On this page you’ll find all of our investigative reporting on the Bible Translation industry.
Former Celebration Church pastor settles claim, updates about new Bible translation project.
On this date at Ministry Watch: Charismatic preachers who prophesied a Trump victory.
Reach the Forgotten, Refuge for Women, and a completed Bible translation
Ministries Making a Difference: Reach the Forgotten, Refuge for Women, and a completed Bible translation
The large Bible translation group encourages giving to efforts in dangerous areas of the world, but provides little information about its timeline or accomplishments.
Wycliffe Associates, one of the most recognized Bible translation groups, recently sent a fundraising letter urging donors to “move quickly” to share the Scriptures with “multitudes of lost people in the heart of the Middle East.”
Their goal is to target ‘very low-resource languages that are not even in the top 500.’
Two scientists are looking to new advancements in artificial intelligence to help close the gap in the number of languages into which the Bible has been translated. Out of the 7,100 languages that exist, the Bible has been translated into more than 700.
Meta tapped text-based research and audio recordings of people reading the New Testament in 1,100 languages.
The artificial intelligence arm of Meta is using widely translated religious texts like the Bible to provide data for its Massively Multilingual Speech (MMS) project, which aims to expand text-to-speech and speech-to-text technology to underserved languages.
The unconventional approach taken by unfoldingWord uses unbelieving translators.
A recent Bible translation project in the African country of Chad has resulted in the conversion of Muslims to Christianity.
Year 3 will meet goal of 20 new oral Bible translation projects
A partnership between Dallas-based Spoken Worldwide and Seed Company to create 20 Bible translation projects for language groups that are primarily oral, not written, in their communication, is on track as it enters year three.
Wycliffe Associates began in 1967 to accelerate the work of Bible translation around the world.
Mid-way through their three-year partnership, Dallas ministries Spoken Worldwide and Seed Company have launched five new Bible oral translation projects and announced more projects they will tackle in year three.
Bible translation organizations in the United States receive more than $500-million in donations per year. So how many Bibles actually get translated? And how much does a Bible translation cost?
Recently Wycliffe USA announced it would be joining with eight other groups to work on a bible translation effort in Southeast Asia. The project involves seven of the region’s language communities.
Using Translation Service Providers To Speed The Bible Translation Process
SRG has embarked on an experiment to see if a secular company – a Translation Service Providers, or TSPs – can translate the Bible.
American Bible Society
American Bible Society (ABS) began in 1816 with a mission “to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so all people may experience its life-changing message.”
Big numbers, simple math, unavoidable conclusions
“It depends” has become part of the culture of the Bible translation industry. It has helped produce a lack of transparency and accountability that should be a giant red flag to the tens of thousands of donors who give hundreds of millions of dollars to Bible translation organizations every year.
To understand just how big a red flag, we will have to do a little math.
Wycliffe Associates, a Florida-based Bible translation organization, continues to make claims about its work around the world while providing little or no evidence of the progress or success of that work.
Why are translations so expensive? Why do they take so long? Why is it so difficult to get progress reports on specific projects?
But details of new initiative are few
Wycliffe Associates, an Orlando-based Bible translation organization that MinistryWatch has been investigating because of concerns about transparency and accountability, continues to make claims about its Bible translation activities.
Dallas-based Spoken Worldwide announced July 1 that it had launched a three-year joint project with Seed Company in April to provide 20 Bible translation projects for language groups whose primary means of communication is oral, not written.
Mission Society Fundraising Expense Reports May Not Account For These Costs
Your favorite Christian ministry reports spending only a small percentage of its income on fundraising. Compelling stewardship it appears—but if the ministry is a foreign missions organization, does that number account for the time and money individual missionaries spend on raising support?
We asked these questions of some of the largest foreign mission organizations in the country, and the answers we received suggest that individual missionary fundraising often isn’t clearly included in an organization’s overall fundraising budget.
