God's Word for the Nations update

God's Word for the Nations July 2025 update for MFW customers

God's Word for the Nations (GWN) is continuing our mission of supporting Bible translation efforts around the world. Here's a brief update to everyone who prays for us, gives financially towards this work, or purchases homeschooling curriculum from My Father's World, which directs a generous portion of its proceeds towards Bible translation.

The most recent fundraising appeal that GWN conducted was aimed at providing funding towards the publication of illustrated Children's Bibles in three minority languages spoken in Russia. Thanks to generous donors, we were able to raise over $35,000 within a month and half for the three new Children's Bibles that our partner, the Institute for Bible Translation (IBT), is getting ready to print in the Bashkir, Nogai and Yakut languages spoken in Russia.

The IBT Children's Bible first appeared in Russian in 1983 and since that time it has been translated into more than 50 languages. This book is a very effective tool for reaching both young and old with the message of hope. Because of its simple structure (each one-page story is accompanied by a color illustration) and easily understandable language, the Children's Bible is often the first spiritual nutrition for new believers.

Here's a story from a member of the Yakut Scripture Engagement team concerning her work with children at her church:

“We cook together with the girls and read texts from the Yakut Scriptures. We hope that through such events they will come to love both the Yakut language and the Bible. We also have a brand new project — a puppet theater. Last year we traveled with the children to various villages, and they organized a flash mob, did pantomime, and sang. In general, they are ready to do ministry and only need some help from adults. We dream of staging stories from the Bible for both children and adults, and this way local kindergartens and schools will open up to us.”

Because of this active work the Yakut team has requested a new print-run of the Children's Bible, as a new generation of children has grown since its last publication in 1995, and this book is always in high demand. The book is eagerly awaited in the churches and schools of Yakutia.

In Bashkir and Nogai, this will be the first-ever publication of the Children's Bible in these languages — the first opportunity for most of these children to learn about Jesus and the history of God's people. In Bashkir and Nogai, there are almost no other Christian children's materials in existence, but the recent printing of the first-ever Bashkir Bible has created more interest in Scripture in the Bashkir community, with churches in Bashkortostan actively distributing it among the people.

All three Children's Bibles will now be sent to press by IBT in late 2025 or early 2026 thanks to your prayers and financial support, and thanks to a matching grant of $10,000 from My Father's World. These books will be distributed free of charge to local churches that use these languages.