For those who partner with our Wycliffe ministry through prayer, financial giving, and encouragement we want you to learn about and keep updated about the work we are doing for Wycliffe.

About GIAL

Todd serves as a professor at Dallas International University, which offers specialized training in the fields of linguistics, language & culture learning, anthropology, literacy, translation, and more. This training prepares students for international service, including Bible translation.

While applied linguistics is necessary study for those who want to do the work of translation, it is also pivotal that translators are trained to interpret and understand the Bible. For this reason, DIU offers courses in biblical studies to teach students how to better understand and apply the Bible. DIU also trains their students in the biblical languages (Greek and Hebrew). These courses promote more accurate Bible translation that faithfully communicates the meaning of the Bible into the receptor language.

Todd’s role at the school will consist of teaching, institutional service, research and writing that advances Wycliffe’s mission, and ongoing investment in our partnership team.

The Work of Wycliffe

The mission of Wycliffe Bible Translators (wycliffe.org) is to see a Bible translation program in progress in every language still needing one by 2025. Did you know…

• Around 2,200 of the approximately 7,000 languages in the world have no Bible translation, and no project started yet.
• Barely 10% of the world’s 7,000 languages have a complete Bible translation.
• At least 1.5 billion people do not have the full Bible in their heart language.
• More than 2,500 languages across 170 countries have active translation and linguistic development work happening right now.

For more than 75 years, Wycliffe has helped people around the world translate the Bible into their own languages. They also help with language development, literacy and other spiritual and physical needs. The organization has more than 3,000 missionaries serving worldwide. From pilots, to K-12 teachers, to accountants, to Bible translators, to professors, Wycliffe enlists a wide diversity of people, each uniquely gifted by God, to contribute toward the end product of Bible translations for those who still need God’s word in a language they can understand.

They do this because, as the following two-minute video says, the Bible as the Word of God transforms hearts and lives, but it must be in a language they can clearly understand.

In 1999, Wycliffe leaders realized that at the speed they were going, it would be at least 2150 before a Bible translation could be started for every language that needed one. They committed to do everything they could to see a Bible translation program in progress in every language still needing one by 2025.

Today, around 2,200 languages are still waiting for a Bible translation to begin, and Wycliffe is working faster than ever to reach those languages as soon as possible. In fact, as the following 2019 Year End Review shows, Wycliffe published 95 new Bibles just in 2019!

It is exciting that the trend of progress shows that there should be a Bible translation project started in every language that needs one within this generation! Even more exciting is that, within our lifetime, we could see a compete translation of the New Testament in every language that needs one. When we learned about this work of God, we were eager to contribute in any possible way.

Curious about whether having a Bible translation in one’s own heart language really matters? The final seven-minute video below shows the practical difference a new Bible translation has made for churches, pastors, and Christians in Ghana. As a local translator in Ghana puts it,

“Before the Bible translation into Siwu, we normally use Ewe or English. Once you start preaching, the people are disconnected from what you are saying…they don’t understand…But once you change the language into Siwu, you see that everybody is alert, and they are nodding their heads.”

You Can Invest in Bible Translators

Do you share our desire to see the Bible translated into every language that needs one? We invite you to consider partnering with us in our Wycliffe ministry through prayer, financial giving, and encouragement. We cannot train Bible translators without people who are willing to engage in this mission with us. Paul highlights our need to work together in 1 Corinthians 12:14 and 12:20: “For the body does not consist of one member but of many…As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” While God has called Todd and Dezi to teach and minister to DIU students, you, too, can be part of getting Bible translators trained for the work.

To partner with us through prayer and encouragement, subscribe to our newsletter and ask us to add you to our Facebook prayer page.

Your financial partnership enables Bible translators to be trained through our Wycliffe ministry. DIU is committed to keep the cost of tuition down so that Bible translation missionaries can get to their field assignments without huge school loan debt. (In fact, as of 2019 only 4% of our students have acquired debt during their time at DIU.) To that end, DIU asks its faculty to bring their own financial support so that the cost of salaries isn’t added into the tuition as a burden for the Bible translation students.

Wycliffe determines the budget for this ministry and we are always thrilled to consider new partnerships to continue sustaining our teaching ministry at DIU. We invite you to prayerfully consider committing to monthly, quarterly, or annual financial partnership with our Wycliffe ministry so that you, too, can be part of getting Bible translators trained for the work.

How to Partner with our Wycliffe Ministry

To give/partner online: Give through our Personal Missionary Page. Recurring giving option is available, and giving through the bank account option will avoid credit card fees.

To give/partner by check: Make checks payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a separate note stating: “Preference for Todd and Dezi Scacewater’s Wycliffe ministry 272065”
Mail to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
PO Box 628200
Orlando, FL 32862-82200

All gifts are tax-deductible.

To become a prayer partner, ask us to add you to our private Facebook group, and subscribe to our monthly newsletter.