Wycliffe Bible Translators International
Wycliffe Bible Translators International (WBT) is "an association of member organizations that have agreed to work with each other and with partners around the world, promoting and participating in Bible translation movements worldwide." ^[1]^
William Townsend
William Cameron Townsend founded WBT in 1942. Townsend discovered most of the Cakchiquel Indians where he was working were not interested in the Spanish Bible he was selling. He spent the next twelve years translating the Bible for the Cakchiquel. After finishing the Cakchiquel New Testament, he could have spent the rest of his career ministering in the Cakchiquel church. But Townsend resolved that other language groups should also be able to read the Bible in their own language. Borrowing from the name of the Reformation figure John Wycliffe, Townsend founded "Camp Wycliffe" in 1934 as a linguistics training school. However, he knew he could not translate the Bible into every language by himself and so he founded WBT in order to translate the Scriptures for people groups around the world. Today, more than 5,000 people work with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Wycliffe's Summer Institute of Linguistics as well as WBT work together to translate Scripture, train field personnel, and promote interest in translation. They have already translated the New Testament for more than five hundred people groups, and their goal is to begin a translation into every language lacking one by 2025.