Wycliffe was founded in 1942 by William Cameron Townsend. A missionary to the Cakchiquel Indians of Guatemala, Townsend had caught the vision for translation when a Cakchiquel man challenged him:

" If your God is so great, why doesn’t
He speak in my language?"

Following that encounter, Townsend resolved that every man, woman and child should be able to read God’s Word in their own language. Borrowing the name of the Reformation hero, John Wycliffe, who first translated the Bible into English, Townsend founded "Camp Wycliffe" in 1934 as a linguistics training school. As a result Wycliffe Bible Translators was established.

The first translation done by Wycliffe personnel was completed in 1951 in the San Miguel Mixtec language of Mexico. Twenty-seven years later, in 1978, the 100th was completed--in the Amuesha language in Peru. In April 2000, the 500th New Testament--in Suriname Javanese--was dedicated.

Today, Wycliffe Bible Translators together with key partnerships with like-minded organisations work together to translate Scripture, train field personnel in linguistics and promote interest in Bible translation. Over 500 translations have been completed, and over a thousand more are in the process.

South Africans have been involved with Wycliffe Bible Translators since the early 1970’s and are still fulfilling an active role in Bible translation worldwide. Currently there are more than thirty South Africans working with various language groups in Africa, Asia, Oceania, North and South America, and Europe.