Gwanwyn 2018

Llythyr Gweddi Gobaith i Gymru40 Heol yr OrsafYstum TâfCaerdyddCF14 2FF

Elusen Gofrestredig Rhif 1078107

www.gobaith.org | www.beibl.net029 2056 9578 | gig.cymru@btinternet.com

Annwyl frodyr a chwiorydd,

Rydym yn diolch i’r Arglwydd am flwyddyn fendithiol, brysur a chynhyrchiol yn 2017. Gallwn dystio, fel Samuel “Mae’r ARGLWYDD wedi’n helpu ni hyd yma.” Diolch iddo am ei ffyddlondeb a’i haelioni tuag atom. Dyma gyfle i ddiolch i bawb am eich cefnogaeth hynod werthfawr, ac i’ch diweddaru ynglŷn â gwaith GIG.

Mae llawer o bobl yn gofyn i Arfon “Beth wyt ti’n ei wneud bellach?” gan fod beibl.net wedi ei gyhoeddi. Ond un prosiect oedd beibl.net ac mae’r gwaith o rannu’r Efengyl a pharatoi adnoddau newydd yn mynd yn ei flaen, ac mae Arfon a Gwenda (ein swyddog adnoddau) wedi bod mor brysur ag erioed.

Mis Cariad

Dechreuodd Gwenda y flwyddyn gyda ‘Mis Cariad’, yn rhannu adnodau a ffilmiau byrion o bobl yn rhannu eu hoff adnod am gariad. Bu’n ysgrifennu adnoddau i ysgolion ar y Pasg, Diolchgarwch a’r Nadolig ac yn rhannu adnodau’n gyson drwy gyfrwng Facebook a Twitter. Llwyddodd hefyd i gwblhau’r gyfres o fideos hynod lwyddiannus “Darllen y Beibl gyda Ben”. Mae nifer fawr o adnoddau newydd ar ein gwefannau bellach – www.beibl.net ac www.gobaith.cymru.

Gweddi

Un peth benderfynodd GIG ei wneud y llynedd oedd canolbwyntio ar hybu gweddi, a ddechrau’r flwyddyn rhyddhaodd Gwenda gyfres o ffilmiau byrion ar weddi gan Anna Huws, sy’n gweithio yng nghanolfan Ffald-y-Brenin yn Sir Benfro.

Arwyr Ancora

Un prosiect y bu Arfon yn ei gyfieithu y llynedd oedd “Arwyr Ancora” – gêm gyfrifiadurol i blant gan Scripture Union.

Roedd GIG yn falch o’r cyfle i gydweithio gyda SU Cymru a Chyhoeddiadau’r Gair ar y prosiect cyffrous hwn gafodd ei lansio yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd. Clywsom yn ddiweddar fod y gêm Gymraeg wedi cael ei chwarae dros 19,000 o weithiau ar-lein ers hynny (A dydy’r ffigwr hwnnw ddim yn cynnwys y chwaraewyr hynny sydd wedi lawrlwytho’r gêm ar eu cyfrifiaduron).

Testament Newydd William Salesbury

Roedd 2017 yn flwyddyn dathlu 450 mlwyddiant Testament Newydd William Salesbury – y Testament Newydd cyntaf yn y Gymraeg, a hynny hanner can mlynedd yn unig ar ôl dechrau’r Diwygiad Protestannaidd. Ar wahân i gopïau prin iawn o’r argraffiad gwreiddiol, does dim ond argraffiad Robert Griffith (1850) a detholiad ohono gyhoeddwyd gan Wasg Prifysgol Cymru wedi bod ar gael cyn hyn. Bu Arfon, mewn cydweithrediad â Chymdeithas y Beibl, yn gweithio ar baratoi fersiwn digidol o’r gwaith. Yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol lansiwyd fersiwn digidol o argraffiad 1850 ar Ap Beibl, BibleSearch ac YouVersion, a thua mis Mai eleni bydd fersiwn digidol, chwiliadwy o’r argraffiad gwreiddiol (1567), ynghyd â chyfieithiad William Salesbury o’r Salmau (1567), yn cael ei ryddhau. Mae’r gweithiau hyn mor bwysig yn hanes datblygiad y Gymraeg, heb sôn am y ffaith mai dyma’r cyfieithiadau cyntaf o’r Testament Newydd a’r Salmau i’r Gymraeg.

