The shaded countries makeup Francophone Africa. We are working close to the middle of this cluster of 20 countries in Cameroon.

Today Wycliffe Prayer Blog shared about the importance of French speaking workers. The following is taken from their blog post today:

More French speakers live in Africa than on any other continent in the world. Even though French is largely a second language for most of the general population in Francophone (French-speaking) Africa, its designation as an official language in more than 20 countries makes it important to the work of Bible translation.

It is here, in this Francophone region, where hundreds of minority language communities are still waiting for God’s Word. French serves Bible translation personnel as the key gateway language through which training resources and workshops can be developed and presented throughout this area of incredible cultural and linguistic diversity.

• What is the chief prayer request of translation personnel working in Francophone Africa? They need more people—more French-speaking people. French speakers can immediately impact the work by helping to engage, train, and mentor the growing African workforce. There is huge potential for more Francophone Africans to join the translation team, so pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send forth more French-speaking workers to this region.

“…Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you” (2 Thessalonians 3:1, NLT).

This week I have a new intern that has started in the Computer Services department and while he understands some English our primary way of communicating is in French, a second language for both of us.