** Crossing to Jordan ————————————————————
Thank you for your prayers for my Jordan trip–it was quite successful. We met with a team that’s translating our translation helps into Arabic for use by groups who work in Arabic as their second language. Since this was our first time meeting in person, we started by sharing stories. I found it really interesting that two of the team had a background in translating sermons for Christian TV in Jordan–something I didn’t even realize existed.
Most of our time together was spent in “consultant” mode: listening to their process, finding pain points, and trying to troubleshoot challenges or find improvements. It was a fruitful time, as often just talking through an issue clarified things and enabled them to see the path forward with only an initial suggestion from us. They were very proactive as well, screen recording the solutions we came up with to share and reference in the future.
Some of the pain points were things that I met with our software team about after returning and I’m confident that we have a roadmap to iron out those issues, which will benefit not just that team, but all the teams using our tools for resource translation. I’m looking forward to seeing those become reality.
On our final day, we experimented with AI solutions for drafting the translation of the resources. Happily, together we managed to get a functional starting draft. The team was especially excited about things that I didn’t even know to look for–for example, the AI correctly formatted verse references with spaces, which is necessary for right-to-left text. (I’m not actually sure even now what the proper way to represent that is, but they noticed it was correct.) They’re going to test if having the AI draft speeds up or slows down their work on the Ephesians resources.
Top: Hard at work with the team in Jordan
Bottom: The Bible Society’s bookstore
A quick sightseeing trip to the Roman amphitheater
** Work and Life ————————————————————
After a bit of a travel drought, it seems like opportunities are flowing in. In the last few weeks several potential trips have been presented to me for the coming months. Please pray for details to come together and for wisdom about how best to spend my time.
Please pray as well for the Ron translation project in Nigeria (that I did much of my training with) who had a checking session scheduled, but are now having to navigate leadership and organizational challenges that will likely slow down, if not stop, the project.
Meanwhile, I’m almost finished with resources for Deuteronomy and looking at moving into Lamentations next. I have been asked to do a third party audit on another organization’s translation resources this month as well.
The kids picking wild grapes on our property
Heading to the airport for our trip to Wycliffe meetings in Orlando this summer and working together on family introductions while there
October is a full month for us at home as everyone tries to cram everything into the nice weather during fall. School and extracurriculars are back in full swing and keep us busy with Mira in piano lessons, Peregrine in jiu jitsu, and the whole family in a homeschool PE class, where Shanna is currently helping teach. House projects continue on as we have time–currently working on finishing the “school” room with built-in bookshelves and closet doors.
Thank you again for your prayers and support. That’s what makes this work possible.
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