NASHVILLE, Tenn. Jan. 28, 2019 /The Upper Room — El Cenacle, the Catalan edition of The Upper Room daily devotional guide, published its first issue this month, making it the devotional’s 35th language edition.
Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain that has in recent years made global news for its referendum on independence from Spain, is famous for its rich culture, cuisine, and history. Catalan is the official language of the region, with more than eight million Catalan speakers in Spain.
Comunitat Ecumènica Cristiana Jaume Masvidal (CEC-Masvidal), an interdenominational missionary organization headquartered in Barcelona, will produce El Cenacle. “I have known about The Upper Room since childhood,” Alícia Pallàs, president of CEC-Masvidal and chief editor of El Cenacle, wrote in an email. “As a young girl, reading the devotional [in Spanish] felt like looking through a window into the world with a faith focus.” By reading the devotional in their own language, she hopes El Cenacle will provide people with a clearer picture of faith, one in which they do not have to view through another language. It is her prayer that El Cenacle will help people grow closer to Christ, become more familiar with the Bible, and develop a daily habit of study and prayer.
Starting with the January/February 2019 issue, people can purchase El Cenacle in five formats: mobile application, digital, email, audio/ MP3, and print.
Upper Room Publisher, Rev. Stephen Bryant, reflects on the new availability of The Upper Room in Catalan, “Our goal, in the spirit of Pentecost, is to connect the world in prayer and to facilitate people’s reading, hearing, and praying of God’s word through their heart language. We read in Acts 2 how the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (or languages) as the Spirit enabled them. People gathering from all over Asia Minor and Europe “heard their own language being spoken” (Acts 2:6). Catalan is the heart language of the people of Catalonia. We are very happy to have an edition in Spain and to have Catalonians both reading and contributing their meditations and prayers to the daily devotional guide.”
Tia Runion, The Upper Room’s Director of International Relations—Europe, adds, “It’s not uncommon for us to receive requests or inquiries from groups and individuals about producing The Upper Room in various languages, but the process of actually publishing an international edition is quite involved because it’s the local publisher, not The Upper Room’s Nashville headquarters, that does the work of translating, editing, printing, and distributing. From the beginning, it was clear that CEC-Masvidal understood the mission and vision of The Upper Room and were well aware of and well equipped to handle the demands of publishing an edition in Catalan. It has been exciting to see CEC-Masvidal’s initial inquiry develop into a publication in multiple formats. This is the first language edition that we’ve added since 2012, when we launched the Nepali edition of The Upper Room. It’s great to see The Upper Room reaching more people in more places.”
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For more information about El Cenacle, please read A Daily Devotional Guide for Catalonia.
The Upper Room is a global ministry dedicated to supporting the spiritual formation of Christians seeking to know and experience God more fully. From its beginnings as a daily devotional guide, The Upper Room has grown to include publications, programs, prayer support, and other resources to help believers of all ages and denominations move to a deeper level of faith and service. The Upper Room is a part of Discipleship Ministries. Visit UpperRoom.org to learn more.
Nicole Curtis serves as Communications Manager of The Upper Room.
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