It's not ONLY about translating verses

Our work here in Tanzania is not ONLY about translating words and sentences. One of the core values of our organization is "building capacity" which means we focus on equipping Tanzanians to continue the work of Bible translation. For example...

This is my friend and co-worker Magesa. Magesa is a Jita translator who has a passion to see God's Word in his heart language of Jita. Magesa expressed a desire to receive further education in principles of Bible translation so we enabled him to attend modular-type classes at a college in Nairobi, Kenya. This picture was taken on the day we celebrated his graduation, after three years of studying.

Another way we build capacity is through in-house training courses.

Last year, I had the great privilege and joy of helping organize and teach an Exegesis course for some of the translators in our office. We had seven translators attend our 16 week course. I loved teaching topics like the historical and religious background of the New Testament, chronology of the New Testament, how to study key terms, and challenges facing the early church. But the most important topic was the spiritual preparation necessary to study and understand God's Word. We discussed the importance of prayer and the centrality of the Holy Spirit.

I had so much fun teaching and learning!

Then, a few months later, the students became the teachers. Three of the students from the class taught their own Exegesis course to the rest of the translators in the office. How exciting! Our goal is to see Tanzanians equipped to become Translation Advisors or even Consultants, helping other language groups receive God's Word in their language.