This coming Saturday will be a big day.
On the literacy front, we will be administering a 10-page exam in Kwakum to determine who among our students is ready to receive a diploma and an “I can read in Kwakum” T-shirt (one of the many tools that we are using to get people reading…). In addition to students reading various texts and answering comprehension questions, they will be required to teach someone who has not participated in a literacy class the ABCs. We’ve set the bar high in literacy and so far people are rising up to this standard.
On the Bible translation front, people will be coming to the Kwakum literacy and translation center to fill out an application to become a Bible translator. We have worked alongside various people throughout Oral Bible Storying and have a team of translators in mind that we hope to work with for the next 15 years or so. The qualifications that we are setting out for national translators is as follows:
- They need to be a professing Christian.
- They need to have a mastery of the Kwakum language.
- They are to not be lovers of money (1 Tim 6:10).
- They are to be those who are humble, who value the opinions of others, and who want to translate for the glory of God and the good of the Kwakum (Phil 2:3-4).
- They are to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19).
- They need to be willing to work hard (Col 3:23).
Fortunately, there are a handful of people that qualify, and we are praying that it will work out for them to commit to the Bible translation project. We will then train this group of guys and help each of them develop a main area of expertise within the translation project. On the application are questions about what the Gospel is, what makes up a good team, and the like. Once we receive the applications, we will then interview people and use it as a tool to talk to them about the Gospel and where they stand before the Lord.
Please join us in prayer that:
- People would study for the literacy test, master the writing system, pass, and then help others learn how to read and write.
- The Lord would raise up national translation partners who are humble, teachable, competent, and who fear God.
- Pray that if there would be individuals who would actually hurt the translation, that they would not apply.
- That God would use our conversations with people to help them see specifically their sins of loving money and of having uncooperative, proud spirits. Pray that many will see their need for Christ as their Savior.
- Pray for Dave and I to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We know that we will need to tell some people that they cannot be translators and these people could then slander us, our work, and the Bible we produce. Pray that the would be very wise in how we conduct ourselves throughout the process.
