Praise God, technology has made the impossible possible! 



Did you know that technology is playing a pivotal role in building God’s Kingdom?

Translation technology is helping people around the world know God and His Word! It’s making the impossible possible by dramatically accelerating the work of Bible translation, enabling Scripture to transform people’s lives — more quickly and at a broader scale than we ever thought possible.

God equips His people with incredible abilities to innovate.



Technology can be a polarizing topic. But technology is the result of continuous innovation — something God has equipped His people with since time began. Innovation paves the way for technological advances that carry us into the future.

From Sumerian cuneiform to Gutenberg’s printing press, manual typewriters to lightweight, lightning-fast laptops, innovation has furthered communication and translation over the centuries.

Let’s look at some of the most pivotal technology that Bible translators around the world are using to expedite translation work and impact more communities worldwide.

God has provided Starlink satellites for Bible translators working in remote locations!



Internet access is essential to completing Bible translation projects. A stable, reliable internet connection enables communication, consulting and collaboration among translation teams scattered across the globe.

On the other hand, unstable or unreliable internet is a roadblock — and an unfortunate reality — for many translation teams worldwide, such as diaspora communities.

Starlink, operated by SpaceX, is a group of satellites providing internet access to countries across the globe — with plans to extend coverage to the entire world. Although Wycliffe’s translators have used satellite internet before, Starlink is faster and reaches farther.

Starlink satellites eliminate this obstacle by providing stable internet, even in remote locations. This improves the quality of life for Bible translators who often travel long distances to access the web.

With access to a stable, reliable internet connection, translators will be able to share their work faster, and more people will be able to access God’s Word sooner!

Instead of written histories, many communities around the world have oral traditions. Members of these oral communities understand Scripture best in an audio format.

Translators working with oral communities use Render, a software technology developed by Wycliffe partner Faith Comes By Hearing. Render enables users to listen to Bible passages, record their oral translations and share files with team members. Its icon-based interface makes it accessible to people with varying levels of literacy and technological savviness.



Render software allows individuals in oral communities to record their spoken translations and easily share files with the translation team.

Render has streamlined the Bible translation process, helping more people in these communities clearly understand God’s Word.

One person said that internalizing the recorded Scripture makes them feel like a living Bible!

“These are … reasons software developers [in missions] are some of my heroes. They could be making a lot more money working somewhere else, but many of them are giving their lives to produce great software for Bible translators. When they make one small improvement, it may seem small to them. But that small thing might be something that translators all over the world do multiple times a day in the 2,000 languages in which translation is currently being done.

‍
“I don't know of another place a person could work in Bible translation where they can have that big and that broad of an impact.”

Using specialized software, speakers of one language can adapt a translation in a related language to fit their own words and speech patterns. Ultimately, this allows pastors to translate the Bible into their language much faster.

“It can help the translator spend more of his time doing what only a real human native speaker can do: deal with all the unpredictable and unique differences that occur between languages,” John said.

Software development has made the work easier for locals to participate!



Software development hasn’t just increased the speed and accuracy of Bible translation. It has also made the work easier for locals to participate!

According to John, local pastors may struggle to translate alone. But software enables them to work together in a group. This not only raises the quality of the work; it improves the process for the individuals working together.

Even better, improved translation software is more accessible to individuals who aren’t tech-savvy. This makes it easier than ever for anyone to get involved with Bible translation.