Wycliffe Foundation

Wycliffe Foundation announces restructure

After seven years and more than $100 million in production, Wycliffe Foundation is currently undergoing some organizational realignment and restructure. To learn more, view the announcement here. While much of the transition is still in process, there are a number of online activities that will be impacted by this restructure. First, many of our social […]

William Cameron Townsend Legacy Society honors faithful givers

When you make a planned gift through Wycliffe Foundation, you join the William Cameron Townsend Legacy Society, a community of people who share your vision for advancing Bible translation. The Society is the namesake of Cameron Townsend, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Townsend’s commitment to reaching the lost with Scripture in their own languages […]

Words fit for a prince

By Jenny Evans, The Seed Company Prince Bello is 78 years old, but he’s young as a Christian. Just nine years ago, he left the major religion of his Okphela forefathers to follow Christ. The Nigerian prince held a variety of prestigious positions during his career and speaks fluent English. Many would question whether this […]

Translation treasure

By Rachel Morgan, Rangi Project Translation Advisor, Wycliffe Bible Translators Two very rewarding aspects of working on a translation project stand out in my mind. The first is seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they hear God’s Word in their language for the first time. The second is what I call the “light bulb” […]

Family ties inspire a legacy

By Mary Tindall Early in their marriage, Fred and Caroline Yocum made a decision that has shaped a 40-year legacy of generosity. “We were challenged many years ago, in 1969, to tithe,”  Caroline recalled. “So we made a determined effort to tithe within that year. And then, as the Lord blessed us with any salary […]

A note from the Wycliffe Foundation president

By Don Erickson, President and CEO, Wycliffe Foundation We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, […]

Crafting Bible stories in an oral culture

By Elizabeth Wilson, Storying Consultant, Wycliffe Bible Translators “These stories have allowed me to share the gospel in ways I’ve never been able to share before,” Peter* answered, when I asked him how the oral chronological Bible storying project had affected his life and ministry. Peter is just one of 23 young men who made […]

Accelerating Bible translation: The Kodiak aircraft deploys to the field

Blue sky stretched over the sundrenched tarmac of the airport grounds. The red stones, wrought-iron fence, palm trees and patches of grass created a wonderful backdrop for the stage and canopy where the dignitaries were gathering for this important moment. It was time to celebrate God’s provision. This Kodiak aircraft, the first of its kind […]

Using assets under management for Bible translation

By Steve Davis, Director of Gift Planning, Wycliffe Foundation Is your stock still appreciating? What about that rental property that you own and manage for God? These are just two of the many assets under management that are worth more today than when they were purchased. And with the recent upturn in the market, these […]

The Christmas Story

Note from the president

By Don Erickson, President & CEO, Wycliffe Foundation In 1999, Wycliffe adopted Vision 2025 to help speed the process of Bible translation, acknowledging that a large gap existed between known sources of funding and the cost of accomplishing Vision 2025. Where would these funds be found? Among the many strategies that Wycliffe considered was the […]

Tanzanian translators persevere

By Mary Tindall ORLANDO, Fla.—As Marcia Millar looks across the landscape of Dodoma, Tanzania, she sees a dry, dusty land—in both the literal and spiritual senses. Dodoma, the political capital of this East African country, is undergoing a population boom. Meanwhile, its churches are struggling, its pastors undertrained in the Bible. Bible translators hope that […]

Waiting won’t cost you if you are flexible

By Steve Davis, Director of Gift Planning, Wycliffe Foundation Many people today are struggling. They are struggling with the decline in value of some of their assets, such as certificates of deposit earning 1 to 2% interest, or a decline in the market value of their portfolio and decreasing dividends. Additionally, many individuals face uncertainty […]

Wycliffe Foundation celebrates a milestone

ORLANDO, Fla.—Wycliffe Foundation is honored to announce the production of $100 million in new planned gifts since inception in October 2002. The $100 million figure represents more than 1,500 donors across the United States who have committed a portion of their assets to the work of Bible translation in the future. Upon their receipt, these […]

A gift that meets multiple objectives: a charitable gift annuity

By Jeff Lydenberg, Guest columnist Many of you are supporting aging parents, dependent children, or Wycliffe missionaries. There is a tax-efficient way to continue to meet financial obligations to those and others so important to you, and impact the work of Bible translation. A charitable gift annuity (CGA) is a simple contract; in exchange for […]

