Letter from the President/CEO
Joyfully Proclaiming This Good News to the Nations
Letter from the President/CEO
Joyfully Proclaiming This Good News to the Nations
Our Vision
That people from every language will understand the Bible and be transformed.
Our Mission
Serve with the global body of Christ to advance Bible translation so people can encounter God through His Word.
God At Work In
2024
Every number represents a person who has a story — a story that matters to God.
As of Oct. 1, 2024
Around the world,
there are
at least
7,300
known
spoken or signed languages.
980
Vision 2025 languages need Bible translation to start for the first time.
Bible translation is being done in more than
4,012
languages worldwide.
Last year, Wycliffe was engaged in translation projects for
1,596
languages.
Today, that number has risen to
2,146
languages.
That's a
34%
increase!
An Unprecedented
Acceleration
Over the last five years, we've seen God move in incredible ways!
Engaging Languages Globally
To Start Translation
Engaging Languages Globally
To Start Translation
A new language is engaged every
A new language is engaged every
120
30
14
hours.
hours.
Vision 2025
The Start
Vision 2025
The Start
In 1999, Wycliffe USA made a bold decision to adopt a God-sized vision: to have a translation program in progress in every language still needing one by the year 2025.
As we approach 2025, we want to continue to say "yes" — without hesitation — to every partner that asks us to join them in starting the work.
The truth is that Vision 2025 is just the starting line, and we are filled with anticipation of how God will continue to make His name known among the nations!
Will we achieve Vision 2025 by the end of calendar year 2025? Honestly, we don’t know. But we do know that God will continue to draw people to Himself through Scripture in a language and format they clearly understand. And we will continue to wholeheartedly pursue a day when every man, woman and child is able to encounter Jesus personally through Scripture.
Vision 7:9
The Promised Future
Vision 7:9
The Promised Future
We will continue pressing ahead, collaborating with our global partners to see translation projects completed so that people around the world can encounter Jesus through the full counsel of God’s Word and be transformed.
After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb.
— Revelation 7:9a (NLT)
God Sightings
Among the Nations
God Sightings
Among the Nations
There’s no other way to say it: God is on the move!!
If we were to describe every single way that God has shown up — through answered prayer, providing funding and resources, uniting partners, equipping His Church to continue the work and more — we’d be here for a very long time.
We’re excited to give you a glimpse of how we’ve witnessed God working in and through His Church. But we don’t want to just be witnesses — we want to be proclaimers who joyfully declare this good news to the world! But we don’t want to just be witnesses — we want to be proclaimers who joyfully declare this good news to the world!
Explore and experience some of the only-God moments that have happened this past year for yourself through this interactive map. Join us in praising God for what He has done and praying with hope-filled anticipation for what He will continue to do!
Donors and Churches
Field / Project
Serve
General
Partnership:
Working Together
Partnership:
Working Together
It takes all members of the Church to see the Great Commission advanced.
Wycliffe USA recognizes that the need for Bible translation is so great we can’t do it alone. One of our core values is collaborating with humility and interdependence, and we seek to partner in this spirit of mutuality so that every person can have access to God’s Word.
One of our key partnerships is the illumiNations collective impact alliance, a group of Bible translation agencies who are working together to provide God’s Word in every language. We also engage with many other organizations through Global Partnerships, working together to accelerate the work of Bible translation around the world through engaging the local church. While our full partner list — currently more than 3,000 partners — is too long to include here, we are incredibly grateful for everyone working in unity to spread God’s Word.
Thank You For Being Part of This Work!
You are helping make God’s name known among the nations in languages and formats that speak directly to people’s hearts. Because of your partnership, more people are encountering Jesus through Scripture — the greatest story ever told — in their language, and their lives are transformed forever.
Together, we’ve seen:
- 29,300 people committed to praying.
- $53.6 million* in project revenue.
- $25.2 million was donated specifically to the Worldwide Projects Fund!
- 2,934 Wycliffe staff serving in 57 countries around the world.
*Preliminary
Thank you for saying yes, however God has led you to participate in advancing His Kingdom through Bible translation. All glory to God!
*A sampling of more than 3,000 worldwide partners that are joined together to see all people encounter God through Scripture.
The Global Church
Uniting to Advance the Kingdom
The Global Church
Uniting to Advance the Kingdom
Around the world, lives are being transformed as people encounter Jesus through Scripture in a language and format they clearly understand.
2024
Board of Directors
Lindsay Olesberg
Wycliffe USA Board Chair
Senior Consultant
Clarity for Christian Leaders
Dr. Julian Dangerfield
Wycliffe USA Board Vice Chair
Executive Director
Shalom Outreach
David Bowden
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Spoken Gospel
Bishop Fidencio Burgueno
Administrative Bishop for the South Central Hispanic Region
Church of God
Dan Butler
Organizational Representative
Wycliffe USA
Dr. Sunny Hong
Director of Global Diaspora Unit and Senior Anthropology Consultant
SIL International
Dr. Pramod John
CEO
VIVIO Health
Felix Lee
Securities Enforcement and Litigation Partner
Fenwick & Firm
Abel Lopez
President and Founder
CLAY Student Leadership
Bonnie Nystrom
Linguistics/Translation Worker — Aitape West
SIL Global
Mark Taber
Global Partnerships Facilitator
Wycliffe USA
Florence Wamae
Associate Director of Partnerships — Account Management
SIL Global
Daniel Watters
Field Coordinator, Mainland Asia
SIL Global
Dr. Juanita Watters
Director
SIL Americas Area
Alan Wells
Partner
Financial Advisory Partners
Lord God,
Throughout all of Scripture — all of history — You have shown up and moved. Your power has been displayed time and time again, and You continue to display it today.
