First Kings | Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

Kabimbetas Noah Mokoush

Two months ago, we sent out a Translation Brief asking you to remember to pray for Kabimbetas Noah Mokoush, a Naskapi translator who wanted a second chance to work on Old Testament translation.

You can click and read that Brief here:

Northern Translation Brief 10Feb2016

We would like to thank you for your prayers for him and to bring you up-to-date with this Brief. For the past 9 weeks, Kabimbetas Noah has continued to work on the first draft of the translation of the Old Testament book of First Kings in Naskapi, and has consistently submitted his work to me for review each Friday as he agreed. You may remember that he currently lives outside the Naskapi community. He lives with his girlfriend Tara’s family in Timmins Ontario, so he does not have the benefit of working with the rest of the Naskapi translators in Kawawachikamach Quebec around him. They can read and comment on his translation after it has been submitted for review, but it is still a challenge to work on translation this way.

Over the past 9 weeks, he only missed one Friday (Good Friday) turning in his work for review. He often gets 40 verses or more done in a week, but on 19 March he turned in 62 verses and last Friday he turned in 70 verses, his best week so far. He is currently working on First Kings chapter 12, the story of Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

We mentioned in the 10 February 2016 Translation Brief that Kabimbetas Noah was one of the original “Fantastic Four”, the new young translators that were hired and trained to work together at the Naskapi Development Corporation in 2013.

The Fantastic Four: Northern Translation Brief 20April2013

We’d like to share a little bit more about this bright young man. His father, George Guanish, was one of the first translators to work with us on the contemporary Naskapi Bible translation project back in the 1990s.

George Guanish in 1993

George worked with us to translate the first scripture in Naskapi, portions of the Life of Christ called the “Walking With Jesus” series. We were just with his father George during meetings between the Quebec government ministers and First Nations leadership in March.

George Guanish, Bill, and Sandy Shecanapish at Quebec City in March 2016

George Guanish, Bill, Sandy Shecanapish at Quebec City March 2016

George’s father, Joseph Guanish, was the long-time chief of the Naskapi community when we first moved to Kawawachikamach in 1988. It was Joseph’s vision for Bible Translation and language development work for the Naskapi that resulted in our invitation to live in the community and to work with the Naskapi Development Corporation (NDC), to help them establish their translation and linguistics services department. Joseph served as the president of the NDC for many years, and his son George has also served as president of NDC and is currently on the board of directors.

Joseph Guanish at the Naskapi Development Corporation

Kabimbetas Noah has a strong heritage. His Naskapi name comes from the word /pimipiyitaaw/ ᐱᒥᐱᔨᑕᐤ ‘he runs’. This verb derives to a noun, /kaa-pimipiyitaast/ ᑲᐱᒥᐱᔨᑕᔅᑦ (Kabimbetas) which then means ‘little runner’.

We are all so grateful that you are cheering him on in prayer as he runs the race set before him, in the footsteps of his father George and grandfather Joseph.

Translating the Bible is hard work even in the best of conditions. Please continue to remember to pray for Kabimbetas Noah as he continues to overcome the challenges that face him, and that the Word of God in his own language will continue to speak to his own heart and the hearts of his family and his people in Kawawachikamach.

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

Our Dear Partners

In this Brief we’d like to ask for special prayer for our Mother Tongue Translators, especially a Naskapi young man named Kabimbetas.

Kabimbetas Noah Mokoush

You may recall his name from a Brief we sent out almost three years ago when I introduced you to the four new “Naskapi Language Specialists” that were hired and trained to work on the Naskapi Old Testament translation. Here’s a link to the beginning of that story:

https://billjancewicz.com/2013/04/21/northern-translation-brief-20april2013/

Kabimbetas is a bright, young Naskapi language worker who started off strong, but was often distracted by other interests and diversions. During the 2014-2015 school year, he requested a leave of absence to attend college courses in North Bay, Ontario, and at the end of that time he attended last year’s Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) workshop in April.

Kabimbetas at the 2015 MTT Workshop

However, personal issues prevented him from returning to Kawawachikamach to work with the other Naskapi Language Specialists after that, and his employment was terminated as a result, last October.

He and I have maintained contact and at the end of January he wrote to me to say: “I feel guilty leaving my permanent position, as a language specialist, but i also felt that i needed a change in my life. … Since i left kawawa for school, i have dropped my bad habits and feel like I’m ready to start my translation on 1st kings. I am settled now in Timmins and have a desktop computer to work with.”

He told me that he was going to request another chance to work on Naskapi Old Testament translation from his location in Timmins, Ontario. As a non-employee, the Naskapi organization that sponsors the translation project can pay him a flat rate according to the amount of work he turns in.

I wrote to the Naskapi administration to support his request, and told them that Norma Jean and I had just read this passage in our daily readings: Luke 13.6-9. The Naskapi office administrator has agreed to let him work being paid “by the verse”, provided that I (Bill) supervise him and review his work.

Last week, by email and Facebook messaging, I helped Kabimbetas get set up to translate again, and he submitted the remaining 39 verses of the first chapter of 1st Kings, by last Friday, Feb 5. In order be paid for the work he does, he needs to submit his finished translation by the end of the day each Friday. He did it!

So, please pray with us for Kabimbetas, that his good intentions supported by your prayers will keep him engaged with the Naskapi Bible translation project that he is assigned to, that he makes good progress, and that we can help him through any difficulties.

Also, please remember to keep all the other First Nations Mother Tongue Translators in your prayers as well: Silas, Tshiueten and Amanda (Naskapi project in Kawawa); Zipporah, Jessie, Theresa, Ruth M and Ruth K (New Oji-Cree project in Kingfisher Lake); Gayle and Dolores (Plains Cree project in Saskatoon).

First Nations Mother Tongue Translators at the 2015 workshop

May God touch them deeply through the Scriptures in their own languages, and may their number increase.

Serving with you,

Bill and Norma Jean Jancewicz

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

Connecting with Kabimbetas by Skype

Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

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Tag Archives: First Kings

Northern Translation Brief 04Apr2016

Northern Translation Brief 10Feb2016