A taste of living water

It was almost straight out of the recently translated stories of Jesus. One Sunday an elderly, blind woman, one of the Tharaka people of Kenya, made her way to church to give her offering: a small bag of corn.  It would hardly seem amazing—except that the Tharaka people were in the midst of a serious […]

Leveraging technology to spread the Word

     “Can you really train someone to be a language software consultant?” asked a long-term Wycliffe member serving as a full-time computer consultant for Bible translation teams. “There are so many quirky details to remember for all the different programs, I figured only someone with years of experience could become a consultant.”  Now in […]

Supporting a son’s passion for translation

“The income from my annuity was far greater than I was receiving in dividends from the stock." -- Roger Bugenhagen

Defining a charitable lead trust

By Emanuel J. Kallina, II, Guest columnist  A charitable lead trust (CLT) is a vehicle by which a donor irrevocably transfers assets to a trust; the trust then makes income payments no less than annually from those transferred assets to a charity for a set term. The trust may be structured two ways: as a […]

Affiliate News

GIAL, JAARS and The Seed Company are Wycliffe Foundation affiliate organizations. A prescription for life By Jenny Evans, The Seed Company When someone comes to faith in Christ, everything looks different: fresh somehow. You experience new purpose, abundant grace and full forgiveness. A new believer may display an exuberant passion and a deep thirst for […]

Leading the way to finish the task in this generation

By Steve Davis, Director of Gift Planning, Wycliffe Foundation    Looking for a way to make a greater Kingdom impact, especially through the work of Bible translation? You may not think you can, because:  • You have non-cash assets, • You desire to pass these assets to family and/or • You would pay capital gains […]

A note from the Wycliffe Foundation president

Whom do you trust? Remember the late ‘50s TV game show? The object of the game was to choose someone on your team to answer a question for a cash prize. At its core, the game asked, “Do I trust myself more than I trust my team member?” The question of trust has taken on […]

A message of hope

By Scott Toncray BUNDIBUGYO, Uganda—We landed on the grass airstrip near the Democratic Republic of Congo border. Several hundred Africans and a few missionaries greeted us, helping to load our gear into four-wheel drive Land Rovers. We arrived at a modest church in the Bundi village after a short, bumpy ride on a red clay […]

Kande’s Story

  By Scott Toncray   ENTEBBE, Uganda—In teaching indigenous people how to read and write in their own language, Wycliffe and its partners often use shell books, standardized booklets with text that can easily be translated into the local language. With graphics and formatting already inserted, shell books cover subject matter related to health, community […]

Only managers while we’re here

By Dustin Moody “I call it an avocation,” Dan said of his years spent buying, managing and selling small rental properties across the country. A civil engineer by trade who spent his career working on the California freeway system, Dan and his wife, Cindy, have used their interest in housing to benefit Bible translation in […]

Wycliffe visits Uganda-Tanzania

Wycliffe’s Integrated Marketing Communications department has sent a team to Uganda–Tanzania consisting of WF’s Scott Toncray, along with Wycliffe USA’s Jon Shuler and Nick Wolverton. They will be accompanied by journalists from Moody Radio and Christian Broadcast News.  Bob Creson, President–Wycliffe USA will be on this trip as well and will serve as primary spokesperson […]

After further review: Why you need to review your plan

By Jonathan Frank, Guest columnist Recently there have been ads on TV with the headline “Life comes at you fast.” While these ads show humorous situations, they make a valid point: life does come at us fast. We have no idea what God has in store for us, but we can be good stewards and […]

Opening ears to the Gospel

By Borghy Holm, Wycliffe Bible Translators After a discouraging day showing the JESUS film in northern Ghana, the film crew decided to pack up their gear. Only two percent of the people in the region were believers, and not one person out of the hundreds watching had responded to the invitation of salvation given after […]

Future plans for GIAL

By Dustin Moody The Board of Trustees for the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics recently met to discuss and recommend a number of new plans for the school that will continue to enable GIAL to educate and train students for a future in linguistics, Bible translation, Scripture use and literacy around the world. At the […]

Transforming Scripture for Ketning Youth

By Jenny Evans, The Seed Company Ketning young people face difficult choices. Their home area is deep in the jungle mountains of Southeast Asia, and the promise of greater wealth and vices in coastal cities is tempting. When Daniel, a national translator for the Ketning project, saw his son, John, travel to the coast, he […]

