Translator by Necessity

To read the whole Bible in a year you have to read an average of 3 chapters a day. Some of you have perhaps done that, and know how much time and effort it requires. Now imagine that while you're reading, you're also writing those 3 chapters out by hand as you read them. Now, further, imagine that you are translating it into a different language as you work, checking for accuracy as you go.

During Bob’s trip a year ago to Nigeria, one of the projects the team visited was the Bwaatye. A Lutheran bishop became a translator out of necessity. he saw the need for his parishioners to have the Bible in their own language. They could read it in English or the local trade language, but those words couldn’t speak to them as strongly as their mother tongue. The problem was that Bwaatye did not have a written form. The Bishop's wife was uniquely qualified to assist her husband: as a professor of linguistics at a local university, she created a writing system for her husband to use as he began translating the Bible.  He began writing out the Bible in Bwaatye by hand, in his spare time, and only recently discovered there were resources to help him including The Seed Company

Working with The Seed Company has allowed him to hire assistants and also to have a computer and specialized software to do his translation.  Having his work in electronic form makes it simpler to revise sections as they review them, quicker to send sections to consultants so they can be checked for accuracy and precision, and easier to get books printed as sections are completed. He was committed to seeing the Scripture in his own language when he thought he would need to do it by hand and alone. It is a joy to consider how much faster the Bwaatye people will have it with the help of technology.

An appeal from Nigeria

During my trip to Nigeria last summer, I met a man who worked in the office of the primary Nigerian Bible translation organization, NBTT. I am not printing his name for security purposes, but he impressed all of us with his sincerity, earnestness and competence. Here is an email that I received from him yesterday:


Greetings to you in Jesus name Amen.
I will like you to intercede for Christians in the northern Nigeria for the series of suicide bombing on churches. the last one a week today was just four blocks to my house and three churches in Kaduna state today.
Christians in Nigeria need your prayers so that God will comfort and strengthened us always. I know many of us will be  asking if God really cares because of what is happening around us day and night, i believe this is the moment that the Nigerian Christians need you prayers the most. please pray for Us.
You can ask other believers to pray along side with us.
Thank you and remain blessed.


He's referring to the bombings reported here. Please join me in praying for these brothers and sisters in Christ who are in so much danger for the sake of Jesus' name. This is what Jesus told us would happen throughout history, and it is our responsibility to support those who are dealing with such intense, fearful circumstances.


God, I pray that You will comfort those who are grieving, as you promised in your Word. Please strengthen and uphold those who are being pursued by the enemy, and please help them know that You are with them and will never forsake them. Please deepen their faith and give them courage to respond rightly to those who hate You, and who hate them for Your sake. Please protect them and watch over them. I commit them to you, and pray that I may be able to have even a fraction of the courage that they show on a daily basis. Amen.

Serving without going

When we resigned from Wycliffe we had some money in a special account to help us set up our home in Nigeria. Due to regulations on US non-profit organizations and the way these funds were categorized, we were not able to get these funds back and were able to choose another project to give to. We contacted our Nigeria colleagues for advice on what projects needed the money, and they sent us a list of projects in need of funding.

The project we chose was somewhat bittersweet: we will be contributing to upgrading the network at the main Nigeria Group office. This is one of the systems Bob would have maintained had we traveled there to work. It is a nice feeling that we continue to support the team there even though we are not able to go in person to work side by side. Missions all around the world have desperate needs for just this kind of practical, simple devices to help them accomplish what God's enabling them to do.

the Server Room at the Nigeria Group Office

Do You Have a Bible?

After Bob's visit to Nigeria last year, he returned with the following story,

 we love because it illustrates the eagerness of people to hear the Bible in their own language.

I was traveling with another American and two Nigerians in a van to two towns on the other side of the country (a 9-hour drive) to install BGANs, a satellite internet system that they could use to connect their laptops to the internet. This system would allow them to collaborate with consultants on translating hard verses or difficult ideas, it would allow them to report on their work as they finished it, and allow them to back up their work remotely in case something happened to their work computer.

There are military checkpoints from time to time on the roads, and we were stopped at one. The soldier asked the driver who we were in Hausa, the local trade language, and the driver replied that we were missionaries. As soon as the soldier heard that, he looked at us Americans in the backseat and asked us, in English, if we had a Bible. I was a little worried at this question because it sounded like a challenge, like we were being asked to prove we were missionaries by producing a real Bible. Embarrassingly, my only Bible was on my smartphone, and my friends' was buried in his suitcase, so we were fumbling around having trouble locating one.

