Lutheran Bible Translators of Canada

Celebrating 50 Years Of God’s Blessings Through His Word.

LBTC Newsletter and Prayer Calendar Updates

Lutheran Bible Translators of Canada 2023 Special Projects

Click on the image below for the explanation of the five special projects which provide opportunities for LBTC and our Cameroonian and Thai partners in Bible translation work to share God’s Word in unique ways.

Pastor Chujit (Pictured on the left) has begun to preach and read the Scriptures in Southern Thai. And Pastor Yongthanayot (Pictured on the right) has recorded Luke 2 in Southern Thai. Click to hear his recording! Both are part of the assessment process to gauge people’s receptiveness to this translation project.

Partnerships in Translation Ministry

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5

Dear Friends in Christ,

As Paul rejoices in his partnership in the gospel with the Philippians, so also do I rejoice in your partnership in LBTC’s gospel ministry of Bible translation. For this partnership I thank God and I also thank you. God is doing mighty deeds of salvation through His Word thanks to your prayers and donations.

In addition to our partnership with you, LBTC has long-standing partnerships with several organizations in the mission field. My primary purpose for travelling to Cameroon is to give personal attention to our missionaries through a review process and through support, encouragement, and prayer together. It is my great privilege to participate in this partnership with our LBTC missionaries.

Another part of my trips to Cameroon is to keep up to date with our ministry partners in Cameroon. LBTC’s main partner in Cameroon is the Lutheran Church of Cameroon (EELC). LBTC serves in Cameroon at their invitation and under the director of the EELC’s department of translation and literacy (DTA), Rev. Bakari Boukar (to my right). He is responsible for all of the language projects of the EELC. Their current national bishop, Rev. Dr. Baiguele Jean (to my left), is a strong supporter of Bible translation work. It was my delight to meet with Dr. Jean on three occasions and I enjoyed being with Pastor Touka almost every day of my 17 day trip.

LBTC’s next partnership is with SIL Cameroon. This partnership allows LBTC personnel to access practical things like accommodations and meals at their facility in Yaounde and professional resources like translation workshops, retreats, translation consultants, and more. I enjoy meeting with their general director, Apolinaire Ambassa and other SIL leaders on my visits to Cameroon. We have recently updated our Memorandum of Understanding with SIL Cameroon which outlines various ways that we support each other in ministry.”

A third partner with LBTC in Cameroon is Cameroon Bible Society (ABC). This organization provides a final review of every Bible translation. This review gives assurance to the reader that the Bible translation is accurate, in accord with the best original language (Greek and Hebrew) manuscripts available. ABC also publishes the translations assuring that the Bibles are not controlled by any one denomination, but are available to all. I meet with ABC’s director, Dr. Luc Gnowa, as often as possible when I am in Yaounde and appreciate LBTC’s on-going productive relationship with ABC.

For the past three years LBT Canada has been involved with SURAM, a research project aimed at understanding how and why vernacular Scriptures have a greater impact in some language communities when compared with others in the context of Cameroon. This is a joint effort of several Bible Translation organizations in Cameroon, Europe, and North America. The project co-ordinator, John Ndemba Efokoa, did an excellent job of keeping a very complex process moving smoothly. The whole Bible translation community is now trying to digest the wealth of information gathered through this research. Our Lord will surely bless all our organizations through this project.

Each time I travel to Cameroon I see more and more reasons to rejoice in what God is doing through His Word. Pastor Touka told me of a village where there were no Christians five years ago. Now because the Scriptures were translated and distributed to the people of that village in their heart language, and because they allowed Christians from another village of the same language group to establish Bible listening groups and Bible study groups there, a Christian congregation is worshipping there and growing.

Praise Jesus with me for all the mighty deeds of salvation He is doing through His Word. Rejoice with me because of the new Christians who now have eternal life because of God’s grace shown them in Christ Jesus His Son. And join me in praying for God to send new workers into His harvest fields to translate His Word of Life into every language so that everyone will have the opportunity to hear and believe.

