Partners in Education

When you are sick and need help, where do you go? Doctors spend years obtaining degrees to treat everything from rashes to tumors with care. All people suffer from the unseen sickness of sin. Only God can heal this disease, and He does so through His Word. Like medical doctors, Lutheran Bible Translators’ missionaries spend years obtaining degrees in order to translate God’s Word, so it is accurate, beautiful, and clear. “Most of our missionaries get master’s degrees in linguistics, theology, or translation principles because they need it for the work that we’re doing,” David Federwitz regional director, West Africa.

But many international partners do not have funds to obtain the level of education necessary for Bible translation and literacy work. Lutheran Bible Translators created the International Scholarship fund to grow educational capacity. “We don’t want to have a situation where our partners rely on us. We want to make sure they are equipped,” Federwitz.

Rev. Kierien Ekpang Ayugha left his home country of Nigeria to pursue a PhD at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This is the first time he has been away from his family for an extended time, and he misses them greatly. But Rev. Kierien recognizes the importance of academics in translation! “What my research is about it is to make sure the message of the Bible is clear to my people…[that] it is accurate and natural and beautiful… if it is not people will not use it.” He will return to the Linguistics and Bible Translation Department at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria to equip the next generation of Bible translators for work in Nigeria and surrounding countries.

What would it look like if we could equip more international partners? We could grow the capacity to heal sin-sickness of the world. This is the vision of the scholarship fund. Give the gift of education to international partners today! go.LBT.org/scholarshipfund