Unfolding of Language Technology...

By all means, the unfolding of Language Technology is accelerating Bible Translation and language development. We are excited to train people who will in turn train others. Two weeks this November spent in Jos Nigeria for a Language Technology Cohort has proven to be very useful as we can see that the seed we are planting God Himself will make it grow as others continue to water it. We look forward to that time when there will be great life transformation because of this. Of course we are only following on the footsteps of others who have done a great job here in Nigeria even before us.

Life in Maroua

Apparently, August is the best time of the year to be in Maroua because it rains quite often making the environment a bit refreshing. This time, there is a Muslim feast coming up on Sunday the 11th August so there are several lambs in town which I think are getting ready for slaughter in a couple of days. The lambs don't mind sharing a motor bike ride. If you are thirsty in Maroua town, you can be sure to easily find drinking water nearby.

Our Bible Translation consultant training event is going on very smoothly and we are thankful to God for leading us this far.

This boy is very rich

When I was a young boy as this guy pictured here, we will fix wheels out of bamboo or lids of pots and buckets. We will always collect lids and bring them home by all means. I even admired the wheels made out of word but I could not make one myself. So seeing him with this kind of wheel! I could not help but let him know that he is a very rich boy. He just smiled back at me and probably wondered what I mean. This took me down memory lane.

Is Bible Translation like preparing a well?

Yesterday morning we went out to fetch some water. At the first house we didn't get water. In the second we got some. My colleague (in the picture below) told the owner of the well that we have just begin translating the Bible in Ngiembɔɔn (their language). Then they talked about the well, when and how to fix it so that it will give water. As I listened to them, I was reflecting on wells and Bible times. Then it dawned on me that the work we do should be like preparing a good well so that every time people open the word of God, life giving water should always flow from it to refresh them.

Moise Yonta - Ngiemboon Bible Translator & Translation Consultant

Bible Translation is like preparing well...

July 14 - 19, we are in Batcham near Mbouda for a workshop training the translators to use technology for translating the word of God. In the morning, my colleague and I went to carry water but the owners of the well were not available. So we decided to return back and I was wondering how we will survive without water. He decided to branch at another computer. Then he called me to come and fill up my container. He began talking with the owner of the well and explaining what we are doing. This man seemed to be aware somehow. Then they were talking about a well. How and when to make a good well that will always have water. Immediately related it to what we do and began thinking about portions in Scripture that talking about a well. John 4:10-15 came vividly to my mind.

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” 

“But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?  And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water.”

If we want to have life giving water, we need to prepare for it very well. That is exactly what we are doing in Ngiemboon this week so that life giving water will always be available. To God be the glory.

Ngiembɔɔn Translation Technology training

This week, our team (Etienne, Eliot, Pa Moise and I) is in Batcham near Mbouda training the Ngiembɔɔn translators to harness technology to expedite their work on translating their Old Testament Bible. It is encouraging to see men and women working very hard too. They come from far and near everyday mostly on motorbikes. It should be noted that the roads are very slippery these days so it is very common to hear that someone fell off the bike on their way to the project office. Thankfully, they always get up and continue without any major injuries. We begin each day with someone reading a portion from their New Testament and giving an exhortation all in their language! Thank you for supporting Bible Translation and language development work.

Paratext workshop this week in Buea

It gets very scary on the Yaounde - Douala highway especially when everyone wants to get there very fast. With this scene, you cannot forget to thank God for helping you to arrive safely in your final destination. This week was very encouraging to see and hear from translators and CITs working with the Sawa languages. Their computer use skills are greatly improving making them enjoy the task of Bible translation that they have committed their lives to.

Eastern Bantu Paratext training

These brothers were so excited to learn how to use computers and especially to type the Scriptures they had earlier drafted in their computers using Paratext software. One night I gave them an assignment to practice typing some drafts in the gospel of Luke and the following morning, they showed me how they had made progress and typed several verses. It was encouraging to see their enthusiasm and progress. To learn or teach how to use computers in an adult class requires a fair amount of patience from both the learner and trainer. It has lots of fun too.

theBARAHs Business Center

TheBarahs have setup a shop in Yaounde. The sewing shop and Mobile Money Shop is at Monte Mvan opposite Amy Coifure.
You are most welcome to stop by and have Lilian measure your outfits or do your Mobile Money transactions.

CABTAL's new General Director

For the past several months, the board of CABTAL has been working in the background looking for a leader for CABTAL for the next four years. At the end of March that person was made know and on the 5th of April he was officially put to task. Please pray for Emmanuel Keyeh as he takes on the top leadership at CABTAL. Pray that God will give him wisdom and understand to take CABTAL from where it is now to the next level.

LTCT 2019 Kenya

It was a blessing to have Language Technology workers from Anglo-Lusophone Africa come to Nairobi Kenya for another training event. It has been 8 serious days of training, team teaching, problem solving and looking at the growth plans of every participant to see what progress they have made in the past year. It was also a moment to work with software developers.
This year our principal focus was on ParaTExt 9 which is still in beta, it might be released in May. We also worked more on Bloom, Regular Expressions, Reading App Builder, Dictionary App Builder, Premer Pro etc.
Getting to Nairobi was quite a concern for us and for many, it is truly a big thank you to God for protecting them from the plane crash from Ethiopia to Nairobi.
As we leave here and head back, there is a lot that we need to continue to do to promote, advocate, consult and support language technology so that the work of Bible Translation and Language development may speed up in the different areas that we serve.

Digital Literacy Workshop

February 26, 27, and 28, I was invited to Bamenda to teach how to use Bloom and Reading App Builder. It was an excited time with the literacy specialists and consultant as they are focusing on making more and more digital literacy materials. This is going to advance their literacy work in the Anglophone region as more and more people are getting displaced. This is also going to make literacy and Bible Translation work faster as people from different communities who live in the diaspora can easily engage with reading and writing in their mother language.