Wycliff

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Wycliff e. V.
Logo wiklif.svg
purpose worldwide distribution of the Bible
Chair: Uwe Müller
Executive Director: Martin Hartmann
Establishment date: 1962
Number of employees: 150
Seat : Burbach (Siegerland)
Website: www.wycliff.de

Wycliff e. V. is the German branch of a non-commercial interdenominational evangelical organization ( Wycliffe Global Alliance ), which is committed to the worldwide distribution of the Bible . It is named after the English theologian John Wycliff , who was the first to translate the Latin Bible into English . The Holy Scriptures are intended to reach as many people as possible and are therefore translated into many languages . The work is financed exclusively through donations. According to its own information, there are currently over 5,000 people for Wycliff or its sister organization SIL International active, including around 150 in Germany.

history

The organization was founded in 1934 by William Cameron Townsend , also affectionately known as "Uncle Cam". During a missionary trip to Guatemala in 1918, the American was confronted with the problem that the native Cakchiquel Indians had no access to the Bible because they knew no European language. Townsend then researched her mother tongue and translated the Bible.

In 1936 some of the missionaries trained by him founded the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), which is now one of the largest and best-known institutions for linguistic field research. The work of Bible translation was expanded and professionalized with the establishment of the organization "Wycliffe Bible Translators" in 1942.

The name is derived from the English theologian and professor John Wyclif , who was the first to translate the Bible into the English language. Another historical role model for the Wycliff organization is Martin Luther , who made a decisive contribution to the establishment of the German vernacular with his translation of the Bible and who laid down a few rules for interpreting in his mission letter .

Wycliff Germany was the first Wycliff organization in Europe. It was founded in 1962 in Neukirchen-Vluyn on the Lower Rhine.

job

Linguistics and Ethnology

Wycliff's work mainly focuses on languages ​​that have not yet been written down. Each language is treated as equivalent, regardless of the number of speakers and its global significance. Linguists develop their own writing systems for languages ​​that have so far only been passed on orally . A Bible translation is then made on this basis . In addition to the linguistic problems, ethnological factors must also be taken into account, as the understanding of the texts is influenced by the cultural conditions and individual previous knowledge.

Actions

Wycliff supports the annual 30-day prayer campaign for the Islamic world , which prays , among other things, to make the Bible accessible in their mother tongue to hard-to-reach ethnic groups in Islamic countries around the world.

Abuse and Child Protection

The Winterthur artist Christina Krüsi was abused as a child with 16 other children by Wycliff missionaries and teachers in the 1970s. She has processed her traumatic experiences at the Tumi Chucua mission station in the jungle of Bolivia in a book.

Wycliff posted comments on these events on its website, which were known and investigated from 2003 onwards. The crimes are statute-barred and the perpetrators have since died. According to their own statements, Wycliff and the directly affected partner organization SIL have introduced extensive child protection measures; SIL is also said to have appointed a child protection officer.

Periodicals

  • “Translation Today: Bulletin of the Wycliff Bible Translators”, published quarterly, from 1991 to 2001.
  • “World of Writing: Linguistic Research, Bible Translation, Literacy”, published quarterly, from 2001 to 2011.
  • “Pronounced: the Wycliff magazine”, published quarterly, from 2012 to 2013.
  • "Das Wycliff-Magazin", published quarterly, since 2014, DNB .

literature

  • Hildegard Berg: Life where the pepper grows. Memories from South Sumatra , OM Books, 2009; ISBN 978-3-902669-09-4 (The author tells of her life and work as a Bible translator in a small village in South Sumatra , where she translated the New Testament into the local Serawai language during her ten-year stay Contribution by Calando-TV in the ERF .)
  • Franziska Moser, Sabine Müri and Jane Maire: The millet twin and other stories from 50 years of Wycliffe Switzerland. Wycliffe Switzerland, Biel 2014 (no ISBN)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Randall Balmer: Wycliffe Bible Translators . In: Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism . Baylor University Press, Waco 2004, ISBN 1-932792-04-X , pp. 770 .
  2. 30 Days of Prayer for the Islamic World , accessed on September 13, 2009
  3. Christina Krüsi: Paradise was my hell. Knaur 2012. - Hugo Stamm: Martyrdom in the jungle . Basler Zeitung , July 17, 2013. - Portrait: The way back from Hell . Migros Magazine , April 22, 2014. - Documentary film: I am no longer a victim. SRF 1 on April 24, 2014
  4. Current statements on the SRF-DOK film from April 24, 2014 . ( Memento of October 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Wycliffe, accessed December 9, 2014.
  5. Child Protection ( Memento from September 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) at Wycliffe; Retrieved December 9, 2014.