African Drumbeat February, 2015

Al Hawthorne, Director Peg Seitz, Assistant Director Francophone

Jennifer Bartholomew, Assistant Director Horn of Africa

Greetings from Southern California! Our transition back to the U.S. is now mostly complete and we are

adjusting to new time zone realities.

But the work will continue on in Africa and I will continue to travel to those locations where I can best

serve the efforts of our team and partners in Bible translation.

You will see later in this edition that MAST has come to the African Continent. MAST stands for,

Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation. It is a new way of helping our partners to do Bible

Translation. Peg Seitz and Blake Berry attended a workshop in Bamenda, Cameroon where many church

leaders and translation partners participated in learning all about this new methodology of Bible

translation.

In the mean-time, work continues on the Open Bible Story projects throughout Africa, with languages

such as Arabic, French, Amharic and Swahili underway as well as several other languages which have

commitments to translate. This process will expedite the translation of the 50 key Bible stories into a

multitude of languages in Africa.

Finally, construction continues to proceed in various countries with a new roof and solar panels installed

at the translation center in Bunia, DRC and the work in Juba, South Sudan is rapidly finishing up. Also,

the new dining facility at NBTT in Jos, Nigeria is in the finishing stages. As I type this, structural work

and roof repairs for our partners in Bangui, Central Africa Republic is also in progress.

Please continue to pray for the staff that are traveling and working in difficult areas of Africa and as

the continent deals with a multitude of threats.

There is no time like the present to be involved in the acceleration of Bible translation so that the love

of God can be understood in mother tongue languages of those on the front lines. It can and will make a

difference!

Al Hawthorne

Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of

God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39

People & Projects - Theres Something Happening Here

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Project Update from South Sudan

A major construction project in Juba, South Sudan is once again underway after an earlier evacuation of

Peter and Sunny Oh. Peter is the designer and project manager for the building program that had been

developed with the director of SIL Juba. It consists of four apartments, an office building with offices

and a large conference room.

The construction is scheduled to end by the end of March and will provide much needed spaces for new

staff members. We thank God for his provision of good workers. Peter enjoys training these workers

and starting every morning with devotions.

Upcoming Teams

Team Country Start Date End Date

English Language Learning Ethiopia 04/13/15 05/01/15

Luke Partnership Workshop Nigeria 05/11/15 05/29/15

Luke Partnership Workshop Nigeria 07/06/15 07/24/15

Luke Partnership Workshop Nigeria 09/14/15 10/02/15

For more information, contact Judy at judith_yon@wycliffeassociates.org

Africa High Priority Jobs

Job Title Location Organization Job #

Program Manager South Sudan Wycliffe Associates 885071

Construction Manager Central African Rep. Wycliffe Associates 885746

Finance Manager Central African Rep. ACATBA 884643

Center Manager Central African Rep. Wycliffe Associates 885743

Language Program Facilitator Various Options Wycliffe Associates 885735

Program Manager Nigeria Wycliffe Associates 884363

For more information, contact Judy at judith_yon@wycliffeassociates.org

MAST Program in Cameroon

At the invitation of CABTAL, our national partner in Cameroon, WA has provided a team of five to

facilitate MAST training among five people groups. Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation is

exactly that not doing translation for the groups, but providing them with tools and resources that will

enable them to do the translations!

Irene and Monica from Mankon working hard. Dan Kramer setting up for Day 1.

Marketing Meets MAST! Five groups 42 people!

The more the merrier! We were expecting four language groups, but on the day before the event

started, a fifth group showed up at the Bamenda Regional Training Center for a program that was

not scheduled for this time frame. As a result, we added a fifth language, and we believe that God

is the one who invited these team members! On Day 1, two ladies from the new language were a bit

nervous to be included in translation. After all, handling the Word if God is serious business! But by

the end of the day the two teachers had gained confidence and had accurately translated 11 verses

of Mark 1! By Day 3 we had 32 participants representing the five language and things are moving!

We also welcomed a WA Video Team to record this even and other work being accomplished here.

Praise God for a good start to the first MAST event in Africa after team members

arrived safely in Cameroon despite some difficult travel situations. Pray for a

successful translation event with five language groups and for long-term impact among

those people groups.

Praise God for Nick and Shelly Swicegood who have adjusted well to their positions as

WA Volunteer Center Managers in Yaound, Cameroon. Pray that the family of six can

weather the cultural adaptations needed in the next few months.

Pray for wisdom and safety for a WA team of three working on the ACATBA Center in

Bangui and that God would bring just the right people to fill three open positions with in

that country.

Praise God for the completion of a project to re-roof a building in Bunia, Democratic

Republic of Congo.

Pray for good use of time in Als transition back to life in the United States while still

maintaining his work (Gods work!) in Africa. March 15 is Als birthday.

Pray for the many WA staff members traveling around the world.

Praise God for the upcoming Gateway Language Event in Orlando and for Gods provision

of native French speakers who will be participating.

Pray for a successful and enjoyable English Language Learning Course for Jean and

Anne Ndiriman who will be filling the role of Program Manager in Chad.

Praise God for a French congregation in Paris who are doing checking for Open Bible

Stories in French. Pray that they will stay engaged until the task is complete.

Pray for safe travel for Blake, Lindsey and Madelyn Berry who are coming back to the

US for a mini-furlough in early March.

For Carole Ellis, that she is able to honor God in all that He requires of her.

Praise God for all of the hard work done by Jennifer Bartholomew. March 15 is her

birthday.