Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Tentmakers

Northern Translation Brief: Dedication of Naskapi Exodus

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

The book of Exodus in the Naskapi language was launched and dedicated to the glory of God in the community of Kawawachikamach in northern Quebec on Sunday, September 24, 2023 in the morning church service at St. John’s Church.

Naskapi Translation Committee–1996
(Back Row) George Guanish, Peter Einish, Isaac Einish, Jimmy-James Einish,
Philip Einish, Silas Nabinicaboo.
(Front Row) Alma Chemagansh, Mary Mokoush, Sampson Einish, Bill Jancewicz

Story of the Naskapi Exodus Translation Project

After beginning with a new Naskapi translation of stories of the Life of Jesus in the early 1990s, training was provided to several Naskapi persons interested in Bible Translation and Naskapi language development. Peter Einish was one of the young Naskapi men who received this training at this time. He was encouraged by the local Anglican rector, Father David Phillips, who was serving in the Naskapi community. As a team, Father David worked with Peter to help him to begin translating the book of Exodus in 1997. His colleague Silas was already working with Bill on the book of Genesis by this time.

Peter and Father David were able to complete the first half of the book of Exodus by the time Father David transferred to another parish in 1999.

Naskapi Elders reviewing the draft of their New Testament in 2005

In the early 2000s, it was decided to shift translation priorities to work on the Sunday Lectionary Readings and the Naskapi New Testament. So the Old Testament projects of Genesis and Exodus were put on the shelf for about a decade, until the Naskapi New Testament was published and distributed in the community in September 2007.

Naskapi children and lay-reader Minnie Mameanskum at the New Testament dedication in 2007

After the New Testament was dedicated, we turned our attention back to the Old Testament books that were started in the 1990s. The translation and checking of the book of Genesis was completed in 2012, mainly by Naskapi translator Silas Nabinicaboo and elder Joseph Guanish.

The late elder Joseph Guanish with his large-print copy of the book of Genesis at the dedication in 2013

While Genesis was being completed, it was decided to resume work on Exodus. In 2010, Tshiueten Vachon, a grandson of Joseph Guanish, began work revising what Peter had translated in the 1990s. Tshiueten was also enrolled in the Naskapi-McGill teacher training program, in which he received grammar-based Naskapi language training, and formed the core of a new generation of Naskapi translators.

Tshiueten at work in 2015

Tshiueten completed the remaining half of the book of Exodus, and it was ready to be checked by a translation consultant in 2016. Our friend and co-worker Watson Williams, who had served the Naskapi team as translation consultant for the New Testament, returned to Kawawachikamach and worked with the translation team to ensure the textual accuracy of the translation.

Silas, Tshiueten, and Watson working through the consultant-check of the book of Exodus at Kawawa in 2016

The translation of the Sunday Lectionary Bible readings was an important project during this period, and the readings each week included selections from the Psalms. Silas and Joe worked through this longest book in the Bible, using legacy translations from the Cree language prayer books as one of their primary source texts. When interns Alice and Martin Reed served in the Naskapi community prior to their first field assignment in Cree, they assisted the translation team in bringing the book of Psalms to completion.

The Naskapi book of Psalms was dedicated in March of 2019

As a result of the Exodus consultant check in 2016, there remained some additional things to do to make the translation more clear, accurate and natural. Silas stepped in to help with the revision of Exodus, doing two complete read-throughs of the whole book in 2018 and 2022. Then, checking copies of the book were reviewed by several elders, including Alma Sandy, Alma Chemaganish, and David and Susan Swappie. After their suggestions and corrections were made, the Canadian Bible Society was invited to publish the book for the Naskapi community. They completed the typesetting in early 2023.

Meanwhile, Bill and Silas completed the sound recording and audio mastering for all forty chapters of the Exodus to accompany the printed text

When the Exodus books were ordered, printed, and delivered to Kawawa in July of 2023, the Naskapi Development Corporation and St. John’s Church in Kawawa began to make plans for a service of celebration and dedication in the community. The date agreed upon was Sunday, September 24, 2023. Our son Benjamin was also in the community at that time to do some graphic design and social media contract work for the Naskapi Nation. He attended the dedication services and took some beautiful pictures to share. Thank you for taking the time to scroll through them!

