Finally made it!
Last Friday a board met to review everything and affirmed that I had demonstrated all the necessary competencies and I am now certified as a Bible Translation Consultant. Hooray! Thank you for all your support over the last four years as I’ve worked towards this. There were a lot of things that seemed like setbacks along the way. We thought we’d move to Ukraine to work with local church-based teams there, and that didn’t happen, but our time in Dallas was a real blessing. I went on several trips where I led training, but there wasn’t a consultant there to give me a review. Car wrecks, stolen passports, and jury duty kept the mentors and other consultants away. Still, I met and got to work with some amazing brothers and sisters, teams were equipped, and in God’s time I got enough evaluations.
As a consultant, I’ll be primarily focused on equipping local churches to lead their own Bible translation projects. This is a new way of approaching Bible translation consultancy. Rather than acting as a checker, outside expert, or gatekeeper, I’ll be working with local believers to provide them with the tools, training, and support they need to not just translate God’s Word into their heart languages but also check it within their local churches and train neighboring people groups to do the same. In practice, this means I’ll be: * Training local church leaders and volunteers in translation principles and the entire process of translation * Mentoring emerging local consultants and quality assurance teams (usually pastors) * Offering guidance on complex translation challenges * Supporting teams as they review and refine their work
This church-based approach ensures that translations are deeply rooted in the local church from the start. It often means the translations will get preached from as soon as a passage is approved by the local church leaders! It uses the expertise and passion of local believers and helps them maintain high standards.
I look forward to continuing to serve, encourage, and partner with churches as they work to translate the Bible.
The first opportunity I’ll have will be in Liberia. I’ll be working with trainers from the US, Nigeria, and Kenya to help a group of pastors become effective checkers of the work being done locally in 14 languages. There’s a lot still up in the air about this trip, so please pray for logistics and planning to come together, as they are hoping to hold the training sometime around the end of October.
Invest in Bible Translation by giving to our Wycliffe Ministry (abidinginhesed.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=db546fcb26a533fdfc86dbb4a&id=711ced28ac&e=aea6dceb05)
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If you wish to mail contributions send them to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, Fl 32862-8200 Checks should be made out to Wycliffe Bible Translators, with a separate note that says “preference for the Wycliffe ministry of Benjamin & Shanna Wright, account #227489”