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Bible translation would seem a likely place for generosity and open-handed collaboration. Getting all of Scripture into every language is a clear goal shared by the global Church and multiple organizations. But like every sector, it’s also a place of fragmentation.
One foundation executive in Tennessee recently shared how one year, three different agencies approached him for funding to translate the Bible into the same language for the same people group. Literally, the impact was going to be a third of what it could have been if each organization focused on a different language. This type of redundancy is all too common within the nonprofit sector.
But a new example of generous Kingdom partnership is emerging.
Many translation agencies have looked up from their own efforts to realize their organization-centric pursuits were thwarting the collective mission of eradicating Bible poverty in our generation and making disciples of all nations. Together with humility and open-handedness, they focused on a shared mission of translating the Scriptures into every remaining language in the world.
Mart Green, founder of Mardel Christian & Education and chairman of the Hobby Lobby board, was perhaps the first to articulate a broader vision. In both professional and philanthropic pursuits, Green was committed to helping more people access the Bible. He reasoned that rather than having Scripture translations housed in separate systems within the various translation agencies, organizations and unreached populations alike would be better served by a digital Bible library, accessible to all.
He brought together three translation agencies and several significant philanthropists to mobilize this vision. The library launched in 2010 and now encompasses more than eleven hundred Scripture portions and versions.
Meanwhile, Todd Peterson, chairman emeritus and interim CEO at the time of Seed Company (a Wycliffe Bible Translators affiliate), was focused on the organization’s mission to see all languages have Scripture by 2025. To do so, he was beginning to communicate to supporters not simply the needs of Seed Company but rather the greater needs of the remaining Bible-less people groups.
Captivated by the larger vision, donors gave more generously than Seed Company had ever seen before. The organization shared this outcome with Green and then invited other translation agencies to collaborate on how best to invite donors to give to ensure every tribe and every nation would get Scripture in their heart language in our lifetime. They contended givers might allocate greater funds to an overall area of interest rather than a specific organization.
It was a radical idea, as collaborative fundraising usually experiences strong headwinds and donor events are not typically the place to find organizations praising their “competitors.” But with an attitude of abundance and an unwavering focus on the Kingdom, Seed Company viewed these other organizations as allies. They invited others in, and those invited came.
Individual agencies surrendered exclusivity and competition. “It means that you’re trying to make someone else successful,” said David Wills, president emeritus of the National Christian Foundation. “Our primary responsibility is to not get in the way of what God is doing.”
In 2017 ten Bible translation agencies, involved in more than ninety percent of global translation work, banded together to drive visitors to a single website titled illumiNations. In just one visit to the site, supporters can see Bible translation progress across the globe and be matched to translation projects based on interest rather than organization. This collaboration enables the Bible to be translated with better quality, efficiency, and affordability.

Leaders of these ten distinct translation organizations agree that the goal of making their organizations famous is subservient to the goal of making Christ known. Rather than compete for website visits or donors, these agencies have pooled their resources to accelerate their goal, accomplishing faster what would have taken vastly more time and resources to achieve independently. Knowing they needed to build relationships, they committed to meeting every month in person at the airport in Dallas.
Bible translators initially predicted that they would begin translation into the last language by 2150, but by working collaboratively, illumiNations believes they will have translated at least the New Testament for 99.9 percent of the world’s population by 2033. Through translation partnership, they plan to reach their goal 117 years ahead of schedule.
117 years faster.
Working together across organizational boundaries is complex and messy and laborious. It is also powerful.
In this beautiful example of rooting for “rivals,” Peterson and other Bible translation leaders who once competed for market share have allied against their common enemy of Bible poverty. In joining together, they have learned to say, “Thy kingdom come” instead of “my kingdom come.”
This excerpt is adapted from Rooting for Rivals, available now for preorder.