June 2024 Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Supporters,

What if your adult Sunday school class or Bible study group was faced with the task of reading the entire Bible aloud together, from Genesis to Revelation? How long do you think it would take your group to do it, allowing for breaks for rest and meals? This is what the Sara Kaba Dem are doing as I write. If this sounds like a daunting task, you’re right! But it is the last major task which the team must accomplish before printing!

Sara Kaba Dem Begins Final Read-Through!

The Sara Kaba Dem translation committee has begun the huge task of reading through their entire Bible translation, as a final preparation step before publication. As they began this task in early June, they were overwhelmed by the volume of material they needed to read, but after a few days, they got into a good rhythm and were very much encouraged as they saw the work progressing well. After two weeks, they were already more than halfway through the Bible, and they are likely to finish well ahead of schedule! Pray for them as they continue this important task. Pray also for the Sara Madjingay team, that they will also be able to begin their read-through soon. They are nearly ready!

Graduation of 14 Bible college students

On May 18, fourteen students graduated from the Bible institute and theological seminary of Balimba. Because the cool rains of the early rainy season had not yet arrived, the weather was very hot at over 40°C (104°F), which made the ceremony exhausting, but God gave strength and we all rejoiced with the new graduates in spite of the heat.

The Bible institute will seek to recruit more students this year. Pray for Chadian men to answer God’s call to the harvest field!

Sara Kaba Naa and Ngamh Bibles

Although the Sara Kaba Dem and Sara Madjingay Bibles are nearly ready for publication, two other projects that I work with still have a ways to go. The Sara Kaba Naa are working on quality checking, but we have plenty left to do.

The Ngamh are still checking the main content of their Old Testament. We still need to check most of the prophetic books, some of the poetic books, and some other scattered sections of the Old Testament. Some of these books are among the most difficult ones to translate, so pray for this team.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

February 2024 Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Supporters,

In the last couple months, two ministries I am involved in have hit significant milestones. First, two translation projects have completed a major stage on the road to printing the whole Bible in their language. Second, our school of theology has begun a new master’s program. Praise the Lord with us for the progress of these ministries!

Two Bible Translation Projects Hit a Milestone

For the last few years, we have been working on quality checking for the Sara Madjingay and Sara Kaba Dem Bibles (quality checks are a series of rigorous checks to ensure the consistency and quality of the entire Bible translation). In our workshops in January and February, we finally reached the end of all the quality checks we needed to do. We aren’t quite ready to print just yet, but the finish line is in sight, and we are excited!

The next task is to make final preparations to submit the text of the translation for approval by the team at the BI headquarters in Grand Rapids. For the past few weeks, I’ve been working hard on polishing up many technical details, such as checking the consistency of paragraph breaks, punctuation, and formatting of cross-references. Once the text is submitted and approved, the translation teams will need to read the entire Bible through to check they are satisfied with the translation. After that, the translation text will be formatted, as it will appear on the printed Bible. Then the team will check the translation one final time, and finally, we will be able to send it to be printed!

Please pray for us as we finish these exciting final stages of these two translation projects!

The Baptist School of Theology in Balimba Becomes a Seminary

For many years, there were no Baptist Bible schools in Chad that offer higher than a bachelor’s degree, our Baptist pastors who want higher levels of theological training had to travel to a seminary in neighboring Cameroon to study. The expense of traveling such a long way to study has prevented many academically capable Chadians from being able to seek a higher degree. So for the past several years, the Baptist School of Theology here in Balimba has been working on developing a masters’ degree program here in Chad. That vision was finally realized this month, as the first masters’ module was held with nine students, officially transforming our Bible school into a seminary. The courses will be taught as modules, allowing the students who take masters’ degree to continue their pastoral ministries while they study.

Since there are not enough Chadian men qualified to teach at the graduate level, the seminary in Cameroon has agreed to help out our new seminary by sending some of their professors to Chad several times a year to help teach the module classes. I am continuing to teach Greek and Hebrew at the undergraduate level, but I am excited to see this growth in our little Bible school here in Balimba!

One important need for the masters’ degree students is for books for their studies, but since most of them pastor churches outside the Sarh area, they do not have regular access to the school library, so they will need to get their own books. If you would like to help students to purchase books for their studies, please send your gift to Baptist Mid-Missions marked for the fund Chad Shepherd’s Bag.

Please pray with us for the teachers and the students of this new ministry endeavor.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

Update on Funding Need for the Sara Kaba Dem Bible

In my November 2023 prayer letter, I mentioned the need for $86,000 to print the Sara Kaba Dem Bible. Praise the Lord with us that this need has been met.

How to Give to the Shepherd's Bag

We have a separate fund set aside for The Shepherd’s Bag book ministry. This ministry has helped dozens of pastors and Bible school students to acquire books for their ministries and studies. If you would like to help, you can mail your check marked for Chad Shepherd’s Bag to Baptist Mid-Missions, PO Box 308011, Cleveland, OH 44130-8011.

If you would prefer to give online, you can follow this link: https://www.bmm.org/give/give-to-an-unlisted-missionary. In the box marked “missionary or project designation”, write “Chad Shepherd’s Bag”. Fill out the rest of the information as desired and click “give now”.

Can You Donate a Used Computer to a Seminary Student?

