It was another great week in San Cristobal. On Monday, Brad Olson came for an eight-day visit. Brad is an RCA missionary, secunded to the United Bible Societies. Brad is one of the main computer programmers for the translation software Paratext 7.The first two days Brad was here, he and Brian worked together on various issues of Paratext. On Thursday, the four Ch'ol translators came to San Cristobal to work with Brian and Brad for a couple of days. One of the translators had had dengue fever just a few weeks ago, but was feeling well enough to come. Soon after he arrived, however, he got a phone call that his wife was running a high temp and was possibly coming down with dengue as well. So Thursday morning he caught a bus back to Palenque to be with her.
Brian and Brad worked wit
h the other three translators for several hours on Thursday, getting Paratext 7 installed on their computers and teaching them how to use it. The Ch'ols already have the Bible in their language, but they are in the process of revising the text and adding introductions for each book of the Bible. The translators are all full-time pastors and do the translation work in addition to their pastoral responsibilities. Friday the translators returned for another day of training. Unfortunately, Brad came down with a bug of some sort during the night and was unable to work with them. In fact he was unable to do much of anything for two days! Brian worked with the team quite a bit, with the plan being for us to make a follow-up visit to Palenque at some point in the next month to continue the training.
Friday evening we had a very interesting meeting. Two employees from the Mexican Bible Society, as well as a man from the Norwegian Bible Society and a woman from the Netherlands Bible Society came to meet with the Ch'ol translators. Both Norway and the Netherlands are huge contributors to translation work being done in the Americas. The two individuals had come to visit the Ch'ol and Tojolabal translators to investigate the possibility of providing support for both projects. It was a unique and interesting conversation as they discussed with the Ch'ols their language usage and translation needs. We found out that the man from the Norwegian Bible Society had lived for several years in Canar, so it was exciting to relay to him the good news that the Quichua translation was now completed.
The original plan was for Bra
d and Brian to go to San Pedro on Sunday to work with the Tojolabal translators for a few days. But since Brad only started feeling better Sunday morning, that didn't seem like a wise decision. So on Sunday we went to a Presbyterian Church here in San Cristobal, then did some walking around and resting in the afternoon (and Brad did a little shopping, as you can see in the picture). We continue to appreciate your prayers as we work with various translation teams here in Chiapas. God bless! Donna
Sorry to hear about all the "bugs" - I hope everyone is back to full health soon. It's interesting to hear about Europeans funding the translation work. We tend to think there aren't many Christians in Europe and all mission work is funded by Americans - a good reality check. God's work isn't defined by nationalities.
ReplyDeleteOkay Mr. and Mrs. Linguistics, I've been chewing all day over your "secunded to the United Bible Society" comment and all I can find is that secund is an adjective meaning arranged to one side or unilateral. So are you saying he's an RCA missionary but he only really does UBS work - you know, arranged to that side? And are you trying to make us have to look up words in a dictionary? However, I do feel just a tiny bit smarter now - maybe...
ReplyDeleteI feel so smart that I knew what secunded meant. But to be sure I did a goggle search and found someone had made a suggestion to Webster to put it this way and I think it fits: To be paid by one organization while operating under the authority of another.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the flu bug is down south as well. I think the N1H1 has pretty well run its hottest course here and it is tapering off.
Great blog, hope you all stay healthy. Yes, as Kim says, the idea that European countries help others with translating is interesting. We continue praying for your health and safety but also for those involved so earnestly in translation in addition to their other occupations. What a commitment. Thanks for sharing such insights, helps us learn vicariously.
Love, Mom
Great post, Donna. It's so interesting to hear about your work, and it helps us know how to pray as well. It also helps us realize how seemingly small things like illnesses can derail the best of plans. Again, the importance of prayer!
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