The men who started All-Nations did not set out to establish a new organization. But God surprised them.
The short history of All-Nations begins in 2010, but the story really began before that. It includes several young men whose paths were eventually to cross. Both single and married, ranging from the son of overseas missionaries to the son of former Amish, these young men were burdened for the unreached.
One of these brothers felt the burden for Bible translation when researching a thesis on the History of the English Bible. He was touched with the zeal of men like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. The vision and burden of Wycliffe and Tyndale began to burn in his own heart.
The burning question in the minds of each of these young men became: How can a people turn to Jesus and truly follow Him without access to God’s Word?
These and other Anabaptist young people began training as Bible translators. However, it became apparent that the conservative Anabaptist people lacked a suitable avenue by which to get involved in Bible translation and church planting.
The brothers who met to pray about this felt that perhaps Christian Aid Ministries, with humanitarian aid programs all over the world, could start a new program to provide the necessary avenue. Christian Aid Ministries blessed the idea of a Bible translation ministry, but advised that a separate organization be founded. Thus, All-Nations Bible Translation was legally established as a nonprofit ministry in 2010.
In the years since, All-Nations has been growing into its role as a servant to the Church and facilitator of Bible translation and community development with the goal of church planting.
- 2010
- All-Nations established as a nonprofit
- 2011
- First member-in-training approved
- 2012
- First Awareness Tour, 25 presentations by two men with young families
- First exploratory trip in Southeast Asia
- 2013
- Five-week Kingdom Warriors Training Camp held at Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute during the summer
- Three-week exploratory trip in Mexico
- 2014
- Land purchased in State College, PA, and building begun
- 2015
- Office moved from Treasurer’s basement to State College office
- First newsletter published
- Three-member Executive Committee formed
- First family completed Phase II Training (now Team Launch) and left for southern Mexico
- History of the English Bible recording produced
- First weekend event for the public, precursor of EXPLORE
- New All-Nations website developed
- 2016
- Second Awareness Tour, around 40 presentations in U.S. and Canada
- First EXPLORE event (now an annual event)
- First Orientation for a batch of new members
- 2017
- First Sending Church Encounter
- Five more Sending Church Encounters throughout the year
- Board, Executive Committee, and a number of members attended Wayumi
- First Africa team completed Team Launch and sent
- First Team Compatibility Assessment hosted at the ABT base
- All-Nations representatives attended the Bible Translation Conference for the first time
- 2018
- Colombia exploration stepped up and carried into the jungles
- All-NationsTranslation Philosophy ratified by the Board
- First Camp Week for all members (now an annual event)
- First Asia-Pacific team completed Phase II Training (now Team Launch) and sent
- 2019
- We developed and articulated our Vision, Mission, and Core Values
- First annual partnership reviews with sending churches who have members on the field
- First complete team, when two families finished Team Launch and joined the Mixtec team.
- 2020
- God's Word: Enduring through the Ages video series released
- First All-Nations Live event, during the spring months of pandemic shut-down
- Tarahumara team finished Team Launch, bound for northern Mexico
The story of All-Nations is not very long yet. Bible translation is a long and tedious process. Discipleship and church planting in unreached people groups takes years of sweat, prayers, and love. This means that All-Nations' goals are still primarily ideals for the future. Yet as God has proved His faithfulness in the past, so He will in the future.
As we serve the Church in the years to come, we pray that this service will result in worship to God through Jesus Christ in some of the still silent corners of the world. He is worthy.