Wycliffe Discovery Center: Orlando, Florida

In America, God's word surrounds us. We look around and are bound to find churches, books about Christ at the library, Bibles of many different versions, and other materials that help influence our belief in God's love for us.

In visiting Wycliffe's Discovery Center in Orlando, Fl, I learned many different takeaways.

• 1. English is only spoken by 6% of the world.
• 2. English is the 4^th top language spoken, followed by Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish.
• 3. Even though English is only spoken by 6% of the world, there are over 200 bible translations in English.
• 4. There are estimated to be 6,800 languages spoken in the world and almost half of these languages do not have a written language (or Bible)

The mission of Wycliffe is to bring Bibles to those countries that have languages without a written language. They work with native people to develop an alphabet so that they can have a written language and then they translate a bible in their language.

In translating the bible into their language they have to determine how certain words are interpreted. While in the United States, we tend to say that we have invited Jesus Christ into our hearts, other countries might say that they invite Jesus into their minds, throats, ears, etc. wherever they derive their feelings. To them, asking Jesus into their hearts is meaningless, so interpreting the bible for them can take much time.

The work of the center is remarkable. They have a vision of reaching as many languages as possible by the year 2025, with some portion of the bible.

Before visiting the center I had no clue how little of Christ can be shared due to such language barriers. In attending with my children, they quickly became participants on a prayer team for a country once missionaries start working with natives in their country to develop written language. On our tour we learned how we can all be used by God to help this mission.

If you're not in Orlando, I invite you to visit their website, http://www.wycliffe.org/, to learn more about the mission field remaining around the globe. This attraction is great for adults and children, with many hands-on activities, including a scavenger hunt for older kids.