Virtual Scripture checking (Jennings)

 

A translation consultant (back left) and new translation team in Isiro

Back in March of this year, I was supposed to travel to Isiro for a consulting session with a new translation team on their first translated Scripture portion, Genesis 37-50, the story of Joseph. New teams often start with one of the Gospels. But after much discussion, this group decided to start with Genesis, to give their community a fuller background to God's story before Jesus's birth. They started with chapters 37-50 because it is narrative (mostly), which is easier to translate than more theological passages, such as the beginning of Genesis. Better to start with easier passages first, to hone translation skills, and to create something interesting people will want to read or listen to as their first experience of Scripture in their mother tongue.

Building capacity, and relationships, a trip to Isiro, by Jennings (with a few lines from Douglas)

Our cadre of consultants and consultants-in-training! (Minus two who could not attend.) You will notice I'm the only woman... ask me what I think about that, sometime! 

The other day at the office, I (Jennings) greeted a colleague had just returned from an IT conference that had been deeply encouraging and stimulating for him. It wasn't just - or even primarily - the technical aspects he appreciated, but getting to know other IT people in our organization. "It's all about relationships," he said. I had to think about that... it isn't how I normally think of work here, even when it's called "ministry". But, in fact, building relationships is the essential part of what we are all doing, and we forget that at our peril.

Last month, I spent 3 weeks in the area around Isiro, a more humid, forest-y area. (Bunia is in a hilly, savanna area.) For two weeks, we had a capacity-building workshop for translation consultants and consultants-in-training. There were 16 of us -- 4 expats and 12 Congolese -- at a center outside of town. We debated strategy, discussed best practices for consulting, learned new software techniques, and talked about relating and working cross-culturally.



But perhaps the most important thing about the two weeks together was that we were able to bond as a team. The workshop leader led us in an extended time of prayer one night, where everyone had the chance to share what was on their heart and to be prayed for. We had lots of down time, to play games, take walks and watch movies. Participants commented on how much it meant to them to feel cared for, and to be able to speak openly.