Besides the 6″ x 9″ paperback edition published by the Canadian Bible Society, the Naskapi Development Corporation also published hardcover presentation editions and large print format editions. All book formats and sizes are available to purchase on the internet as well as in-person at the Naskapi Development Corporation offices in Kawawachikamach.

Large print and regular size

All sizes, binding and covers

With the publication and dedication of the book of Exodus in Naskapi, this makes four publications available in the hands and hearts of the Naskapi people: The New Testament, Genesis, Psalms, and now, Exodus.

The Naskapi team continues to make steady progress on these other Old Testament books: Judges, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Esther, Ruth, Jonah, Job, Daniel, First & Second Samuel, First & Second Kings.

Naskapi scripture publication so far

Besides the availability of the print edition, an audio version of the entire book of Exodus is now being played regularly on Naskapi Radio, and is also available for public download for personal listening as a podcast. In addition, it is available for streaming on Bible reading apps and websites such as YouVersion and Scripture Earth.

https://www.bible.com/bible/2496/EXO.20 (YouVersion read and listen online)
https://scriptureearth.org/data/nsk/sab/nsk/nsk-03-EXO-001.html (Scripture Earth read and listen online)

Join us in praise and prayers:

For the successful completion, publication and dedication service of the Book of Exodus in Naskapi.
For the years of faithful work by so many members of the Naskapi translation team that brought this about.
Pray for our ongoing work with the Naskapi team as they continue their work on the subsequent Naskapi Old Testament translation projects
Pray for us as we continue our way through the rest of audio for the Book of Psalms in Naskapi.

And remember to pray with us for the upcoming First Nations Bible Translator Workshop that we are helping to coordinate, in Guelph Ontario, November 5-10, 2023. Pray that the participants (including the Naskapi team) will be able to come, that the workshop staff and guests will be able to help them with their confidence and capacity to translate the Word of God into their own language.

Serving with you,
Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Northern Translation Brief 24Aug2023

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

One of the long-term Old Testament Bible translation goals for the Naskapi language project has been the publication of the book of Exodus in Naskapi. We want to report with gratitude and praise to God that this goal has been reached. The Canadian Bible Society completed the publication of these books, and 300 copies of this book were delivered to the Naskapi community last week!

It was in early July of 2023 that the text was approved to “go to press”, and books were ordered, printed, and then shipped to Kawawachikamach, Quebec on July 27, and received there the second week of August. Last week Marianne Chescappio (the Cultural Development Officer for the Naskapi Development Corporation) and Mannie Mameanskum (administrative assistant) opened the boxes and conducted an inventory.

Hardcover and Large Print presentation editions of Exodus

Besides the 300 standard size (6″ x 9″ paperback) Exodus books that were printed by the Bible Society, the Naskapi Development Corporation has also prepared and received several large-print (8-1/2″ x 11″) editions of the book, along with cloth-bound, hardcover presentation copies. These will be distributed to Naskapi elders during the community dedication ceremonies that are being planned for a later date.

Hardcover and Large Print editions of Exodus

The Naskapi Development Corporation sponsored the translation and checking of the book of Exodus since February of 1997, when we worked with the local minister at the Naskapi church to start a new project that would complement the work that we had already begun on the book of Genesis during the previous year. Peter Einish was the first Naskapi translator who was trained and mentored to work on the first draft. He was followed by Tshiueten Vachon who completed the text and performed a revision starting in 2010. When the translation was completed the text was consultant-checked in 2016. Community checking and another revision was completed by Silas Nabinicaboo and the translation team between 2018 and 2022. After that was done, the text went to the Bible Society for typesetting.

In spite of delays over the years–sometimes the lack of availability of personnel or work on other projects interrupted progress on the book–this has always been a goal that the Naskapi team has been determined to complete.

Thank you for your prayers for Naskapi Bible Translation through the years that have been answered in the completion of this goal.

Through the years, these scriptures have been published in Naskapi so far

The book of Exodus in Naskapi adds to the other books of scripture that have translated into Naskapi and published: Naskapi New Testament (2007), Naskapi Genesis (2012), Naskapi Psalms (2019). These are all also accessible online on the YouVersion Bible app.

