Helping God's voice go global

Wycliffe Canada president passionate about Scripture

By ChristianWeek Staff  |  Friday, May 28, 2010

A small prompt is all it takes to get Don Hekman talking about the Bible. "It is God's voice to us," he says. "It is the centre of my life and the centre of my being," a "daily source of life and nourishment—food for the hungry soul. It's a beacon and guide through the sometimes confusing and dark passages of life."

That kind of commitment to the Word of God has guided his life and brought him to the place where, at 64, he's part way through an interim term as president of Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada, which works in partnership with churches and other mission agencies throughout the world.

"I'm in Wycliffe because we're always involved in Bible translation and indigenous language development," he says.

Hekman was an obvious choice to head Wycliffe's Canadian operations at this time. He's worked with the ministry as a linguist translator and administrator for 38 years. He began in the mid-1970s with a 15-year assignment in Sept Iles, 10 hours north of Quebec City. He later served in Francophone Africa and in various locations in Canada.

Wycliffe's combination of Christian, humanitarian and educational work is key to Hekman's service. Improved literacy and education are "the fruit of the kinds of seeds Wycliffe plants," he says.

Developing dictionaries and a wide range of reading materials (often health related) inevitably accompanies the Scripture translation work. "Things other than the Scriptures give people entrance to wider society. I see this happening time and again in remote areas of the world."

But he is clear that "the primary motivation for the work Wycliffe does is contained in the name—translation of Scripture is at the centre. The vision is to see the Scriptures in use at the centre of people's lives and society among all the language groups of the world. It's a Christian motivation. It includes evangelism."

Hekman says "it's urgent for the global church to have the Scriptures" because there are "at least 2,000 marginalized people groups (language groups) who have no access to the Scriptures in the language that speaks most closely to their heart. These are not just small, dying language groups. They add up to about 350 million people," he says.

The Canadian church can help, he observes, by training and sending some "of our best and brightest" to be "involved in language development for these marginalized societies. Some should go. Some. Others should be involved by giving to support this movement. Many can be involved by volunteering with organizations like ours or others."

Hekman speaks highly of other Bible related agencies in Canada. "For many years, The Bible League underwrote the publication of many translations around the world," he notes. And he also highlights Wycliffe's "very close working relationship with The Bible Society."

This article appears in "Bibles Today," ChristianWeek's look at the Book that matters more than any other in human history. Click here for the full PDF.

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