Fortunately, while we were engaged, the other Nigerian in the front seat was continuing to talk to the soldier in Hausa. He learned that the soldier was asking because he wanted a Bible for himself. The man explained that we weren't giving away Bibles, we were translating them, and he asked what the soldier's heart language was. It turns out that the soldier speaks a language that was currently in the process of being translated, and he was able to assure the soldier that we were working on it and he would be able to have the Bible soon not in English, but in his own language. We left with an encouragement that people really are eager to have the Bible for themselves, and that God arranged this encounter for us to see firsthand peoples' desire to have His Word in their own language.

You can help sponsor Scripture translation projects, OneVerse at a time

Blog Features: Wishlist button

We have had several people ask about helping us with special purchases we will need for life in Nigeria.  We have created an Amazon wishlist for you to browse and see some of the things we are looking to take with us. Some of the things we will be gathering to to take with us include a household water filter system, durable luggage, larger carseats for our children, headlamps to see at night when we don't have power, extra batteries for our laptops.   You can access our list from the button on the right side bar of the blog.  

December Newsletter: A Year of Faith

Our December Newsletter is available now.

As we look back over 2011, we are acutely aware of the faithfulness of God.  At the beginning of 2011, our pastor in Orlando shared his prayer for our church in the new year.  He asked God, “to put us in a place that is so totally out of our control, that we will be able to do only one thing, and that is trust God or fail.”  As we look back we are reminded of the many ways we have trusted God and the ways He has shown Himself faithful.

Download the newsletter to see how each and every month God grew our faith, also check out the training update and Calendar for 2012, we will be hitting the road again.  

Wycliffe Gift Catalog

Christmas is just around the corner.  As we are making our lists, and searching for the thoughtful gift for the hard to shop for people on our lists. We wanted to share the Wycliffe Gift Catalog with you.  There a button link on the left sidebar of the blog.  

Last year we gave Bob's brother the materials to build a water filtration system for a village in Africa through a gift catalog.  He is studying Civil Engineering with an interest in water treatment.  For the Africa area this year you can give:

A motorbike for translators reach remote villages,

Bibles for the Ezaa people in Nigeria,

Share in the cost of printing Bibles, 

Training for mother-tougue translators,

Bible picture books for children, 

A computer and related equipment for a mother tongue translator,

Check it out.  

October Newsletter: Tasting our Faith

One of Bob's coworkers at Wycliffe USA is from Ghana.  Working at Wycliffe inspired him to read a translation of the Bible he had never read before, the language of his heart, Fanti.  Download the newsletter to read how it gave him a greater understanding of faith.

You can always find our past newsletters on the newsletter tab just under the header on the page.

If you would like the latest issue and updates in your inbox, please let us know by emailing us at bob-cynthia_heren@wycliffe.org.  We do not give your information to anyone, but use it solely for our  own use.  

Dressing the part

The church we are a part of celebrates missions and the diversity of our body each semester.  In addition to having a missionary speaker and having a missions offering, everyone is encouraged to dress in international clothes.  We enjoy this tradition.  Thanks to a generous gift from a Nigerian friend the kids were able to dress African as well.


After church we joined the African Caribbean Life Group for lunch.  What a blessing it is to be building relationships and learning the culture of a place we will soon be living.

Halfway There!

Last week we received pledge commitments that pushed us to the 50% mark!  We are very excited to hit this benchmark as we prepare to serve in Nigeria.  Hitting this mark allows us to sign up for ICC* in January, our last training requirement for our assignment.  The only thing after this training for us to do is continue to develop the team of partners who will support us financially.

If you are interested in partnering with us financially and haven't yet, you can by clicking on the "Give Now" button with the green Bible on the Right sidebar of our blog.  This will take you directly to our giving page on Wycliffe's website, where you can let us know of your commitment and give online,


*Intercultural Communications Course, hosted by JAARS in Waxhaw NC

Maggi

When we recently had dinner with our Nigerian friend she taught us a neat fact. In the US we have Klennex in Nigeria they have Maggi. Maggi is the standard name brand for bullion cubes. And like Kennex in the US which universally means tissue. Maggi means bullion no matter what brand. She even gave us our very own Maggi cube. Bullion is used in common stews and rice to add flavor.  

Bob's Thoughts: Force Multiplier

There is a principle in engineering known as mechanical advantage. Another phrase sometimes used is “force multiplier”. What these terms refer to is the idea that you can use a device to take the force you're using and make it greater, often by many times. I'm sure everyone in school has done some variation of the experiment where you try to lift a bag of rice or something, and then lift the same bag with a pulley system, and been able to easily feel how much less effort is required. The force that you used before with no advantage could be multiplied many times by the presence of mechanical advantage. Mankind has learned to use mechanical advantage to achieve things that would've been impossible otherwise.