Join us in praise, thanksgiving and prayers:

For the successful completion, publication and delivery of the book of Exodus in Naskapi.
For the years of faithful work by so many members of the Naskapi translation team that brought this about.
Pray for Marianne and the language team at the Naskapi Development Corporation and the local Naskapi church and community, as they make plans for an appropriate celebration and dedication of these scriptures.
Pray for our ongoing work with the Naskapi team as they continue on these and subsequent Old Testament translation projects: the books of Judges (being consultant-checked), the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Esther, Ruth, Jonah, Job and Daniel (being team-checked), the books of First and Second Samuel (in first-draft translation).
Pray for our plans for another First Nations Translator Workshop to be held in Guelph, Ontario this coming November.

Serving with you,
Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Northern Translation Brief: Linguistics Intern Visit to Naskapi

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

After the First Nations Bible Translation Capacity-Building Gathering that was held at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 2014, there were several projects that were prioritized, including work on Oji-Cree, Cree and Naskapi Bible translation projects, along with activities focused on building the capacity of the local communities to accomplish these translation goals. One necessary part of capacity-building includes the recruitment and training of new Bible Translation facilitator teams to work alongside language speakers in their communities in the north.

A key part of the preparation for these Bible Translation facilitator teams is a period of in-field training and language service with the Naskapi translation project. During this time of gaining experience living in an isolated northern First Nations community, the new teams will serve the Naskapi as Linguistics Interns, taking part in the facilitation of a real ongoing language program there.

To help the new teams with a smoother transition to their in-field training period, they accompany us on one of our working trips to the Naskapi community. In August of 2016, Martin and Alice Reed came with us to visit the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach, as their part of their introduction to the situation in Canadian First Nations, as well as a chance for us to get to know them better.

You may remember that last year at this time, Matthew and Caitlin Windsor accompanied us to Kawawachikamach on a similar visit. You can read about that trip at this link here <link>.

On this year’s trip, beginning August 21, we picked up Alice and Martin at the Buffalo, NY airport, and from there we drove for the next three days together up through southern Ontario along the north shore of the St. Lawrence in Quebec to Sept-Iles, were we boarded the train to Schefferville. The train ride this time was 16 hours, arriving at Schefferville near midnight. We arrived at the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach in the wee hours of Friday morning, August 26.

We celebrate Alice’s birthday along the way

Naskapi Exodus Checking

We were met there in Kawawachikamach by translation consultant Watson Williams and his wife Linda. Watson had already been there in the Naskapi community working with the Naskapi translators on the exegetical checking for the book of Exodus for the previous two weeks.

The book of Exodus: the story of Moses, the deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt and the establishment of the covenant with God’s people is 40 chapters long and contains more than 1200 verses. It has been one of the major projects in the Naskapi translation program since the publication of the Naskapi New Testament in 2007. Naskapi translator Tshiueten Vachon completed the first draft of this book earlier this year. When Watson heard that the book needed to be checked, he volunteered to come out of “retirement” and return to the Naskapi community again to help them accomplish this check. Watson had been the main consultant who helped the Naskapi team with their New Testament checking a decade ago, and also checked the Old Testament Lectionary lessons in 2010. He works very well with the Naskapi translators, and is well-loved by the Naskapi people, and we are all very grateful that he was able to come with Linda to work with the team.

We were there with Martin and Alice to observe the last day of checking, and they were able to see first-hand Watson’s procedure of working with the translators, asking questions, verifying the accuracy of the translation, and making suggestions for improvements. On that last day, the translation team completed the checking through the end of chapter 30 of Exodus, about 73% of the book. Watson then provided the translators with a detailed series of steps that they can follow so that in the weeks to come they can finish checking the remaining 325 verses with Watson “off-site”, communicating their questions and answers by internet.

Watson with his wife Linda, and Ruby Sandy-Robinison administrator of the Naskapi Development Corporation

It was an excellent opportunity for Martin and Alice to see Watson at work with team.

Naskapi Literature Production

If you can read the Bible yourself, it’s because you can read. If you can read (thank a teacher!) it’s because you can and have read many, many other books in your own language. Naskapi reading and writing is now taught at the Naskapi school in the early years as the language of instruction, and while there is a growing collection of children’s books in Naskapi, it is also important to have good quality Naskapi language literature by Naskapi authors, suitable for all ages. One project we have been helping to coordinate with the Naskapi translators is the production of a book series of traditional stories and legends. We work with the Naskapi translation team and a consultant linguist, Dr. Marguerite MacKenzie, professor emeritus from Memorial University of Newfoundland. We arrived the same week that the fourth volume in this series “The Giant Eagle and other stories” was released in the community and online, and also took part in the transcription and linguistic analysis of the next set of stories for the next volumes.

Again, having Martin and Alice participate in the day-to-day work by the Naskapi translators working with the consultant linguists gave them another excellent opportunity to experience another facet of language development work.

The Giant Eagle and other stories book in Naskapi also contains a literary English translation, linguistic and cultural notes, and beautiful illustrations by our daughter Elizabeth. They are now available with all the other Naskapi language materials online at this website: <link>

Language, Culture and Relationships

Along with our work activities that Alice and Martin eagerly participated in, they also had excellent opportunities to get to know about the people and the place where God has called us to serve and begin to get accustomed to what it’s like to work in a remote northern First Nations community. We all attended Naskapi church services, a baby christening celebration, and several community cultural events that were taking place during the days we were in Kawawachikamach. Alice and Martin began to learn to speak a few Naskapi phrases, started to think about Algonquian grammatical structure, learn about gathering and processing traditional Naskapi medications, and participate in a community fishing derby.

The relationship-building went in both directions too, as the Naskapi welcomed them into their lives and activities, and clearly let them know that the Naskapi themselves are looking forward to the days when Alice and Martin will be able to spend a longer period of service and getting to know the people at Kawawachikamach better.

Linguistics Internships

Some have asked if the new teams that God is sending to work with us are our “replacements”. Well, not exactly. It became clear that God is at work in many First Nations communities across Northern Canada, and that for us to simply move on to another language project after Naskapi would not nearly begin to meet the need, besides the fact that the Naskapi team still needs continued support. So in answer to your prayers God has called additional Bible Translation facilitation teams Matt and Caitlin Windsor and Alice and Martin Reed to serve in some of these other First Nations Bible Translation projects.

They are both working on building up a team of partners who will pray for and support their work through Wycliffe Bible Translators, and they are completing their final preparations to leave home to work in an isolated northern community to do this. Since the languages are all closely related, and the values and culture of these language communities share a lot in common, their planned in-field training period serving in a linguistics internship with Naskapi for several months will continue to support the Naskapi project in significant ways, moving the Naskapi team closer to a sustainable level of capacity, while also giving the new teams the practical skills and experience that they will need to work in the language communities that are still waiting for God’s Word in their mother tongues.

This will also enable us to leverage our own experience so that we can support these new teams as mentors, while God continues to use us to assist the other language projects where we have the privilege to serve.

Both the Windsors and the Reeds hope to begin their Linguistics Internships with the Naskapi project sometime in 2017, and be ready to move on to another language community, such as Cree, Oji-Cree, or Innu, who even now are still waiting for the scriptures in their language.

Prayer Requests

Please continue to pray for Alice and Martin Reed, and for Matthew and Caitin Windsor, as they continue to prepare themselves and seek adequate support so that they may move to the north and begin their internships.

Get current prayer requests and connect with the Windsors here: https://thewindsorsupnorth.com/
Get current prayer requests and connect with the Reeds here: https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/reed

Pray for us that we will be sensitive to God’s leading and faithful to His call as we provide guidance to these new teams.

Pray for the First Nations language communities that we have already begun to work alongside of, and for those who are still waiting to have the message of God’s love and hope in their own languages.

Pray for the Naskapi team as they finish the book of Exodus and learn to work on their language program with more and more confidence and ability.

Thank you for your own interest, support and encouragement for this work that God is doing in minority First Nations language communities in Canada.

Serving with you,

Bill and Norma Jean

Consider becoming more involved and supporting this work by visiting these websites:

In the USA: https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Jancewicz

In Canada: http://www.wycliffe.ca/m?Jancewicz

Northern Translation Brief 28Jan2016

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

It has been good to settle into a routine of work and support for the translation projects since having our grandchildren with us for an extended visit over the holidays. Norma Jean is on the home stretch for her grad program assignments, and the translators in northern Quebec (Naskapi) northern Ontario (Oji-Cree) and Saskatchewan (Plains Cree) are all back to work on their translation projects after the holidays. In fact, the Oji-Cree translators took advantage of their holiday “break” to get even more done on their Bible translation goals, and that was a real encouragement to us and to the other teams.

