Getting the Word Out

“And I looked, and there in front of me was a multitude that no one could count, people from every tribe and every nation.”

—Revelation 7:9a

The Every Tribe Every Nation alliance was created to coordinate the vast resources of the largest Bible agencies in the world. This innovative partnership and resourcing model catapults Bible translation into the digital age and serves as a catalyst to speed up translation efforts through cooperation.

By working with other ministries, organizations, and individuals who share this hope and vision, we can make God’s Word available to anyone in the world—in their own heart language and in a form that they engage with. When this happens, lives will be transformed.

Core Values

• We strive to make Bible translations take less time to complete and to cost less while maintaining a high standard of quality.
• We desire to build and maintain an alliance of Bible translation organizations, end-user ministries, and donors based on mutual trust.
• We commit to being accountable for what we set out to accomplish.
• We aim for attainable goals that deliver products with measurable results and real impact.
• We vow to steward and leverage all our resources for the greater good.
• We challenge ourselves to do all work with excellence and to give “our utmost for His highest”

Timeline

To achieve these ambitious goals, the Every Tribe Every Nation initiative has been divided into three distinct phases. Each phase will build on the successes of the previous one(s)—until God’s Word is opened to over 5 billion people.

Phase 1 (November 2010–October 2012)

Phase 1 involved building the infrastructure for the Digital Bible Library™ and placing both new and existing texts “on the shelves.” This test phase ensured the feasibility of the long-term project by adding texts at a sufficient rate to check and improve the system.

Phase 2 (November 2012–December 2015)

Phase 2 expands the scope of the Every Tribe Every Nation initiative with the inclusion of audio and video content and new ministry partners. While American Bible Society, United Bible Societies, Biblica, and Wycliffe account for more than 90 percent of translation activities, the Digital Bible Library™ will be opened to additional organizations and publishers to contribute their own translations, as part of the main library, with “rooms” in the library for audio and video content. In addition, the founding partners will continue to add new texts to the library.

Phase 3 (January 2016–2035)

The project continues with the addition of more and more translations, as well as audio and video files. Ministry partners will tap into the Digital Bible Library™ to share God’s Word with people all over the world.