A compact, high-speed, digital system, called Print On Demand (POD), can be hidden in a safe location and used to quickly and efficiently print portions of the Bible, and Bible resources, from flash drives. A few or many copies then can be distributed to the local church.
“This means translators’ work will be safe—safe from those who actively oppose the spread of the gospel and seek to destroy the translators’ work,” says Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates.
National Bible translators throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Southeast Asia are working to translate God’s Word for their people, millions of whom are without any Scripture in their own language. Many of the translators work in secret, risking their lives to bring the Scriptures to their people.
Once the translators’ work is complete, they also face the challenge of getting the newly translated Scriptures into the hands of their churches and their own people.
“In one area of the world, seventeen million people who have never seen God’s Word in their heart language are crying out to God for the
chance to translate the Scriptures—not for someone to do it for them, but to do it themselves,” says Smith.
Wycliffe Associates provides the technology and equipment to empower and protect national translators in dangerous areas where Christians are persecuted, arrested, and hunted down, and where the church is in hiding.
Wycliffe Associates hopes to provide Print On Demand units for 60 scheduled translation workshops this year—40 small systems and 20 full-scale systems—a total need of $420,000.
These systems involve rugged industrial printers, powerful industrial staplers, with the kind of binding that will last for decades. Wycliffe Associates wants these Bibles to last, even in harsh climates. Yet at the same time, they make use of sophisticated software, capable of juggling multiple languages and alphabets and all their unique features. Even at $15,000, a full-scale Print On Demand system is a bargain.
Of the 6,887 languages spoken in the world, there are 3,287 languages that still need a Bible translation project started. Currently there are 2,267 Bible translation projects in progress worldwide.