The students in our new masters’ degree program will need computers in order to write their research papers and send them via email to their professors. Of the nine master’s degree students, six do not own computers. Would you be willing to donate a used (but functioning) computer to a seminary or Bible college student?

Obviously, a computer cannot be mailed to Chad, but we have guests who visit us several times a year, and they are usually able to bring important items with them. If you have a computer you would be willing to donate, please let me know and we will find out who would be the next person from the US available to bring it with them.

November 2023 Prayer Letter

November 2023

Dear Prayer Supporters,

In my last prayer letter, I wrote from Australia where I was enjoying a short furlough. I'm now back in Chad, and I'm as busy as ever! Thank you for praying and for your support and encouragement!

Furlough in Australia

I successfully completed my short furlough in Australia at the end of August. God blessed my furlough abundantly. I originally planned to visit four supporting churches. I ended up visiting seven churches and speaking at three ladies' meetings. In each place, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of God's people and encouraged by the warm welcome I received. I returned from my short furlough feeling refreshed and encouraged – which was good, since as soon as I got back to my home in the village of Balimba, I hit the ground running!

Bible Translation

As I write, two Bible translation projects (the Sara Madjingay and Sara Kaba Dem) have reached a crucial stage. Both teams are in the process finishing the last of their quality checks – the series of rigorous tests which each Bible project undergoes near the end of the translation process. We are cleaning up some final issues and doing our best to find any mistakes we might still have missed. Once everyone is satisfied, the teams must read through the entire Bible from cover to cover, which is a huge task, as you might imagine! After that, the text will be formatted in preparation for printing. Please pray for me and for these two translation teams as we finish these crucial tasks.

As these two teams draw near to printing, there will be a need for funds to print these Bibles. The need is especially great for the Sara Kaba Dem Bible. $86,000 is still needed to be able to print this Bible. If you are able to contribute to this need, you may go to our website, www.biblesint.org, and click the “GIVE” button to designate your gifts. Choose “BI Languages” (under "Fund") and then scroll to the “Sara Kaba Dem Project" (under "Sub Fund").

In early November, we had a special guest: the manager of Bibles International's new Scripture Engagement Department. This department's goal is to help people to use God's Word as He intends us to. We don't only want people to have the Bible in their language; we also want them to use it effectively! We are really excited about what God will do through the Scripture Engagement ministry! Praise the Lord for an encouraging start and pray for God's continued blessing on this ministry.

Support Update

On advice from Baptist Mid-Missions' financial department, I have recently updated the estimate of my monthly support needs, in order to keep up with inflation. The new estimate indicates I am in need of about $437 per month additional support in order to cover all my regular financial needs. Thank you for praying about this need.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

August 2023 Prayer Letter

August 2023

Dear Prayer Supporters,

G’day from Australia! I’m about half-way through my two-month furlough to the country of my birth. The last couple months have been busy as ever, with plenty going on in two different continents: Australia and Africa!

June Guests

In June, I welcomed three American guests into my home – three single ladies who are serving the Lord. One has been the director of Bibles International’s linguistics department for some years. Another is a new B.I. coworker who has recently begun raising support to become a full-time translation consultant with B.I. The third is a student at Bob Jones University who had the opportunity to do her internship in Chad. Between the three of them, they helped analyze linguistic data for the Sara Kaba Naa and Ngamh languages, and assisted in translation workshops for the Sara Kaba Dem and Ngamh Bibles.

Why is it important to analyze linguistic data? Some of the information gleaned in these linguistic workshops is crucial in helping the nationals to write their own language consistently and correctly. For example, would you write the following compound words or phrases as one word, two words separated by a space, or two words separated by a hyphen? Healthcare, health care, or health-care? Jetlag, jet lag, or jet-lag? Levelheaded, level headed, or level-headed? Nonprofit, non profit, or non-profit? Even in English, we could probably argue about which of these is correct! But what do you do when you are writing a compound word or phrase for the first time ever in a language, and you have to decide where to put the spaces and hyphens? Without some objective, straightforward rules, you can end up with three or more different ways to write each compound word! This was exactly the case with the Sara Kaba Naa language: their language contains many compound words and phrases, and they didn’t always agree about where to put the spaces. With the help of our guests, they now have some specific rules that will help them to be more consistent in writing their own language.

Bread of Life Christian Bookstore

By God’s grace, the bookstore building was completed and had its opening day shortly before I left Chad for my short furlough. I was glad to turn over some aspects of the book ministry to my Chadian partners, especially the book sales. I will continue to help with finances, ordering books, and with the Shepherd’s Bag ministry which assists pastors and Bible college students to buy the books they need for their ministries. Pray for this ministry as it continues to grow.

July Travels

As the month of June drew to a close, I flew from Chad to Melbourne, Australia, for a two-month furlough. In the past four weeks, I have taken time off for sightseeing, visited three supporting churches, and studied for the Greek and Hebrew classes that I will be teaching in Chad this next school year. In the month of August, I will visit three more supporting churches, speak at two ladies’ meetings, continue my class preparation, and finally return to Chad at the end of August. It’s been a great visit so far, but I will be glad to get back to the ministry in Chad. Thank you for praying for me during this short furlough!

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell