Scripture Engagement Training Togo-Benin

Project 8306

Over the past few years, SIL Togo-Benin personnel have held meetings with leaders of various local language associations and found that their translators have been managing scripture engagement activities in addition to the translation work.  The leaders recognise the importance of identifying a pastor or church leader from the community who will take the lead in scripture engagement planning and activities, so that the translators can focus on translation.

At the same time the Bible institutes and schools in Benin and Togo have expressed concern that the scripture engagement training they have received from SIL might end due to lack of funding. They therefore want to see some members of their own staff trained by SIL so they can continue the scripture engagement training courses themselves in the coming years.

This project will meet the two needs by providing training for scripture engagement personnel in thirteen Bible translation projects, located in Togo (8) and Benin (5), and for pastors-in-training at five Bible institutes in both Togo (3) and Benin (2).

Wycliffe Australia will partner with SIL TGB in the area of workshops and training from 2025-2027.

Partner with us

Our partnership target for 2026 is $7,601

If we receive extra funds, this will go towards the following year’s target.

Gergiko (Guerguiko) OT Translation, CHAD

Project 8523

While Dave has now reached retirement age, he is still available to help with OT translation remotely as an adviser. A new translation team of three young men has been trained and the church has decided to go ahead with OT translation. Since March 2025 they have drafted Exodus ch. 1-21, with the first 10 chapters already revised and ready for consultant checking.

The ongoing expense of attending translation training workshops, consultant checking sessions and the printing and recording of verified portions means that funding is still needed.

The OT books previously finished to publication stage are: Genesis, Ruth and Jonah, with a selection of thirteen Psalms drafted. The plan is to continue drafting the remaining chapters of Exodus in 2026, and then move on to 1 Samuel.

Partner with us

Our partnership target for 2026 is $22,222

If we receive extra funds, this will go towards the following year’s target.

Training for African Consultants

Project 8810

Due to a worldwide shortage of translation consultants, SIL is aiming to train more Africans in Africa to fill this role in the Bible translation projects that are being done there. Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia is looking to help by providing part-scholarships so that some of these CiTs (Consultants in Training) can attend their training workshops.

In recent years, there has been a very positive movement towards Bible translation projects relying more on mother tongue (local) translators, and less on foreign translators, who are more likely to be involved as trainers, advisors and consultants. This newer translation project model gives the local language users much greater ownership of their own Bible translation projects, often results in a more natural translation that will be easy for people to understand and can lead to greater community involvement.

This training model can have a big, wide-spread impact. The CiTs that Wycliffe Australia sponsored for the April 2023 Grammar Workshop came from a number for different Bible translation organisations in Africa. This was intentional. They returned to their different organisations and started sharing their new knowledge with their colleagues. The impact of the training was therefore spread across different Bible translation organisations, across colleagues of the sponsored CiTs, and therefore also across many different Bible translation projects.

The final comment should come from one of the Grammar Workshop participants … “With this strategy, there is every reason for us to hope for effective and credible translation in our communities”

Partner with us

Our partnership target for 2026 is $33,888

Excess funds will go towards the following year’s target.

Lama Old Testament Translation

Project 8315
In this multi-year project, a team of local Lama translators in Togo is making steady progress at translating the Old Testament into their language.

The Lama New Testament was dedicated in 1995. An Old Testament translation project was started in 2000 in cooperation with the local church association, the Bible Society of Togo, and SIL. The translators have all received training through SIL; two have done special programs in Jerusalem, and one at his denominational theological college. This entire Bible project, including a revision of the New Testament, is just a couple of years from completion.

Partner with us

Our partnership target by the end of 2026 is AUD 9,444

Excess funds will go towards the following year’s target.

Moba Literacy – Africa

Project 8310

Transformation through literacy

This project, among the Moba people of northern Togo, provides new opportunities and greater choice for the poor and illiterate, and particularly for women, who make up 75% of the participants.

In a recent literacy campaign 198 Moba women and men, many of whom have had little or no previous formal schooling, took the opportunity to attend 14 different literacy classes offered by Moba teachers and supervisors funded by this program.

Kombaté, a Moba woman, wrote: “These classes have helped those of us who were not able to go to [formal] school. For me particularly, there’s been great benefit in my reading of the Word of God and in my apprenticeship [as a seamstress]”.

David was 31 when he took a Moba literacy course run at a local church. The following year he took an advanced Moba course and additional mentoring. David said it was these literacy skills in Moba that have enabled him to lead the local church and to train others how to preach the Word of God. “I thank God for inspiring the leaders of ATAPEB (Wycliffe partner in Togo) to think of us illiterates and to provide a way for our full development,” David said.

These funds cover the costs for classes, Moba teachers and supervisors, and material production. It costs approximately $100 to deliver this church-based literacy training program for each participant.

Partner with us

Our partnership target for 2026 is $31,111

If we receive extra funds, this will go towards the following year’s target.