This is a picture of the report we see when progress is made on any of the Bible Translation projects and we support

This is a picture of the report we see when progress is made on any of the Bible Translation projects that we work with. You can see every member of the Oji-Cree team worked on their translation; on Matthew, Romans, Luke, John and 2 Corinthians, all during the week between Christmas and New Years! What an encouragement to us.

Naskapi

The big news for Naskapi is that Tshiueten has just finished the final verse on the first draft of the book of Exodus. This has been an active Naskapi project for several years, and over the past three years, Tshiueten has been the main translator. Now of course there is a lot of checking and review to do before it is approved for publication, but this is a tremendous milestone and he is to be congratulated.

Tshiueten Vachon, Naskapi translator working on Exodus

Oji-Cree

The team is working very steadily on the Sunday “Epistle” and “Gospel” readings for the church in Kingfisher Lake. The translators, many of whom are also church lay-readers, report that the community has enjoyed hearing these church readings in the new translation, and some have also been looking closer at the old (Mason) Cree translation, giving God’s Word a closer look than they had previously.

Pictures of the Oji-Cree translation team that they took themselves and posted on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ismm2014/posts/1257611154281381

Plains Cree

Gayle and Dolores have been making good progress on the checking and review of the New Testament, completing the back-translation through the book of Acts, and working with the Bible Society translation consultant Ruth nearly every day by Internet and Skype. Bill and Ruth have also been making progress editing the hours of recorded audio of the book of Luke in Plains Cree.

Dolores and Gayle working on Plains Cree checking and review

Legacy (Mason 1862) Cree Bible

This old translation is still in use and highly regarded in many northern communities and churches, even if it is not the way people speak today. The Bible Society will be producing an updated reprint and make it accessible electronically. The Plains Cree team, along with Ruth, the translation consultant, are also making steady progress toward that goal.

Old Cree Bible at St. Matthew’s Church, Kingfisher Lake, Ontario

Day by day we work with the teams on these projects from our desks here at our new “old” house in Windham Centre, Ontario. We are grateful to be a part of God’s plan to bring his message to the First Nations communities across northern Canada.

Norma Jean working on her research paper

Bill listening to and editing the Gospel of Luke audio in Plains Cree

Prayer Requests:

As we rejoice over the completion of the Naskapi Exodus first draft, please join us in prayer as we try to connect with just the right translation consultant who will work with Tshiueten and the team for quality assurance and accuracy.

Pray with us for the Oji-Cree team and the Kingfisher Lake church as many of them will hear these messages in their own language for the first time. Remember Ruth K, Ruth M, Theresa, Jessie and Zipporah.

Remember Gayle and Dolores, the Plains Cree team, working with Ruth, their translation consultant on both the book of Acts in the new Plains Cree translation, and the preparation and review of the old Legacy Cree Bible.

Keep us (Bill and Norma Jean) in prayer as we begin to set up our calendar for our working trips into the communities up north in the months to come, for our interactions with other missions and resource partners for these projects, and that we would stay centered on God’s word in our own lives.

And one more special prayer request: Our son, Nicodemus John, is attending Trinity Western University in Langley British Columbia. He is preparing to spend his Spring Break on a missions trip with dozens of other students from TWU, working on a “Habitat for Humanity” building project. He is in need of funds to support his participation in this missions trip.

You can read about the trip here: http://twu.ca/life/ministries/gps/sprin g-trips/

He needs to raise nearly $2400 to go on this missions trip, and he just told us this week that he sold his car to a junkyard to help him with some of the costs (he got $140.00 for his car)! If you feel that God would have you support Nicodemus to go on this missions trip, you can get a tax-deductible receipt for your gift if you write your donations payable to “Trinity Western University”, and mail them to:

Allan Kotanen
Student Life Director
Trinity Western University
7600 Glover Road
Langley, BC V2Y 1Y1 CANADA

Be sure to include a note saying it is for:
Nicodemus Jancewicz
Spring Break Missions

Serving with you, Bill and Norma Jean Jancewicz