42

Yna’r llynedd hefyd, cyhoeddwyd llyfr i bobl ifanc dan y teitl 42. Cyfieithiad Arfon, a’i frawd Tudur, o lyfr Saesneg ar ystyr bod yn ddisgybl i Iesu Grist. Ar hyn o bryd rydym yn gweithio ar adnoddau pellach i bobl ifanc yn eu harddegau, sef “Ydy Cristnogaeth yn gwneud sens?” - cyfres o ysgrifau byrion, a bydd ffilmiau i gyd-fynd â nhw, yn

annog pobl ifanc i feddwl am ystyr a phwrpas bywyd.

Heb sôn am gyfleoedd i bregethu ar y Sul ac amrywiol gyfarfodydd lleol ar hyd a lled Cymru, cafodd Arfon y fraint o annerch mewn sawl cynhadledd y llynedd – Arfogi, Llanw, Dyfroedd Byw, Undeb yr Annibynwyr, Cynhadledd y Mudiad Efengylaidd, Cynhadledd Ysgrifenwyr Cyffredinol CWM a mwy.

Cofio a diolch am Dewi Arwel Hughes

Ar ôl brwydr hir yn erbyn cancr, ddechrau mis Hydref bu farw Dr Dewi Arwel Hughes, Cadeirydd cyntaf GIG, ymddiriedolwr a rhan bwysig iawn o’r pwyllgor nes y diwedd. Roedd Dewi’n gyfaill agos, yn anogwr, ac yn llais doeth ar bwyllgor GIG ar hyd y blynyddoedd. Diolchwn amdano, ac mae’n cydymdeimlad dwysaf gyda’i weddw, Maggie a’r teulu i gyd.

Un o weledigaethau mawr Dewi yn ystod y ddwy flynedd ddiwethaf, oedd cael GIG i hybu efengylu ymhlith y Cymry Cymraeg. Roedd gan Dewi faich dros y to ifanc, ac mae GIG yn awyddus i edrych am rywun ifanc sydd â gweledigaeth dros y Cymry Cymraeg i weithio ochr yn ochr ag Arfon a Gwenda. Diffyg cyllid digonol ydy’r hyn sy’n ein dal yn ôl ar hyn o bryd, gan fod yr arian sy’n dod i law yn rheolaidd wedi gostwng ers cyhoeddi beibl.net.

Diolch!

Ar ran GIG, hoffwn ddiolch i chi am bob cefnogaeth, drwy weddi, anogaethau a rhoddion hael. Ein gweddi dros y flwyddyn sydd i ddod yw y bydd 2018 yn flwyddyn o efengylu, a chynorthwyo unigolion sy’n teimlo galwad i weinidogaeth yng Nghymru, yn ogystal â’r gwaith gwerthfawr sydd eisoes yn cael ei wneud gan Arfon a Gwenda. Byddem yn ddiolchgar iawn am bob cefnogaeth, yn enwedig drwy weddi.

Pwyswn eto ar addewid ein Duw:

Ond fel y glaw a’r eira sy’n disgyn o’r awyr

a ddim yn mynd yn ôl nes dyfrio’r ddaear

gan wneud i blanhigion dyfu

a rhoi hadau i’w hau a bwyd i’w fwyta,

felly mae’r neges dw i’n ei chyhoeddi:

dydy hi ddim yn dod yn ôl heb wneud ei gwaith –

mae’n gwneud beth dw i eisiau,

ac yn llwyddo i gyflawni ei phwrpas.

Yn rhwymau’r Efengyl,

Aron Treharne Cadeirydd GIG

beibl.net

gobaith.cymru

Spring 2018

Prayer Letter Gobaith i Gymru40 Heol yr OrsafYstum TâfCaerdyddCF14 2FF

Registered Charity Number 1078107

www.gobaith.org | www.beibl.net029 2056 9578 | gig.cymru@btinternet.com

Dear brothers and sisters,

We thank the Lord for a productive, busy, and blessed year in 2017. We can testify, like Samuel “thus far the Lord has helped us.” We thank him for his faithfulness and generosity towards us. This is an opportunity to thank you for your exceptionally valuable support, and to update you about the work of GIG.