There are over 2,000 languages left in the world with no translation project even started. Wycliffe's goal is to see a project started for each of these before the year 2025. This looks like an impossible goal. However, information technology in the field of Bible translation is a form of mechanical advantage. When a translator is translating the Bible, a certain amount of effort is required, under any circumstances. Learning the language well, finding the precise meaning of words, checking the grammar and phrases used to make sure they're accurate, all of this is effort that cannot be eliminated. However, computers can enhance these efforts, making them more efficient and more effective. Editing a manuscript on a computer is often much quicker than handwriting and re-handwriting it. Computer programs allow much greater efficiency in such tasks as cataloging a language, developing a precise orthography (writing system), communicating with colleagues or consultants, or studying Bible passages to ensure proper translation.

Computers are essential to productivity in these modern times, and this applies to Bible translation just as much as other areas. In many areas of the world, Bible translators have to work through the inevitable computer glitches or problems because there is no one onsite who can be dedicated exclusively to clearing these problems up for them. Their efficiency is lowered while they try to solve these problems on their own in an area that isn't their expertise. My goal is to contribute my expertise to keeping the computers of Wycliffe Nigeria Group running smoothly so that translators and other members of Wycliffe Nigeria can focus their expertise on their assigned areas. More than simply fixing computers, my work will be enabling dozens of people to utilize the gifts God's given them much more effectively, thus multiplying their efforts many times over. We are each playing our small part to getting God's Word to those who need it most: the overlooked, forgotten and marginalized in today's world.

Dinner with a Friend

One of the great things about how God works is how he prepares us before hand and works things together. One of my closest friends in college and still today is Ezanya. She is from Nigeria and has been a great resource to us as we begin to prepare for living in her country. We visited her city and she made a Nigerian dinner for us. Bob confirmed how similar it was to what he ate when he went to Nigeria in June.

Red Stew (Chicken) with Beans and Rice

She made us Rice, Beans and a red stew with Chicken. It was really yummy and a great chance for us to get used to what we will be eating lots of. Caleb also enjoyed the rice, Lydia not so much. We had a good laugh because those who know me know I have zero spice tolerance. I need sour crème on my “mild” enchiladas. Ezanya included chili powder in the red sauce, she and Bob both commented on the level of spice before I had even taken one bite, making be very nervous to even try it. I did try in and with some sour cream enjoyed my whole plate. Sour cream may not be available in Nigeria but our friends the Winklers have told us about making and using yogurt instead. Check out their blog for a recipe. Now if we can just Lydia to eat rice...

Caleb enjoyed the plain rice

One More Finished

Last month the 4^th largest language community in Nigeria dedicated their New Testament. Praise God with us that these people can hear God speak their language for the very first time.  

Testify: A hat

When I (Bob) visited Nigeria in June, at one of the translation projects where Bob Bates and I installed a satellite internet system, we were each given a suit in thanks for us installing it for them. It was very generous of them, and I was very pleased with it. It came home with us, and I've worn it a couple times since then. However, it didn't come with a hat, and Nigerian clothing is usually worn with a particular type of hat, which is sort of like a beret (at least more than anything else I can think to compare it to).

On the day of our presentation in Carbondale, Cynthia and I were in our Nigerian garb and were getting ready for our presentation. A student named Victor, who was from Nigeria, saw us and said he liked my suit, and I told him that it was too bad I didn't have a matching hat to make it really authentic. He told me he might have something for me and that he'd bike home and be back before our presentation. He returned about a half hour later, with a hat that perfectly matched the color of the suit, and fit me great. He explained to me that he had bought it in the airport just before leaving Nigeria several years before, and hadn't worn it since, and hadn't been sure even why he had bought it. It seems now that God had him buy it so he could bless me with it on the day of our presentation. Praise God for the ways he watches out for us in little things every day, and praise Him for the generosity of the people He has brought into our lives.

Linking up with Tell Me A Story

August Newsletter

Have you ever read the entire Bible in 1 year?  Have you ever tried writing out the entire Bible?  Thats what one translator did because his desire to see it translated in to his language was so great.  You can read about in our August Newsletter.

All our newsletters are available on our blog under the newsletter tab at the top.  If you are a new partner you can go back and read the old ones.  If you want to receive our newsletters in the mail or directly to your inbox please let us know at bob-cynthia_heren@wycliffe.org.  

Replaceable

Since we will be attending ICC later than we planned, our timeline has changed and we are not leaving when we initially thought we would. This has been hard for us to come to grips with, but we are trusting God that He will get us to Nigeria in His timing. We know that we are greatly needed there.

In April, when Bob left his salaried position at Wycliffe USA for us to focus full time on developing our partnership team,his replacement started the following Monday. In Nigeria, the previous IT technician left Nigeria over a year ago and the desk remains empty today. No one has been able to fill this role adequately for over a year now. We are blessed in America to have been surrounded by evolving technology for decades and therefore many people are available who are talented at working with it. Technology is equally vital in Nigeria for Bible Translation, but there are few skilled IT laborers, and even fewer who are available to help translation projects.

