It might be a conference about translating the Bible, but David Collins compares it to a rock concert.”Consider the rock star,” he says. “The fans buy the rock star’s music because they love to listen to it, and when in concert the fans cheer the rock star in person.”Well, those of us who support Bible translation already have the Book, we love to read it and when there is a Bible translator around who is willing to talk to us about the work he or she has been doing, we want to hear in person about the work, and praise our Father for fulfilling our prayers about this.”That’s how Collins explains the Mid-America Wycliffe Conference, organized by Wycliffe Bible Translators, a nonprofit organization that translates Bibles into languages spoken around the world.This year’s conference will be Oct. 12-13 at the Training Center of Avant Ministries, 10000 N. Oak St. in Kansas City, Mo. A full list of events can be found at www.mawc.info.Collins, who is organizing the Kansas City conference, says certain regions of Africa, Asia and the Pacific are the biggest pushes for new Bible translations. According to the Wycliffe organization, there are 6,900 languages spoken in the world, with only 429 with full version of the Bible and only 1,140 of those with a complete New Testament.”There are a lot of considerations which go into making decisions where to invest resources for translation,” Collins explains. “One is the availability of native language assistants who are willing and able to do the heavy lifting in the translation effort, with Wycliffe personnel as consultants.”Wycliffe Bible Translators, based in Orlando, is named for John Wycliffe, who in the 1300s became the first person to translate the Bible into English.Collins says the organization has set as a goal to have the Bible translated into every language that needs it by 2025. (Those not on the priority list include bilingual communities and those who have languages expected to die out.)”There seems to be growing interest in Bible translation, as evidenced by the number of new translators who are going to the field with the financial and prayer support they need,” Collins says._ – Faith Files, which examines issues of faith, spirituality, morals and ethics, is updated by features/faith reporter Terry Rombeck. Have an idea for the blog? Contact Terry at trombeck@ljworld.com, or 832-7145._