Lots of people are asking Arfon, “what are you doing now?” as beibl.net has been published. beibl.net is only one project, and the work of sharing the Gospel and preparing new resources goes on, and Arfon and Gwenda (our Resources Officer) have been as busy as ever.

Mis Cariad

Gwenda began 2017 with ‘Mis Cariad’, sharing verses and short films of people sharing their favourite verse about love. She wrote resources for schools on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and regularly shared verses through the medium of Facebook and Twitter. She also succeeded in completing the series of exceptionally successful videos “Darllen y Beibl gyda Ben” (Reading the Bible with Ben). We’ve added lots of new resources to both our websites – www.beibl.net and www.gobaith.cymru.

Prayer

One thing that GIG decided to do last year was to focus on promoting prayer, and at the start of the year Gwenda released a series of short films on prayer by Anna Huws, who works at Ffald-y-Brenin in Pembrokeshire.

Arwyr Ancora

One project which Arfon worked on translating last year was “Arwyr Ancora” – a Welsh version of the Guardians of Ancora computer game for children produced by Scripture Union. GIG was pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with SU Cymru and Cyhoeddiadau’r Gair on this exciting project, which was launched in the Urdd Eisteddfod. We heard recently that the Welsh-language game had been played over 19,000 times online in the first 6 months (and that figure doesn’t include those players who have downloaded the game to their computers).

William Salesbury’s New Testament

2017 saw the celebration of the 450th anniversary of William Salesbury’s New Testament – the first New Testament in the Welsh language, published only fifty years after the start of the Protestant Reformation. Apart from very rare copies of the original publication, there is only Robert Griffith’s edition (1850) and selections published by the University of Wales Press. Arfon, in collaboration with the Bible Society, worked to prepare a digital version of the work. A digital version of the 1850 edition was launched at the National Eisteddfod on Ap Beibl, Bible Search, and YouVersion, and sometime around May this year a searchable, digital version of the original publication (1567), as well as William Salesbury’s translation of the Psalms (1567), will be released. These works are very important in the history of the development of the Welsh language, not to mention that these are the first translations of the New Testament and Psalms into Welsh.

42

Also last year, Arfon, together with his brother Tudur translated a book on discipleship for young people entitled 42. Currently, we are working on additional resources for young people in their teens, namely “Ydy Cristnogaeth yn gwneud sens?” (Does Christianity make sense?) – a series of short essays, with films to accompany them, encouraging young people to think about the meaning and purpose of life.

In addition to opportunities to preach on Sundays and speak at various local meetings across Wales, Arfon had the privilege of addressing several conferences last year – Arfogi, Llanw, Dyfroedd Byw, The Union of Welsh Indipendents (Annual Meetings), Evangelical Movement of Wales’ Welsh Conference, Council for World Mission Conference for denominational leaders, and more.

Dewi Arwel Hughes

After a long battle with cancer, Dr Dewi Arwel Hughes died at the beginning of October. He was the first chairman of GIG, a trustee, and a very key member of the committee to the end. Dewi was a close friend, supporter, and wise voice on the GIG committee over the years. We give thanks for him, and express our deepest sympathies with his wife, Maggie, and all the family.

One of Dewi’s great visions during the last two years was to get GIG to promote evangelism

among Welsh speakers. Dewi had a burden for younger leaders, and GIG is eager to look for a young person with a vision to reach Welsh speakers and work side by side with Arfon and Gwenda. All that’s holding us back is a lack of sufficient funding at the moment, as the money we regularly receive has decreased since the publication of beibl.net.

Thank you!

On behalf of GIG, I would like to thank you for every support, through prayer, encouragement, and generous gifts. Our prayer over the year to come is that 2018 would be a year of evangelism, and assisting individuals who feel a calling to ministry in Wales, as well as the valuable work which is already being done by Arfon and Gwenda. We would be very grateful for every support, especially in prayer.

We depend again on our God’s promise:

As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for

the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

it will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

In the bonds of the Gospel,

Aron TreharneChairman of GIG

beibl.netgobaith.cymru