Marvin & Joyce have served with Wycliffe for 25 years.

Marvin is the International Vice President, and Director for the Americas Area (which includes North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean).

Joyce is a layout and graphics designer and desktop publishing specialist in Wycliffe's International Publications Department. Marvin and Joyce are based at the International Headquarters in Dallas Texas but because of Marvin's responsibilities, travel extensively overseas. Marvin has visited nearly 100 countries around the world in his various roles with Wycliffe.

Wycliffe Bible Translators 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?”

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. By 1942, “Camp Wycliffe” had grown into two sister organizations, Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Today, the Summer Institute of Linguistics and Wycliffe Bible Translators work together to translate Scripture, train field personnel in linguistics and promote interest in translation. Over 400 translations have been completed, and hundreds more are in the process. With God’s provision, Townsend’s vision will be realized.

Wycliffe’s mission is to assist the church in making disciples of all nations through Bible translation. Our vision is to see translation in progress among every language group that needs it by 2025. Vision 2025 is a vision for all of God’s church. It is not a program or campaign. It is a call to commitment. A call to action.

We believe God is calling for a greater sense of urgency in translation work. We believe God is giving us a humanly impossible vision. But we also believe it can be realized, if we work under God’s direction in worldwide partnership with others.

The Bible is dynamic. It can meet the spiritual needs of every man, woman and child on earth. But they need to read it in the language they understand best. Over 3000 people groups, more than 380 million people, still don’t have the Bible translated into their language.

For more information about Wycliffe International, visit our web site at www.wycliffe.net or the web site of Wycliffe USA at www.wycliffe.org.

Marvin & Joyce have two grown children. Lisa is married to Jeff Smith (Captain in the Charlotte Fire Department). Lisa works at the Media Center (Library) of a public school. They have two children, David and Charis. They live near Charlotte North Carolina. Son John is not married and works with troubled youth for Eckerd Youth Alternatives as a Wilderness Counselor. He lives near Hendersonville North Carolina.