country. [ Source: Algemeiner (Read More…) ]

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Dollar dips after Trump says US should play ‘currency manipulation game’ like Europe, China

(Worthy News) – The greenback fell Wednesday after President Donald Trump said in a tweet that the U.S. should match China and Europe’s “currency manipulation game.”

“China and Europe playing big currency manipulation game and pumping money into their system in order to compete with USA,” Trump said on Twitter. “We should MATCH, or continue being the dummies who sit back and politely watch as other countries continue to play their games – as they have for many years!”

The U.S. Dollar Index, a basket of the greenback vs. major currencies, slid into the red following the Trump tweet before recovering. [ Source: CNBC (Read More…) ]

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US trade deficit rises to 5-month high of $55.5B in May

(Worthy News) – The U.S. trade deficit rose to a five-month high in May as the politically sensitive imbalances with China and Mexico widened.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the gap between the goods and services the U.S. sells and what it buys from foreign countries rose 8.4% to $55.5 billion in May, the highest since December. Exports increased 2% to $210.6 billion on rising shipments of soybeans, aircraft and cars. But imports climbed more – 3.3% to $266.2 billion – on an increase in crude oil and cellphones.

The deficit in the trade of goods with Mexico rose 18.1% to a record $9.6 billion. The goods gap with China widened 12.2% to $30.2 billion. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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Putin signs bill suspending participation in nuclear treaty

(Worthy News) – President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill suspending Russia’s participation in a pivotal nuclear arms treaty.

Putin’s decree, released on Wednesday, formalizes Russia’s departure from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States following Washington’s withdrawal from the pact.

The U.S. gave notice of its intention to withdraw from the INF in February, setting the stage for it to terminate in six months unless Moscow returns to compliance. Russia has denied any breaches, and accused the U.S. of violating the pact. Moscow followed Washington’s example in February, also suspending its obligations under the treaty. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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Kremlin refuses to reveal details about fatal Russian submarine fire, declares it ‘state secret’

(Worthy News) – Two days after a mysterious fire aboard a Russian submersible killed 14 people, little details have emerged as the Kremlin continued Wednesday to shroud the incident in secrecy.

Speaking at the Russian Navy’s Arctic base of Severomorsk Wednesday, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu praised the “heroic” crew members that sacrificed their own lives Monday to save a civilian and several other members aboard a deep-sea submersibles that caught fire while on a research mission.

“The submariners acted heroically in the critical situation,” he said. “They evacuated a civilian expert from the compartment that was engulfed by fire and shut the door to prevent the fire from spreading further and fought for the ship’s survival until the end.” [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

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