Devin and Mary O'Bannon work in language survey and linguistics within Papua New Guinea, the country with the most languages in the world - over 800!

Language survey is the first step in Bible translation and is a vital source of support and research for ongoing translation projects. As surveyors, Devin and Mary travel with a small team to remote villages to collect data and ask questions that help determine things such as:

Where are language communities located? How large are they? What kinds of translation needs exist? How closely related are the neighboring dialects? What are the best ways to plan and partner with local communities to carry out the work of making God's Word accessible?

Mary also works in linguistics, where she consults translators in properly analyzing languages so that translations can be more accurate.

We invite you to join Devin and Mary in serving and learning from the diverse communities of Papua New Guinea and supporting Bible translation by becoming part of their Wycliffe team of prayer and financial partners.