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Canceled due to COVID-19.
Ed and Linda Speyers joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1976 and invested 20 years (1979-1999) in South America doing incarnational ministry, which included Bible Translation among the Suriname Javanese people. In March 2000 the fruit of their efforts culminated in the dedication of the Suriname Javanese New Testament.
The Suriname Javanese project was a different approach to translation in that local speakers were equipped to become proficient in Bible translation techniques and all other aspects of the work. This led to greater involvement of local speakers which led to more proficiency and ultimately greater accuracy. With this approach, the Speyers assumed a more facilitator-type role as expatriates on the translation team with the nationals as the specialists in their own areas of expertise.
Largely because of this transfer of ownership and responsibility, translation of the Old Testament continued by the Suriname Javanese translators until August 2018 when the entire Bible was completed and dedicated. Around this same time, Wycliffe marked their involvement in the 1000th New Testament. The first 500 took 67 years and the second 500 took 17 years. This indicates the accelerated pace of Bible translation today.
The Speyers currently reside in Michigan and serve as recruiters on Wycliffe’s Mobilization team traveling to graduate schools and seminaries nationwide looking and praying for translation consultants and exegetical workers. They love to tell their story and encourage others to join the movement of God called Bible translation.
The Speyers are providing a free lunch March 31 for students interested in learning more about becoming Bible Translation consultants. To register for the lunch, click on the registration page. Contact Jim Scott (jscott@rts.edu) with any questions.