God’s Call for a Brazilian Bible Translator to Mozambique

Patricia Tivane believes in the transformational power of the Scriptures and has invested her life and resources in making it available to unreached people. Her passion and life stories inspire us and lead us to reflect and move in response to the greatest needs of the people around us.

Patricia met Jesus by reading her Bible at home when she was 16. Soon after, she joined an Alliance church and felt called to go and make disciples, teaching about Jesus everywhere, as commanded in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. As a teenager, she attended missions conferences, feeding her passion for presenting the gospel to the unreached. At some point, she heard at one of those conferences that no complete Bible translation was available to the Brazilian indigenous people in their 185 languages. Reflecting on her memories and dreaming about the future, Patricia said: “I felt indignant about the situation. So, if any indigenous person in Brazil wants to know God, as I did, they will not be able to have the experience that I had: grab a dusty Bible off the shelf and hear God speak to their hearts.”

After two years of praying for God to send translators to make the Bible available to indigenous peoples of Brazil, she realized that she was one of the workers that God wanted to use. Patricia began a long journey of preparation to become a Bible translator. Her studies included theology, missiology, translation, linguistics, and anthropology. Her involvement in Bible translation led her to the Yanomami, a South American indigenous people living on the north side of the Amazon forest, spread through areas in Brazil and Venezuela. In Brazil, the Yanomami include more than 26,000 people divided into eight indigenous communities, speaking one of four linguistic variations.

Patricia continues to learn the language and culture of the Yanomami, and since 2000 has committed to translating the Bible for them. Her connections with the Yanomami intensified and were made special after adopting two girls, one from the indigenous community she was working with. In 2006, Patricia started an adoption process to realize the dream she had since she was a teenager. During that process, she got involved in an unexpected situation as a health agent in the indigenous community. Trying to save a Yanomami newborn from death, she flew with the baby from the indigenous community with the excuse she had to provide the child with health assistance. The baby girl had suffered many tortures in her ten months of life, and after a set of medical exams, the doctors determined that the baby would have a vegetative life. Patricia expanded her adoption process to include one more child. “God blessed me with two beautiful girls, Poliana (16) and Nikole (15).” Poliana, the baby whom doctors expected to have a vegetative life, is today in her second year of high school, without any requirement for special needs education. The girl who would not walk and speak now does ballet, swimming, and jiu-jitsu, “and she is a miracle for God’s glory,” says Patricia.

Following her heart for missions, Patricia moved to Mozambique to teach theology. She met and married Daniel Tivane in Mozambique and together they had another girl, Fernanda Xiluva (4). In the last five years, the couple has planted new churches and trained leaders from the surrounding communities. Two of their congregations together have more than 300 children and approximately 150 adults.

Patricia is about to complete the translation of the New Testament to Yanomami and currently helps train new Bible translators. She also offers advisory services on oral and written translations of the Bible. If you wish to support the missionary work of Patricia and her family, please pray for:

• The conclusion of the translation of the New Testament in the Yanomami language.
• Successful training of new translators in various languages.
• Obtaining the documents necessary for them to stay in Mozambique.
• Their family’s physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
• Resources and financial support to maintain and develop ongoing projects.
• The structural development of the field of supporting ministry in the school education.

Find out more about the work of the Tivane family in Mozambique.