When the federal government incorporated Wycliffe Canada in 1968, the new organization clearly stated its objectives. They are expressed below in the formal wording of Wycliffe’s letters patent of incorporation.

“a) to translate, into native and tribal tongue, and dialect, the Holy Scripture, to publish and distribute the same among the peoples and tribes . . . , to promote the reading and study thereof among the peoples and tribes, . . . to organize, employ and send out and direct missionaries. . . .

“b) to assist all evangelical missionaries to get special linguistic training, written help and expert counsel for their task of reducing languages to writing and translating the Scriptures.

“c) to forward in every way possible the project of putting the Word of God into all the tribal languages of earth in which it does not yet exist.

“d) to advance the interest of the Kingdom of God on earth, and to create a larger Christian fellowship. . . .”

Fifty years later, Wycliffe Canada’s current purpose statement reflects basically the same single-minded focus: “Ending Bible poverty by facilitating the translation of God’s Word among minority language communities worldwide.”