ParaTExt 8 migration workshops (Mfumte Cluster)

The week of June 4th, I had a workshop with 8 participants from 4 language groups in the Mfumte cluster in North West Cameroon. These teams have been translating the word of God and had some needs IT needs as well as how to use ParaTExt tools well. I sent my colleague Kengo Eliot there sometimes last year to train them on basic computer skills. This time we needed to get them out of the community for this workshop to be done properly because we needed access to the Internet.
The Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary (CBTS) gladly opened their doors for this workshop for which we are so thankful. There were also two translation degree students from Akwaya who just finished their course work and could not return quickly due to the crisis in their region so they took part in this workshop.
The translation degree coordinator was also very happy to be part of this workshop and I needed to setup Translators Worksplace (Logos) software on his laptop. This was a very good work as we stayed together in the same apartment, ate together and had sometime to watch an evangelism series "Walking with Jesus" by Campus for Christ.
This week was very eventful and very rewarding too.

Helping Hands...

I am so excited to see that my team is beginning to unfold. Eliot in Bamenda is able to trouble issues and mostly the one responsible for IT issues as I no longer sit in the IT office in Bamenda. Kadada does the same in Maroua though he doesn't have much work there as compared to Etienne in Yaounde and Eliot in Bamenda.
Although I still have to connect with them every so often to help them with one thing or the other, it is already evident that they are very very helpful. I went with Eliot to teach in workshop in Ndu and he could take care of lots of practical problems.
Etienne and I went to Bafia as I was doing a presentation on Bloom. Etienne did some basic computer training on the spot and that was very encouraging to see.
Etienne and I just did a ParaTExt workshop in Yaounde and he kept working non-stop in the background fixing things and resolving problems without asking me lots of questions. I appreciate the fact that Etienne is very capable of working on his own and only ask for help with he has to. In one photo pictured below, I described him as someone with five hands because he has two computers on his hand, looking at another one and yet paying attention to some other details.
When you have such people in your team and God blesses, you can be sure that there is going to be growth in the team, growth in the department, growth in the organisation and of course we will speed of the process of Bible Translation and Language development which is the reason for which our service exists.

Sporting activities at home

We have this ball at home and we even have some space but where is the time to play it. Whenever we manage to have sometime to play, we really enjoy ourselves as a family. I notice that when we start playing, some kids in the neighborhood will come to watch. They surely want to join us. This is a good opportunity to share with them. I look forward to arranging something one of these days.

Farming (my roots)

I grew up in the farm all along even though my activities makes it difficult for me to be in the farm often these days. My wife however, still enjoys the farm a lot. I tried to stop her but it won't work. She hired a farm nearby and planted some crops on it. One evening we decided to walk to this farm to see the crops and put some fertilizer. Here is how it looks like.
Caritas and Marie also enjoy the farm very well.

Language Technology Consultant Training (LTCT) 2018 Report

The vision for Language Technology Use (LTU) is to multiply Bible translation effectiveness through language technology training and support.
The Purpose of LTCT is to develop a base of competent language technology consultants and specialists to resource Bible translation and language development in Africa, by teaching relatively new tools and methods for performing common language software support tasks and by presenting specific problems that occur frequently and discussing their solutions from the combined experience of the group. The participant will gain tools and skills that will make them more effective as a language technology consultant or specialist.
For this reason, ten language technology workers from Anglo-Lusophone Africa got together at the BTL Center in Kenya from April 16th to 25th 2018 with four facilitators and two guest from LSDev and NRSI. The 9 days spent together saw a lot of teamwork and collaboration, coaching, mentoring, learning and growing as we all worked together on how to use, train others, solve practical problems and provide practical field support to Bible translators and language developer workers.
In 9 days, we covered over 40 sessions focusing on Bloom, ParaTExt, Scripture App Builder, Reading App Builder, Dictionary App Builder, HearThis, Keyman, Logos, Regular Expressions, Problem Solving and Planning/teaching a workshop. Returning students taught all the FLEx sessions during this workshop and did a very good job.
Every morning we took time to share and pray for every country represented. Participants were able to review the previous day’s lessons before beginning a new day as a way of re-enforcing the lessons.
Everyone had a good stay and left very happy, ready to use, promote, and help others to use LT in their context to speed up the work of Bible translation and language development.

Kejom NT dedication

Training Babanki (Kejom) Bible Translators to do back translations easily using Paratext software. This will facilitate consultant checking of their Scriptures...
Three years later, their New Testament is ready. During the dedication on Saturday 28th April, the Babanki people are told that the real translation work has just started! They were exhorted to take every advantage of the precious word of God by owning it, reading it, meditating on it and above all, putting it into practice so that truth of the Gospel should shine in their daily practices.
On the 7th of February 2009 during the dedication of their Gospel of Luke, the Pastor who spoke on that day challenged them for having several "country sundays" when the almighty God has only one. He went further to say that if they do not abide by the standards of God, the community will not advance in many ways... It is alleged that later on, the country sundays were reduced. This time, the Ethno Arts team of CABTAL, worked with the community who came out and challenged themselves to leave behind the man made gods and look up to the one true God who now speaks to them clearly in their own language.
Their Fon personally appreciated CABTAL, SIL and Wycliffe USA for empowering them to develop their language. He is ready to learn to read and write Kejom language. Praise the Lord for using different men and women to accomplish this project. Some lost their lives in the process; may their families see this fruit as a blessing and enjoy it all the days of their lives.

ITD, ITC and ICCM

April 5-6: We had the face to face yearly IT Discovery meeting in Nairobi Kenya.
IT Discovery Purpose is to research information technology issues for the benefit of Bible translation workers in Wycliffe and SIL Africa Area and related Bible translation organizations.
The group's role is to work together to discover the key area issues, and develop practical recommendations that address the means to implement solutions. This might mean commissioning others to do specific research tasks in information technologies that will expedite the work of Bible Translation and Language development in Africa and the world over.

April 7-10: We had IT Connect Conference English:
IT Connect is the annual gathering of IT Staff serving SIL International, Wycliffe and Alliance Organisations in Africa share best practices, find ways of helping one another to overcome challenges and to learn from one another. The whole idea is to collaborate, learn, grow and teach one another so as to expedite the work of Bible Translation and language development. It is always a time of great spiritual refreshment.

April 11-14: International Conference on Computing in Missions (ICCM) Africa
The International Conference on Computing and Mission (ICCM) is an annual informal gathering of women and men who have a common interest in computers and mission. We share a vision of cooperation for effective use of technology, bringing the Gospel to every nation. ICCM Africa. The gathering this year brought staff staff from several countries for spiritual refreshment, and sharing technological knowledge to advance the work of the great commission.

We are thankful for this time spent together. We go back ready to serve the Lord with renewed energy and ready to work together as a team with the Holy Spirit operating in us as the operating system.