One of the main themes of Wycliffe Bible Translators’ work is developing literacy programmes. It seems so obvious – people can’t read the Bible in their own language if they can’t read.
But literacy can be much more than just the sum of ‘reading’ and ‘writing’. The impact of literacy can transform lives:
Through reading the Bible, we want people to grow as Christians. For non-literate people, learning to read can be a vital step towards that goal.
We also know that people who become literate often become more confident and more able to make use of literacy for all kinds of purposes – writing letters, reading about how to grow better crops, keeping track of their income and expenditure, helping their children with their school work, and so on.
There is no end to the ways in which people can make use of literacy to make their life better – in other words, to transform their lives. Ian Cheffy
Ian teaches literacy at the UK training facility for Wycliffe workers, a job he’s well-qualified for given his 25 years experience, both in Cameroon and the UK.
The impact of literacy, though, is far wider than just in classrooms in the UK. One woman in Uganda put it like this: “Before I joined the literacy class I was blind but now I won’t be misled. Alphabets are a lot more familiar, I can write my name as well!”
Literacy is one step people can take towards engaging with the word of God in their own heart language. Be involved with this by supporting Wycliffe’s work, exploring Wycliffe’s literacy work, or finding out more about Wycliffe training in the UK.
Quotes in this article are taken from a United Bible Society newsletter about literacy work.
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