 |
 |
Ramseyer-Northern Bible Society Collection
Search Ramseyer
This organization began as the result of a discovery by a young man in 1917, that Bibles in Spanish which was trying to sell in Guatemala could not be read by the people to whom he was selling them, because they spoke only their own native language and not Spanish. He set pout to learn Cakchiquel, the local language, and in ten years managed to translate the New Testament into Cakchiquel. He then started to organize the training of others to do the same work. He started "Camp Wycliffe" in Arkansas in 1934 and from that beginning arose the present organization.
The Wycliffe bible Translators have recently completed the translation of the New Testament into the 300th language. But there is still a long way to go. It is estimated that there are some 6,000 languages and dialects in the world, and so far only 3,000 have been tackled in the matter of translation of the Scriptures. The Wycliffe organization continues to train translators in their network of Summer Institutes of Linguistics, where dedicated persons are taught how to analyze and codify previously unknown languages and to assist people in need in developing their societies. With this information in hand, they then go on to translate the bible into "the heart language of the people."
The present director of training for the Wycliffe organization is a northern Minnesota native, Mildred Larson.
[click thumbnail for large view]
 
The Book of Jonah in Mixteco of N. Tlaxiaco (Mexico), 1991. Only 10 copies exist as of this printing. #1548 |
The New Testament in Cotabato Manobo (Philippines). The 300th translation of the New Testament produced by the Wycliffe Bible Translators. #1611 |
The Alphabet makers: a Presentation from the Museum of the Alphabet published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics. |
Ethnologue; Languages of the World published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics. |
  Meaning-Based Translation and Meaning-Based Translation Workbook published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics and University Press of America. |