Peace in Christ

Pastor Ron Mohr

Executive Director

Kayla Falkenholt will continue as Missionary Kids Teacher for the fourth year!

Kayla has spent the last year and a half teaching kids from missionary families at the Greenhouse School in Yaounde, Cameroon. She has decided to stay on at that school for another school year. She will be teaching Grade 5 students in general subjects and teaching music for all the grades at the school. She even was able to direct the whole school in the first musical in many years, “It’s Cool in the Furnace” based on the biblical account of the Three Men in the Fiery Furnace. Her enthusiasm and joy in this teaching ministry has won the hearts of students and faculty alike.

Why do we do this? The need for Bible translation is great.

Bible translation is far from complete. The world contains nearly 7,000 languages, and at present roughly 1/3 of those (representing around 300,000,000 persons) still have not one word of Bible in their own language.The following data help put this into perspective:

7 Billion – current world population
7,000+ – languages spoken in the world (SIL Ethnologue)
2,479 – languages that have no translated Bible
550 – languages that have a complete translated Bible
1,300 – languages that have a complete New Testament
800 – languages with only a portion of the BIble
180,000,000 – persons that have no translated Bible in their heart language

What is LBTC?

We translate the Word of God into the languages of the heart around the world

conducts linguistic
research, translates the
Blble, facilltates literacy,
and promotes Scripture
use.

trains Indigenous people,
cooperates wlth local
governments, educators,
national church leaders and
local communities.

Involves Lutherans in Canada and elswherein building awarenes through recruitment
and by seeking partnerships for prayer encouragement and financial support.

Lutheran Bible Translators of Canada (LBTC) believes that no language or cultural barrier should prevent people from
having access to the Holy Word of God. For this reason, LBTC works closely with Lutheran church bodies and Bible translation organizations around the world. With the help of God, we strive to translate the Bible into the heart languages of the world so that every person has the opportunity to read, hear, and understand the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Mission of Lutheran Bible Translators of Canada is to help bring people to faith in Jesus Christ by making the Word of God available to those who do not yet have it in the language of their hearts.

The Mission of Lutheran Bible Translators of Canada is to help bring people to faith in Jesus Christ by making the Word of God available to those who do not yet have it in the language of their hearts.

To carry out this mission, Lutheran Bible Translators of Canada
conducts linguistic research
translates the Bible
facilitates literacy
promotes Scripture use
trains indigenous people
cooperates with local governments and educators, national church leaders and the local community
involves Lutherans in Canada in building awareness through recruitment and by seeking partnerships for prayer, financial support, and encouragement. LBTC Mission Statement

Partners

Church Affiliations

Other Memberships.

LBTC has a joint agreement with Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) USA of Concordia, MO. We are committed to the same purpose of helping to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ, especially through Bible translation and literacy work.

LBTC has also been granted a “Designation as Associated Charity” with Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) by Revenue Canada.

LBTC also recommends the Canadian Institute of Linguistics (CANIL) for those preparing for mission work in Bible translation and literacy

LBTC is recognized as a Listed Service Organization (LSO) by Lutheran Church – Canada (LCC), a Memorandum of Understanding with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and a cooperative relationship with the North American Luther Church (NALC), and the Canadian Association of Lutheran Churches

(CALC). LBTC is thankful for these relationships, but remains an independent Christian organization and does not receive funding directly from national, synod, or district church office.

CLAIM – LBTC is a member of CLAIM (Canadian Lutheran Agencies in Mission), an association of Lutheran mission organizations that work together in partnership with Lutheran Church – Canada to reach out to our neighbourhoods, to our country of Canada, and to the world.

CCCC - LBTC is a member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC), an organization that serves Christian charities and the public by integrating spiritual concerns of ministry ministry with practical aspects of management, stewardship, an accountability