When Bob was in Nigeria, he spoke with Daniel Gya, the Nigerian Bible Translation Trust coordinator for translation projects, and Daniel described how he used to regularly send translators who had computer difficulties up the road to the Wycliffe Nigeria office to have their computers fixed. For the past year, this hasn't worked as well; there are a couple volunteers helping out odd hours with computer issues, but nobody full-time. Daniel would like to be able to send translators to Wycliffe for computer help like he has in the past, and we are eager to fill this need.

Sooner and Better

This story was a letter from Bob Creson, President of Wycliffe USA to Wycliffe USA staff worldwide.  The technology discussed is the same that Bob installed earlier this month.  The trip discussed in this article took place in March.  

The Mwaghavul translation team

Jacob, senior mother tongue translator for the Mwaghavul project in Nigeria, just emailed his consultant another draft of the Old Testament passage he’s working on. Later today or tomorrow he’ll check back and probably find a response in his inbox. The rapid feedback will allow him to improve his translation and quickly move on to the next passage.

Sooner rather than later the Mwaghavul people will have the Old Testament in the language that best speaks to them, and evolving technology will have contributed greatly— not just to the speed, but also to the quality of the translation. Jacob’s laptop and email program have been important tools for several years, but suddenly his ability to communicate with Wycliffe’s Seed Company consultant, Bob Carter, has greatly improved!

Some mother tongue translators exploring the new satellite
technology with Bruce Smith, president of Wycliffe Associates

Gone are the days when he would pack up his laptop, climb on his motorbike, ride nine hot, dusty miles to his brother's house, sit out back on a stone bench he built for the purpose, and hope that the cell tower in his line of sight would give him enough signal to send and receive email. At best he could email Bob once a week. He'd get Bob’s response the next week after another nine-mile ride (one-way), and if all went well he’d send his response the following week.

But now he can sit in the Mwaghavul project translation office and send email to Bob without ever leaving his desk. Instead of connecting to the internet via the cell tower in his brother’s village, he connects via a geostationary satellite, using a BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) terminal that works anywhere. Power to operate the 8”x10”satellite terminal comes from the small gasoline generator that also powers his laptop.

Transferring technology – the BGAN

Jacob’s new satellite connection was provided by a Wycliffe Associates (WA) team, working in partnership with The Seed Company (TSC) and the Nigeria Bible Translation Trust. Worldwide, sixty-seven translation teams are now using this very new technology, including the Yawa team I wrote about in October 2010.* Fifty-four of these units were installed by WA.

Our WA colleagues are enthusiastic about funding and installing more of the systems, as well as training mother tongue translators to operate and maintain them. For teams like Jacob’s, only the satellite connection is needed, but for teams who are not yet using computers, WA expects to provide a full kit, which includes the BGAN, a netbook computer, a solar panel, a battery and a charge controller.

What a great example this is of the five strategic themes of Vision 2025: urgency, partnership, capacity building, creative strategies and sustainability. As several partners work together to provide cutting edge technology in a user friendly way, they are building the capacity of our mother tongue translator colleagues and accelerating the work in a way that speaks clearly to the urgency of finishing the Bible translation task. I praise God for that!

Bob's Thoughts: Trip Summary

If you've been following our blog for the past couple of weeks you've gotten to read about my experiences visiting Nigeria as part of a Wycliffe Associates volunteer trip installing satellite internet systems in remote locations. Getting to participate on this trip was a real privilege. 

First, it was a great experience professionally, as I got to work with a very interesting piece of equipment and got to work on translator's computers, configuring them to use the equipment and in general making sure they were running well. On a more personal level, though, this trip was invaluable for me to be able to see Nigeria firsthand (it's the first time I've ever visited there, or anywhere in Africa) and get a feel for what Cynthia and I should be preparing for in the coming months before we head over there. There were some things about Nigeria that I was surprised to learn, but overall I was very glad to be there and it only made me more excited to get to live and work there in the future. It is a beautiful country, and I met many passionate, godly men and women that it will be a joy to serve and to work alongside of. I had a terrific time, and I'm glad that God brought this opportunity to me.  

Bob is home!

Bob is safely back with us at home.  We will be sharing more about his experiences in the future.  You can also check out his journal entries over the last week here on the blog.  His arrival back was fairly eventful with his last plane being canceled and choosing to fly to a different airport.  HIs suitcase didn't get the memo and we had to file a lost bag claim.  We should be receiving the bag in the next day or two.  Bob and I snuck in a short getaway when I drove to pick him up.  It was a great thing for our marriage and relationship.

Please pray as we continue to process what Bob learned and make decisions for our future life in Nigeria.