Biblica’s annual income dropped from $26 million (in 1992, 1995, 2005) to $13.5 million in 2017, but has picked up under its new president, Geof Morin, rising to $13.9 million in 2018, $15.8 million in 2019, and $16.8 million last year.
Wycliffe Associates, a Bible translation organization that has been the subject of scrutiny from MinistryWatch for making unsubstantiated claims about its Bible translation process, now claims to be starting 30 new Bible translation projects in Indonesia.
Founded in 2004, ministry uses open sourced, cutting edge technologies in Bible translation process
Unfolding Word began in 2004 focused on Bible translation; however it has adapted a different approach than traditional translation models, by using open sourced, cutting-edge technology resources so that people around the world can quickly and reliably translate the Bible into their own language.
American Bible Society
American Bible Society (ABS) began in 1816 to reach people in the United States and around the world who might not otherwise have access to a Bible.
illumiNations hopes to cut through complicated structures and a lack of transparency in Bible translation industry
An alliance of Bible translation organizations, called illumiNations, unveiled its “I Want to Know” campaign last month, part of its effort to translate the Bible into the remaining untranslated languages by 2033.
Below is a list of the largest foreign missions and Bible translation organizations in the country. The MinistryWatch database has a number of categories that include foreign missions organizations. We have therefore included Bible translation organizations, missionary organizations, and some evangelism and support organizations. Unlike most of our other lists, we have included a column for the segment so you can make an apples-to-apples comparsion of these various ministries. Also, MinistryWatch has identified a growing…
Wycliffe Bible Translators
Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) began in 1942 as an interdenominational missionary organization with the goal of forwarding, in every way possible, the translation of the Word of God into all languages of the world.
But where is the money actually going?
However, while this money may be put to good use, it also shines a light on the lack of transparency and convoluting funding structures of the Bible translation industry.
SIL International (Summer Institute of Linguistics)
SIL International (formerly known as Summer Institute of Linguistics) began in 1934 as a summer training program in Arkansas with two students, with the enrollment of these summer classes growing each subsequent year.
The Bible translation organization Wycliffe Associates saw a 6 percent revenue decline for the year ending Sept. 30, 2020, according to its recently released 2020 annual report.
Bruce Smith announced on Facebook yesterday that he is no longer the President/CEO of Wycliffe Associates, the Bible translation organization that in fiscal year 2019, reported about $49-million in revenue.
A number of key leaders have recently left Wycliffe Associates. The departures have come in the wake of Wycliffe Associates’ resignation from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, as well as increased scrutiny of one of its key translation initiatives, Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation, or MAST.
Wycliffe Associates recently resigned from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability while under review for its fundraising practices. I wrote a short article about the resignation, thinking that would be it.
Boy, was I ever wrong.
Controversy Surrounding Wycliffe Associates’ MAST Program Raises Tough Questions for Bible Translation Community
Controversy Surrounding Wycliffe Associates’ MAST Program Raises Tough Questions for Bible Translation Community
But New Fund-Raising Initiative Draws Attention To Controversial Translation Process
Wycliffe has been very successful in raising funds for these programs. The problem is: the evidence to support Wycliffe’s claims is thin. And when asked to substantiate the advertised cost for POD and MAST, Wycliffe has so far failed to produce documentation.
Editor’s Note: Though Wycliffe Associates and Wycliffe Bible Translators have similar names and were one time related organizations, they are today separate organizations. John Wycliffe, who famously translated the Bible into English, was one of the seminal figures of the Reformation. But he was more than a translator. He was an outspoken critic of clergy opulence. He wrote tracts condemning the luxurious lifestyles of many church leaders. One wonders what Wycliffe would say about…
Wycliffe Associates, one of the charter members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), voluntarily resigned on Feb, 21, 2020, “while under review of compliance with Standards 7.1 and 7.2.” Standard 7.1 says: In securing charitable gifts, all representations of fact, descriptions of the financial condition of the organization, or narratives about events must be current, complete, and accurate. References to past activities or events must be appropriately dated. There must be no material…
