Keys of the Kingdom
Supporting Bible Translation through IT Help Desk and Training, and Writing
September 2011
Giving wings to the Truth
Supporting Bible Translation through IT Help Desk and Training, and Writing
September 2011
Giving wings to the Truth
Johann Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, said in the mid-1500s, “God suffers because multitudes of people cannot be reached by his crowned Word. Truth is imprisoned in a small number of manuscripts that contain treasures. Let us break the seal that binds these treasures and give wings to Truth, no longer copying it at great expense and effort by hands that tire, but let Truth fly, multiplied by an untiring machine, that it may reach all of mankind.”*
Today in Bible translation work, we trust God to break any and every seal that “binds these treasures” and to continue to “give wings to the Truth.”
On August 24, 2011, we received this e-mail from Pastor Adji Arakou, translator of the Lama New Testament in Togo: “Today I am taking the last two cartons of Lama NTs [stored at the SIL northern center] to Kande [where the Lama OT translation team lives and works].” Praise God that the copies printed several years ago will soon be sold out—taking wing to Lama people in Kande and elsewhere in Togo. Neal and I worked on the Lama NT from 1972–1993; it was launched in May 1994.
Pastor-translators in Togo; Adji is 2nd from right; Aug. 2011
(click for larger image)
(click for larger image)
*Private translation: www.worldlingo.com/ma/frwiki/de/Johannes_Gutenberg
Reading the Word in Lama
Pastor Flindja, a Lama ministering in Togo, writes: “In my church there’s a Kabiyé speaker [a language closely related to Lama] who understands and reads Lama well. He reads his copy of the Lama New Testament. I find him capable of teaching others and have given him the responsibility of a daughter church in Bidjandé. I don’t worry, because he understands the Word he’s reading well. His comments are edifying. And I see that the believers he is mentoring are progressing spiritually. Knowing how to read one’s language is advantageous—for the believer and for the whole Church.”
God’s guidance for Carol
As editor of Rev. 7, the JAARS flagship magazine, it is my responsibility to discover relevant themes for its quarterly issues. This need is a constant in my life, and I pray almost daily for God’s direction. Ideas come through many ways, including reading our mission’s in-house news, prayer letters from various translators and support staff, Christian magazines, and from my supervisor’s suggestions. A couple months ago, I felt strongly that God wanted me to explore software for Bible translation. I do know how to use my computer well, but many areas of information technology (IT) are beyond my gifts to grasp! So this topic is a challenge for me. But God knew that.
Soon after I made the decision, Neal was assigned a new supervisor, who just happens to be the language technology use coordinator for Africa. He wanted to visit Neal while in Waxhaw, so we invited him over to eat. He asked if he could bring two colleagues—one of which has served as an IT innovator from many years back. At the same time, I heard of meetings being planned here soon, relevant to my need, including a week for about a hundred software developers. I also am able to interview a key man, the director of Global Technology and Information Services, this week. God seems to have inundated me with opportunities, and contacts who are able and willing to provide me with information and direction. Once again, I see God’s strength working through my great weakness. Praise him! And please continue praying because it really does make a huge difference in kingdom work.
Neal’s list
For the last three months, I asked Neal to keep a list of projects he’s worked on. I’m sure you don’t want to read the whole list, but here’s a few highlights:
- I made suggestions to Dick about how to quickly extract a list of words from his translated Scriptures, which he wants to add to his bilingual dictionary.
- I sent “John” the missing proverbs and 100 Christian stories that he had lost when he switched to a new computer. I keep all language materials I have ever worked with on my computer. If people lose something, I can replace it.
- I showed Ken working in the “D” language how to type special characters without buyingKeyman. I made both an ANSI keyboard and a Unicode keyboard so he can type the language in either.
- I talked with Phil about teaching a course on Paratext in early November.
- I ran a “CC” (consistent changes table) on the “Y” NT to correct spelling errors, saving the translator a day’s work “by hand.”
- I prepared a list of proper Bible names in Portuguese for a lady teaching Paratext next week in Brazil.
- I installed Translator’s Workplace 5 and BART on Lynn’s computer for her trip to Guinea-Bissau.
- I answered a question for Kris on Assyrian Paratext.
- Via remote desktop (Bomgar), I helped Ruth, working on a dictionary in Papua, Indonesia.