Its been said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church. If that’s true, the church in the Middle East can expect to see an explosion of growth soon.
The murders of four translators working to bring the Bible to obscure languages in the Middle East earlier this month won’t stop the charity behind the effort from its work. That’s according to officials for Wycliffe Associates, a Florida non-profit dedicated to bringing the gospel to hundreds of obscure languages.
The four unidentified translators, although working secretly, were killed by suspected Islamist militants.
In a statement, Wycliffe officials wrote, “The Muslims shot and destroyed all the equipment in the office,” “The invaders burned all the books and other translation materials in the office.”
The work is so dangerous that Wycliffe Associates President Bruce Smith will not even say what country the office was in or give the names of those killed.
He did say the attackers shot and killed two workers and beat two more to death with the emptied guns as they used their bodies to shield a senior translator who survived.
Officials for Wycliffe Associates said hard drives containing the translation work for eight different language projects may still be salvageable.
The translators are undaunted by the attack saying “The team has decided to re-double their efforts to translate, publish, and print God’s word for these eight language communities.”
The attack highlights the recent wave of genocide against Christians in places like the Middle East and Europe.