By Robert King

robert.king@indystar.com

College Park Church has had a tradition since 1986 of collecting a special offering on the Sunday before Christmas for a purpose other than normal operations of the church, often bringing more than $500,000 to bear on special projects.

This year, a project to pay for new translations of the Bible in a remote corner of the world resonated with members of the Far-Northside congregation, and College Park's Dec. 22 offering topped $1 million.

The money will go to Wycliffe Bible Translators, which will use it to translate the Bible into seven languages used by more than 1.1 million people in Asia.

The $1 million gift is the largest one-time donation Wycliffe has received from a single congregation, said Vicky Mixson, a spokesperson for Wycliffe, a 70-year-old organization based in Orlando, Fla. It has translated the Bible into 700 languages. Translations can take 15 to 20 years to complete, she said, and about 1,900 languages still have no Bible.

Call Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter: @Rbtking.

College Park Church

Location: 2606 W. 96th St., Indianapolis

Weekly attendance: 4,000

On the web: www.yourchurch.com