Now, this is seriously exciting. For the first time EVER, the Freedom In Christ course (or better put Cwrs Rhyddid Yng Nghrist) is being piloted in Welsh!
Who better to tell us all about it than Sharon, our Regional Director for Wales. It's been her dream for years...
"Having been introduced to Freedom In Christ over 10 years ago and finding it completely life changing, I joined the UK Team (which is a story in itself!). With a strong passion for my native homeland of Wales and my mother tongue I became painfully aware of the need for this material to be in Welsh, so that God could use it to transform the Welsh speaking Church. But despite being a Welsh speaker, I'm a scientist not a liguist, and I just didn’t know how this could come about!
We put serious prayer into the project, and after a few false starts, it was just amazing to receive a first draft translation of the Freedom In Christ Course Leader's Guide in the post from Steve Evans, a retired minister. This was an important milestone, but I wasn’t quite sure what the next step was going to be...
Alongside my passion for the Welsh translation, I had felt the Lord say "Climb to the highest peak in Wales – Snowdon - and declare My sovereignty over Wales, speaking out Psalm 24." Again, we had a few false starts, but in May 2019 my husband Jon, myself, and our 2 children did it! It proved to herald the breakthrough.
God is truly amazing, and His timing is perfect - never underestimate the spiritual impact of a small step of obedience! A “chance” conversation with Mark, the soon to be appointed Vicar of St. Mikes Church, Aberystwyth the following month opened a key door. Mark was familiar with Freedom In Christ and was also going to be the Vicar of the Welsh speaking sister church to St. Mike’s, Santes Fair. He suggested that teaching the material to the Welsh homegroup may be a good way of editing and piloting the translation.
So, almost 10 years since the initial vision to have a Welsh language version of the Discipleship Course, I am currently piloting it with a small group of amazing people. God in His wisdom has gathered key individuals from both north and south Wales, so crucial for ensuring that different Welsh dialects are covered. We have retired teachers, a professional translator and her millennial daughter, and Welsh learners who are all helping with the editing process. All bases are covered!
Please pray with us that we will be able to publish Y Cwrs Rhyddid Yng Nghrist later this year - there's still much to be done, but one thing is for sure, God’s thoughts are not my thoughts and neither are His ways my ways, but His timing is perfect!
The Freedom In Christ Regional Team for Wales have prayed without ceasing for Y Cwrs Rhyddid Yng Nghrist