Imagine a day when people from every language understand the Bible and have the opportunity to be transformed. A day when we — individuals, the local church and like-minded organizations — find ways to serve with the global body of Christ to advance Bible translation and work together so people can encounter God through His Word.

This is the vision and mission of Wycliffe, because we believe it’s at the heart of God. But in order to see our vision and mission fulfilled, we must partner together with others to see Great Commission activities advance in our lifetime.

One of these partners is Wycliffe Benin, whose vision as an organization is to “contribute to building a flourishing community, be a reference in terms of missionary recruitment, development of mother tongues and community development.” And one of the ways they do that is through their holistic approach to Bible translation.

Daniel Dedji serves as the director of Wycliffe Benin and a partnership facilitator for Francophone Africa for Global Partnerships, a multi-organizational collaboration that seeks to serve the global and local Church to meet their needs. He is passionate about seeing lives transformed through Scripture in a language and format people understand, and believes that begins when people’s daily needs are met first.

A Holistic Approach

Wycliffe Benin was founded in 2003. Around 2008, they began to participate in literacy work and, in 2012, they started their first Bible translation project in the Idaasha language. In 2013, Daniel led a survey to see how effective Wycliffe Benin’s ministry was in communities. After the assessment, he concluded a few things:

• Literacy as a stand-alone activity wasn’t a long-term solution. After several years, people often became non-literate again.


• The Bible translation was there, but people weren’t using it that much.

So the question became: “How can we do our ministry in a new way that will be more impactful in communities and in churches, and what creative approaches do we need to take?”

That’s when Wycliffe Benin started designing new ways of approaching Bible translation and took a holistic approach to the work. Now literacy classes aren’t just a place to learn how to read and write only; they are discipleship classes, focusing on transformation of the entire person. Community development projects — everything from animal breeding to soap making — provide opportunities to meet peoples’ daily, tangible needs. Conversations with local communities focus on challenges they face, providing opportunities to build relationships. These conversations also lay a foundation so the community understands not only why Bible translation is important, but that it is their work, not Wycliffe Benin’s work.

When Wycliffe Benin implemented this holistic approach, they noticed change. People began to trust them more. Today when Wycliffe Benin starts a Bible translation, the first activities aren’t Bible translation activities — they’re relationship building activities with the communities they seek to serve.

Partnering Together

Wycliffe Benin’s dream is for all partners to come together to see God’s global mission accomplished! They’ve hosted a national consultation to answer a number of questions: “How many languages do we have in the country? What progress has been made with each language? Are we going to achieve Vision 2025, or do we have languages that will go beyond 2025? What partners are helping with the work? And ultimately, how does the Church come together to see Bible translation accomplished?”

As Wycliffe Benin continues to partner with other like-minded organizations, including Wycliffe USA, Daniel asserted: “This is God’s business. And in God’s business, He is our Father. There is room for anyone! So coming together — not excluding anyone — means we can work together to synergize this journey with God and with the global mission to see our communities really thriving through the Word of God.”

Life Transformation

Daniel’s mother is 96 years old. When the New Testament was put on a Proclaimer — a digital listening device developed by Faith Comes By Hearing, a partner organization — Daniel took it to his mother. “Oh, please. I want this!” she declared. “You need to leave this with me.”

And she’s not alone in her response. During COVID-19, WhatsApp listening groups were formed to share audio Scripture. People from everywhere — the diaspora, the U.S. and Europe — were all so excited and happy to hear God’s Word in their language.

And that is Wycliffe Benin’s goal: to see lives transformed as they seek to holistically address the needs of communities, both at a physical and spiritual level. Using local languages is key to their mission. Daniel believes it is essential to any ministry: “If people cannot have access to the Bible, how can they become disciples?”

Join us in celebrating with Wycliffe Benin the impact they’re witnessing across the country and the neighboring countries they serve, and pray that God would continue to provide opportunities for creative thinking and partnership as they seek to see lives transformed for God’s glory.