International Decade of Indigenous Languages

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Revelation 7:9a (ESV).

Why is language important? As SIL Executive Director, Michel Kenmogne, says, ‘Everything is connected to language.’ It helps us communicate. It forms our identity, meaning and context.  It enables cultures to pass on information from one generation to the next. Language provides a sense of belonging, wellbeing and empowerment for a community to grow and flourish.

Language is important to God because he wants ALL peoples and ALL languages to know and love him, to call on his name and be saved. But how can they ‘call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?’ Romans 10:14 (NIV).

The next ten years (2022-2032) have been declared the International Decade of Indigenous Languages by the United Nations. Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia is privileged to be helping language communities throughout the world discover their value and worth in God’s eyes through access to Scripture in languages they understand best.

Bible translation projects are bringing God’s Word to the languages that speak to peoples’ hearts. Along with our partners in the Bible translation movement, Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia is committed to ‘making disciples of people from every language group through Bible translation into vernacular languages’.

Discover how you can get involved or support a project by contacting us today.