As we look at the Bible translation movement, we see Your hand at work. We see Your Spirit being poured out upon the earth. We see Your heart on display as Your name is made known among the nations in the languages and formats that resonate with people’s hearts. And we see Your Church responding to Your call, working together in pursuit of unity and collaboration, so that every man, woman and child can understand the transforming power of the gospel personally. There’s only one way to describe it: You are at work!
We are overwhelmed by the way that You have shown up and moved this past year. We want to stop and declare that You are good.
As we look toward the future, we anticipate the day when we will be able to reflect and say, “We had a front-row seat to see how God moved and answered prayer! Praise God for how He accomplished His mission, and we thank Him for allowing us to play a small part in seeing His Kingdom advanced.”
Lord, we ask that You would continue to equip and empower Your Church to make Your Word — the greatest story ever told — available for all people in all languages. We rejoice over what You have done this past year and look forward with hope-filled anticipation of what You will continue to do. This is all for Your glory and the good of Your Church around the world.
We pray this in Your holy, all-powerful name. Amen.
2024
Stewardship Report
2024
Stewardship Report
Thank you for stewarding your God-given resources to advance the Great Commission.
There are two things that last forever: God’s Word and people. May you experience the incredible joy of knowing that you will one day get to witness firsthand the fulfillment of people whose personal stories were forever changed because they encountered Jesus personally through His Word, the greatest story ever told.
Dear Friends,
What are you passionate about? What excites you so much that you want to tell anyone and everyone about it?
For me, it’s what God is doing around the world in and through His Church. My heart is overflowing with gratitude and awe as people — just like you — say “yes” to His invitation to help make Scripture available in the languages and formats people clearly understand.
As we look at what’s taking place in the Bible translation movement, we see God’s fingerprints all over it:
We see His Spirit being poured out upon the earth.
We see His heart on display as His name is made known among the nations in the languages and formats that resonate with people’s hearts.
And we see His Church responding to His call, united and collaborating so that every man, woman and child can understand personally the transforming power of the gospel.
This year has been filled with incredible only-God moments. From the ongoing acceleration of the work to seeing the number of Vision 2025 languages — translation starts — drop below 1,000 for the first time in Bible translation history, we joyfully proclaim that we serve an awesome God!
You are a part of these only-God moments. Whether you pray, give, serve, advocate or engage your church in seeing the Great Commission advanced, you play a role in seeing the Good News go out to the nations.
Join us as we reflect on the amazing ways God is sharing the greatest story ever told — His story — in the languages that capture people's hearts and transform their lives forever. His story is one for all people everywhere. And we are the generation that will get to see it reach the furthest corners of the globe!
Thank you for helping make this possible by joyfully saying yes to God’s invitation to join Him in all He’s doing through Bible translation.
Together we have the tremendous privilege and joy of living life in light of eternity, knowing that what happens here on earth will echo in heaven — for God’s glory and the good of His people all around the world! May we not just be witnesses to what He is doing but proclaimers of the awesome God we serve.
Until all the nations worship,
Dr. John Chesnut
President/CEO
Wycliffe Bible Translators USA
Around the world, lives are being transformed as people encounter Jesus through Scripture in a language and format they clearly understand. In recent years, we’ve witnessed unprecedented acceleration in Bible translation — growth and impact that cannot be explained by any person’s or organization’s effort, strategies or abilities. It’s only possible through God’s hand at work.
Yet, as the global Church, we get the privilege of playing a part as He works in and through His people in fresh, creative ways. Bible translation looks very different today than it did in the past as local believers and churches are not only asking for Scripture but also taking ownership of the work. As the global Church embraces this mission and invites us to support them, we’re seeing remarkable growth and impact.
But what happens when growth outpaces our current methods and approaches? We must adapt, which is exactly what is happening today. Through Global Partnerships — a multi-organizational collaboration that seeks inspiration and leadership from the global Church — Wycliffe Bible Translators engaged with 616 new languages in 2024!
Supporting these efforts is the Worldwide Projects Fund, which funds new initiatives as well as ongoing projects that are facing funding gaps and couldn’t otherwise continue. This fund strategically positions Wycliffe to readily respond when partners invite us to collaborate.
The generous partnership of donors like you provided $25.2M to the Worldwide Projects Fund in 2024! These resources significantly contributed to our ability to say yes to language communities when they knocked on our door. Additionally, projects approaching translation milestones were able to continue working to provide Scripture as the foundation for evangelism, discipleship and church planting efforts in these communities.
Bible translation is a God-sized movement made of God-sized faith goals and the willingness of God’s people to say yes in new, stretching ways. It requires the work of His Spirit in the lives of His people who come together through prayer, giving, personnel resourcing and more to make His name known. It also requires unity and collaboration among churches and like-minded organizations around the world, along with open minds to new, innovative methods.
Our commitment to these things is underpinned by our firm belief that the dream of providing access to God’s Word to every language community in need can be achieved in our lifetime — by God’s grace and for His glory. What a joy and privilege it is to be part of God’s global mission!
