Our BTAK’s are now being installed in remote locations of the Congo, connecting Bible translators and keeping them out of harms way.
http://www.wycliffeassociates.org/news/pressdetail.asp?id=611
Contact: Donn Hallman
Wycliffe Associates
714-222-5079
Donn_Hallman@wycliffeassociates.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wycliffe Associates Providing Technology to Increase Efficiency, Safety for Bible Translators in Democratic Republic of the Congo
(Orlando, Florida, USA)—Wycliffe Associates, a global organization that empowers national Bible translators around the world, is providing tools to Bible translators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that enable them to harness current technology from remote areas and potentially accelerate their work by years.
Since it first began installing Bible Translation Acceleration Kits (BTAKs) in 2011, Wycliffe Associates has installed 197 kits in 25 countries for 295 language communities. Each kit, which costs $3,967, contains a small, portable laptop computer, along with a satellite communication terminal, solar panel, battery, and power supply.
“This year, our goal is to put 250 of these kits into the hands of Bible translators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and places like India, Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, and beyond,” says Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “These kits will help continue the critical work of Bible translation even in the most hard-to-reach and dangerous regions.”
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where difficult travel and the threat of violence, kidnapping, civil unrest, and infectious disease put Bible translators at risk, the BTAKs not only make the translators’ work more efficient but help keep them safe as well. Through satellite communication, Bible translators in remote locations can connect with translation consultants hundreds or thousands of miles away in real time.
“The Bible Translation Acceleration Kit also increases accuracy because it connects translators with consultants and helpful resources more quickly,” says Smith.
There are currently 18 Bible translation projects underway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where more than 77 million people speak 212 living languages. New Testament translations for the Mayogo, Logo, and Ndruna language groups are nearly complete after 20 years of work. The Ndruna translation team is working in one of the nation’s most violent areas. Unfortunately, three members of the Logo translation have died during the course of the project.
Recently a Wycliffe Associates Technology Advance Team traveled 450 miles to deliver IT equipment for the start of a new translation—one that the Ngombe North tribe has been waiting 50 years for translators to begin. When the team arrived, the entire village came out to greet them, shouting, “Esengo! Esengo! Esengo!” which means “Joy! Joy! Joy!” in Ngombe.
In addition to supplying Bible Translation Acceleration Kits to translators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wycliffe Associates has also provided assistance to villages with water supply projects, which included drilling a 150-foot well and building a 5,000-liter water tower.
Volunteer construction teams have also traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to support the work of Bible translation through the renovation of offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, a library, housing, and the installation of solar panels.
About Wycliffe Associates
Organized in 1967 by friends of Bible translators, Wycliffe Associates is a ministry that participates in Bible translation around the world. Because millions of people around the world still wait to read the Scriptures in the language of their heart, Wycliffe Associates is working as quickly as we can to see every verse of God’s Word translated into every tongue to speak to every heart. Wycliffe Associate empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language; partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word; and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation. Last year alone, 3,145 Wycliffe Associates worked to speed Bible translations in 71 different countries.
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