I really enjoyed this post from A Life Overseas, partly because it connected me to the constant struggle against the ants in Cameroon. It seemed like you needed to go through the five-stages of grief with the ants, finally coming to acceptance that they will be part of your life. Yes, they will crawl on you. Yes, they will be in the sink while you’re brushing your teeth. It’s ok.

But it also connected with me about our need for control. I want to decide when we go back to Cameroon — except only God knows when this will be. I want to manage my environment — except really I am just a participant. I want to put effort in and get results — except the results are outside of my control.

As the post says, trying to be in control really is counter to faith.

Read the post here.

This spring the Mokpwe New Testament was dedicated in Cameroon. There are approximately 20,000 speakers of Mokpwe, mostly living in the Southwest region of Cameroon. This is a huge milestone and they had a big celebration. We hope you will enjoy this video of a choir singing in Mokpwe at the dedication! We want to thank Isaac Genna Forchie, who is the communications officer at CABTAL (Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy) for sharing the recording. 

There are about 14,000 Bekwel speakers in Congo (Brazzaville), along the border with Cameroon. The following prayer update caught my eye as we work with this project and one of the students in the i-DELTA training program this cycle is a Bekwel speaker. He is working towards being a specialist in helping his community and others better engage with their newly translated Scriptures. He is the one who gathers and distributes recordings of the book of Luke as well as is learning to maintain and develops apps and a website in i-DELTA. His role will become crucial as the team completes the translation!

Bekwel Project in the Republic of the Congo

The New Testament in the Bekwel language is nearly complete! The translation team is in the final stages of this exciting project after already distributing translated Scripture portions through SD cards, print, apps and websites. Plus, they have trained literacy and listening group leaders to improve Scripture access for the Bakwele community. We join the team in praising God that after gathering regularly to listen to the audio recordings of the Gospel of Luke in their language, seven people decided to follow Jesus! Each was baptized and became a member of a local church. God is changing people’s hearts through listening groups that have formed throughout the region!  Bible translation work is also stirring positive change among Bakwele Christians. A project coordinator shared, “We can see it bringing people together, building bridges of fraternal love.” Please pray for: Good health for all team members as they carry out the final stages of this project. Clear communication and reliable internet connection as the team works remotely across four regions, with translators in Ouesso and Dolisie (Republic of the Congo) and technical support in Yaoundé (Cameroon) and Europe. Stable internet connection as consultants Ruth and Pau assist the team in refining the New Testament texts for accuracy and clarity.​​​​

This was written for and by Wycliffe USA staff newsletter (Touchpoints Worldwide April 2025)

Here’s an interesting BBC article about a ship that keeps undersea cables connected. In some countries, this is their only connection to the internet so when the cable has a problem, an entire country goes offline.

“Because of me, countries stay connected,” Shuru Arendse, a cable jointer from South Africa who has been working on the ship for more than a decade, tells the BBC.

The article mentions the May 2024 undersea cable problem which creates network problems in Cameroon for a while.

Read more at this link.

Here’s a few images to help you see some of the things that went on during i-DELTA is 2024. Summarizing an eight-week program in a few photos is hard, but here are a few.

Here, Shannon is teaching in large and small groups.

The students and instructors met often in small groups for discussion and to pray with each other.

And of course there were times where the group came together to play volleyball. The teacher vs. student game is highlight and comes with a trophy. And of course, multiple times per day everyone joins together for a meal.

Here are all the students and instructors for a group photo.

We are looking forward to i-DELTA in 2025.

We are glad to share this year’s Wycliffe Bible Translators Impact Report hightlighting some of what God has done in 2024 through Bible translation!

Vision 2025 is the goal to have a translation program in progress for every language that needs one by the end of 2025. It was adopted as a goal back in 1999 and we are much closer to that date today. What is the progress towards that goal?

There are many countries that have met that goal and others where only 1 language remains. Cameroon, the country our work is connected to, is one of four countries that Wycliffe has highlighted with the highest remaining needs. The purple countries also have significant needs. Please pray for the work going on in these countries.

Wycliffe will be having a Scripture Celebration to rejoice with communities around the world who now have access to Scripture in their language!

You can attend from the Wycliffe USA Facebook page on September 30th to hear incredible stories of how God is at work — everything from personal testimonies to current statistics in Bible translation. Celebrate with fellow believers as we collectively work toward the day when all people have access to Scripture.

As the article says: “Many of us, as it turns out.”

In our work in Cameroon which is not only Bible translation, but language development, literacy, and community development the passing of languages from parents to their children is an important aspect of whether a language is living and vibrant or on the decline.

Many languages of Cameroon are facing challenges from more dominant languages. Language not only like English and French, but other language of wider communication.

From the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230608-what-happens-when-you-cant-speak-your-parents-native-language