Releasing the Power of God's Word - August 2024

Dear Friends,

God is moving in many ways around the world and P.J. and I are blessed to witness how God’s Word is going forth.  When we were at a conference in Thailand earlier this year, a Bible translator came up to us after one session with a serious problem. We’ll refer to him as AZ. He was distraught because the Bible translation he had completed and published in his language was being blocked by his government.  The Bibles had arrived at the port, but were not being released. Despite years of translation work, nobody there could access the printed Bibles. AZ heard about the digital Bible apps we were promoting at the conference and wondered if it would be possible to create a digital Bible app that believers in his community could use in its place.

To understand what happened next, it’s important to know about P.J.’s new role. Earlier this year, she was burdened that her colleague in digital Scripture publishing Lois Gourley was retiring with nobody to replace her. She felt called to step in and take over, transitioning to full time and positioning herself to directly assist people like AZ. In Thailand, she and Lois spent a week together so she could get up to speed on the job of putting consultant-approved Scripture texts and audio into the Digital Bible Library (DBL), a library of over 3,600 Bible translations and portions. Now, when translations done by Wycliffe staff and partner organizations are consultant-approved, she ensures the formatting is correct and moves the files to the DBL. From there, the text is available by request to publishers around the world and is often released in digital format in Bible apps.

Now back to AZ. When he was sharing with us, I located his Bible project in Paratext—because, as you know from the last newsletter, nothing gets deleted. Then P.J. traced it to the DBL where she learned the text had been picked up by two different digital publishers. In no time, she found a digital Bible app that was published with his Bible and available to install on his phone.  He was overjoyed and excited to return home, eager to share God’s Word with his community!

With so many stories like AZ’s unfolding this year, it’s been an incredibly busy time for both of us. After all the travel, we were grateful to spend the summer at home. One week we took our two grandsons to the Higby family reunion in New York State and made some great memories! We are thankful to live close to all five of our grandkids and cherish the opportunities to make a lasting impact on their lives.

I also had the privilege of working with three college interns this summer. This internship program is a new and strategic part of our mission to cultivate the next generation of Bible translators and supporters. Not only are we able to accomplish tasks that have long been on the back burner, but by mentoring these young people, we introduce them to Wycliffe and SIL. Our hope and prayer is that after graduation, these interns will consider joining us in advancing the crucial work of Bible translation, continuing the Great Commission of bringing God’s Word to every language.

Partners in the Gospel    (Phil 1:5)

Doug & P.J. Higby