What a way to go

By Rachel Tidwell It may seem like Wycliffe lost a great partner when Bob MacDicken passed away just over a year ago, but Gail, his wife, would argue that his legacy lives on. Bob and Gail met at church, having both been widowed. Bob and his first wife, Nancy, faithfully supported three couples serving with […]

Only the beginning

By Rachel Tidwell It was no ordinary family reunion. It was a journey that began long ago, and I was just blessed to be a part of the exciting ending…an ending that will hopefully be the beginning of a life-changing Spiritual journey for many. In 1953, Ray Elliott and his wife, Helen, left their Kansas […]

Funding the future: The gift that keeps on giving

By Steve Davis, Director of Gift Planning, Wycliffe Foundation We are here to serve each of you in discovering and implementing God’s plan of stewardship for what He has entrusted to you. As a result, we don’t ask people to make current gifts. However, one of the things that we frequently hear from God’s stewards […]

Eternal cargo

By Clive Gray, YAJASI The clouds clear and below the Pilatus Porter nose, an airstrip emerges from the steamy, tropical mist. Nestled on the elbow of two rivers is the isolated village of Noiadi. “63 knots, 500 feet per minute,” pilot Mark Hoving says as he expertly approaches the touchdown zone. Whoosh. The big three-blade […]

DAF Podcast

Steve Davis and Rachel Tidwell discuss Donor Advised Funds, providing explanation, examples and benefits.

How a CGA works

The diagram below accompanies THIS article. You can take unused or underused assets like CDs and savings accounts that are yielding low returns to fund a charitable gift annuity. The income from these assets is currently being taxed. However, establishing a Wycliffe charitable gift annuity allows a portion of the income to be tax free. […]

Gift annuities shine in a tough economy

By Charles Schultz, JD, ePMT, President, Crescendo Interactive, Inc., Guest columnist Interest rates were in a dramatic decline during 2008. With the Congressional Budget Office predicting a challenging year for 2009, it is quite possible that CD rates and bond yields could fall again. During 2008, the stock markets set two records—neither of which is […]

These are taxing times: So turn your assets into tax-free income

By Steve Davis, Director of Gift Planning, Wycliffe Foundation In 1776 during a very difficult time in our country’s history, Thomas Paine uttered the famous phrase “These are the times that try men’s souls.” In light of all that is happening today, we could surely echo these same sentiments. These are indeed “taxing and trying […]

GIAL’s newest program

By Dustin Moody The Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics is making preliminary plans for a new graduate certificate program in Multicultural Teamwork. Sensing a growing need for leaders equipped with the ability to lead multicultural groups, the faculty of GIAL hopes that the new program will assist with the often-challenging partnerships among those working in […]

A new leader for JAARS

By Arthur Lightbody, JAARS David Reeves succeeded Jim Akovenko as JAARS president on October 1, 2008. “I am courageously confident that the Lord is using Bible translation to change the face of His Church and His Kingdom,” David said when asked about filling his role as JAARS leader. “We need to expand our comfort zones […]

Increasing opportunities in challenging times

By Parke Brown, The Seed Company This November, The Seed Company entered its 500th national-led language project with the Majang people of Ethiopia with the partnership of SIL International. The goal is to translate the New Testament and parts of Genesis for a community of 40,000 people in southwestern Ethiopia. The translation project, celebrated at […]

When the ordinary becomes extraordinary

By Rachel Tidwell “We started with nothing and we never had any hopes of retiring,” Loretta said as she described the outlook that she and her husband, Don, have had together. All they ever expected was to live a simple life, and in some ways they have done just that. But what they consider to […]

Leading the work

By Dustin Moody Walking around the campus of the University of Shalom in Bunia, it’s easy to see the impact that Dr. Katho has had on the students and faculty of the school. Located on the eastern side of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the university has seen significant changes over the past several years, […]

Last Languages Celebration a success

By Bob Creson, President, Wycliffe USA In 1999, when Wycliffe Bible Translators USA first committed to the vision of seeing a Bible translation project in progress for every language that needs it by the year 2025, we knew we faced a difficult challenge with tremendous potential. The urgency of Vision 2025 was sure to take […]

Charitable Gift Annuities podcast

Steve Davis and Rachel Tidwell discuss Charitable Gift Annuities.