We’ve all been there — praying for something and awaiting the answer. Sometimes God responds with “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait, not yet.”

Some of these stories include answers to prayer that came immediately, while others took months, years or even centuries. Think of Hannah’s prayer for a child (see 1 Samuel 1:9-20), Hezekiah’s prayer for healing (see 2 Kings 20:1-6) or the church’s prayer for Peter in prison (see Acts 12:1-17).

One of the longest seasons of seemingly unanswered prayer — apart from the long-promised arrival of the Messiah — is seen in the case of the Israelites, who cried for freedom after being enslaved in Egypt for more than 400 years. God heard their cry, remembered His covenant promise and “knew it was time to act” (Exodus 2:25b). Generations of Israelites lived and died without seeing God’s deliverance.

Talk about a season of feeling like God doesn’t hear your cries! But God did hear, and He did respond — in His perfect timing.

God's Faithfulness in Answered Prayers

Throughout Wycliffe USA’s history, God has answered prayers in ways we couldn’t even begin to imagine. Like His people experienced before us, some of these prayers were answered quickly while others took decades before the anticipated and longed for results were witnessed.

Our founder William Cameron Townsend once said, “We have advanced on our knees. Wycliffe has been built on prayer. True, there’s been a lot of action as a result of our prayers, but it’s been prayer that has solved the problems, strengthened the leadership, and brought the guidance and direction from our Leader.”

And we want to be intentional about remembering God’s faithfulness when we’re asking Him to do amazing things through Bible translation.

From Exodus through Joshua, God tells the Israelites 28 times to “remember” Him. They were to specifically remember who God is and what He had done for them.

In fact, when Joshua led Israel across the Jordan River, God gave him very intentional instructions to set up what we refer to as “stones of remembrance.” These stones were to serve as a visual, tangible reminder of what God had done to bring them this far — and a reminder that this same God could and would carry them through the days, months and years ahead as they entered the Promised Land.

Today, we are living in a season of answered prayer — a moment in history when His Church is on the cusp of seeing Scripture translated into every language spoken, written and signed on Earth.

A Milestone in Bible Translation History: Vision 2025

As of Oct. 1, 2024, there are only 980 Vision 2025 languages that still need Bible translation work to start for the first time.

We want to intentionally declare, “That was God’s hand at work! We asked God to move, and He did.” — whether it was how we imagined and asked for, or in ways beyond what we could have even dreamed!

We don’t take this milestone lightly. To get where we are today, it’s taken:

• Years of faithful service from missionaries who answered the Lord’s call to serve Him, often moving across the world to work alongside communities in this work — people like Florrie Hansen and Eunice Pike, who stepped out in bold faith and confidence that God could use them, no matter what.


• Decades of generosity from partners like Dottie Brown, who has supported missionaries and projects for more than 70 years!


• Thousands of people praying for the work, sometimes without knowing if God was answering. Others, like 5-year-old Sam, had the incredible opportunity to hear exactly how God answered his prayers!

These are only a few examples of how God has used people — His body, the Church — to advance the Great Commission through Bible translation efforts. Many more stories can be found here on our website that demonstrate not only God’s faithfulness but also people’s obedience and trust that He would do what He said He would do!

Imagining a Day When All the Nations Worship

We serve and worship an incredible God — a God who has already promised that one day there will be “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 is on the move, and He’s accelerating this work all around the world. Together, let’s step out in bold faith and ask Him to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine as we aim to:

• See Bible translation started for every language still needing it.


• Equip the Church for evangelism, discipleship and church planting.


• Make Scripture available so that every man, woman and child can encounter Jesus personally and understand His love in a way that transforms their lives forever.

We won’t stop working until all Scripture is made available for all people, knowing that God will equip His Church to see this become reality on earth, just as He has promised it will be in heaven.

Track the Progress: Vision 2025

Around the world, Vision 2025 — a God-sized goal to see a translation program in progress in every language still needing one by the year 2025 — is being accomplished. Track the progress and sign up for weekly updates that will keep you inspired and encouraged by the latest news!

Text SIGHTINGS to 407-358-0916.

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Read the previous "God Sightings" article.