Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Tentmakers

Northern Translation Brief: 2023 First Nations Translator Workshop

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners

We are so grateful for your prayers for a successful First Nations Translator Workshop that was held in Guelph, Ontario on November 5-10, 2023. God has answered your prayers in wonderful and encouraging ways! This was our seventh such workshop since the first one in 2015, and the second workshop since the beginning of the pandemic.

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.” –Job 37:5

We are so grateful for your prayers for all of us and the details surrounding this workshop. We did face many challenges, but we are certain that your prayers for us and God’s provision and help worked together to make it a success that brought Glory to God.

What kind of challenges? It seemed that from the week prior to the workshop we were receiving messages every day of things that seemed to work counter to our best-laid plans and hopes.

One of our staff families needed to stay behind in their language community.
Due to a suicide in one of the First Nations communities, the entire translation team of 5 intended participants from that language group stayed behind to support their fellow community members.
The staff member who serves that language community was released to stay home to provide support to his own family and the translation team.
This resulted in another staff member to keep his family at home.
This resulted in a volunteer childcare worker to step down and not come.
Two intended participants from the Blackfoot language group had to cancel for personal and family reasons three days before the workshop.
One of the workshop speakers, the National Indigenous Bishop, contracted Covid and had to cancel his attendance two days before the workshop.
The son of one of the Naskapi translation team members was seriously injured and hospitalized the day before the workshop, so that team member had to cancel to stay with her son.
Another teaching staff member’s brother-in-law passed away the first day of the workshop, and we had to re-arrange the schedule to accomodate this.
Another teaching staff member’s air travel was disrupted on the way to the workshop causing a delay and a late night arrival, and missing baggage.

Some of these challenges seem rather minor, but others are quite serious and life-altering for some of the staff and participants. But all of them together put us on our knees in humility before God.

Yet, God in His mercy and for His glory accomplished great things for the staff and participants who were able to come to this workshop, and He continues to work in and through the lives of those who were unable to come because of their own challenges.

Workshop Participants

The Naskapi language community sent eight participants this year, although one of them, Elder Alma Chemaganish, had to remain behind at the last minute because her son was hospitalized.

Silas and Susan Nabinicaboo

Silas and Susan Nabinicaboo

Silas, although he has official “retired” from his position as full-time translator with the Naskapi Development Corporation (NDC), continues to contribute to the Naskapi Bible translation program every week, doing first-draft or back-translation of Old Testament books. He also serves as deacon in the Naskapi church. His wife Susan, even though the previous week had to undergo surgery for cancer, was released by her doctor to travel to the workshop with Silas. She serves the Naskapi church as lay-reader, and attended the workshop representing the local church.

George Guanish

George Guanish

George Guanish was one of the first Bible Translators for the Naskapi project, starting back in the 1990s. George is the senior translator now for the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach.

Maggie Mokoush-Swappie, Robert Swappie, Marianne Mameanskum, and Ruby Sandy-Robinson

Maggie Mokoush-Swappie, Robert Swappie, Marianne Mameanskum, Ruby Sandy-Robinson

The rest of the Naskapi-speaking team included NDC board member Maggie Mokoush-Swappie, Naskapi church lay-reader Robert Swappie, NDC Cultural Development Officer Marianne Mameamskum, and NDC Administrative Director (retired) Ruby Sandy-Robinson. Marianne now takes the leadership role for the Naskapi language and culture department, working on Bible Translation and the other core language and culture projects in the community. Ruby, since her retirement, has been very active in assisting with the Bible Translation checking and also reviewing the Naskapi dictionary with over a Zoom connection every week.

During this workshop, the entire Naskapi team met to make plans for completing the rest of the Bible in Naskapi, as well as ways to work together with the other Naskapi community organizations for language development going forward.

This was the first time that Blackfoot-speaking participants were able to come to the workshop. They had originally registered 9 participants, representing two of the three different Blackfoot-speaking communities:

Piikani, Siksika, and Kainai (Blood Tribe) members of the Blackfoot Confederacy Treaty 7 Territories have all joined together for the translation work.

(Members from Piikani were not able to attend but will continue to be involved in the translation work.)

Vincent, Jaquie, Rosie Jane, Sylvia, Ramonda, Myrna, and Larry

The Blackfoot translation team included the following persons;

Sylvia Tailfeathers, Treaty 7 Territory, Kainai

Myrna Stevens, Treaty 7 Territory, Siksiká

Raymonda Waterchief, Treaty 7 Territory, Siksiká

Rosie Jane Tailfeathers, Treaty 7 Territory, Kainai

Larry Waterchief, Treaty 7 Territory, Siksiká

Vincent Yellow Old Woman, Treaty 7 Territory, Siksiká

These six were facilitated and coordinated by Indigenous Anglican archdeacon

Venerable Jacqui Durand, Treaty 7 Territory, Metis/Cree.

Workshop Teaching Staff

We are so grateful for the partnership and assistance from the Canadian Bible Society (CBS) in conducting this workshop. We were joined by Dr. Jeff Green, CBS Vice President, Bible Translation and his colleague Ben Wukasch, CBS Translation Officer for teaching sessions through the week.

Jeff Green presenting to the workshop

Ben demonstrated resources to help with exegesis of the source text, that helped to prepare the participants to do translation.

Ben working with the Blackfoot team

Dan Grove, Wycliffe Canada Field Project Liaison, Meg Billingsley, SIL Americas Area Translation Consultant, and Alice Reed, SIL Translation Consultant-in-Training, Global Consultant Pool helped by facilitating multiple sessions through the week.

Dan Grove leading one of the early workshop sessions

Meg Billingsley describing methods of internalization of the source text

Alice Reed describing the qualities of a good translation

Tom Scott, SIL project co-facilitator for Oji-Cree and Ruth Heeg, CBS Translation Consultant (retired) also contributed to the workshop as instructors and mentors.

Tom Scott working with the Naskapi team

Ruth Heeg leading the session about back-translations

We are so grateful to the workshop teaching staff for not only guiding the participants through the workshop sessions, but also for carefully crafting the workshop curriculum to suit the translation learning needs of the participants.

Workshop Curriculum

To best meet the needs of the participants, the teaching staff planned a curriculum framework based on the steps required for bringing the translation of a portion of scripture to completion. This is called “project-based learning”, and involves a series of guided “hands-on” sessions during which the participants accomplish each step in their own languages. On the first day of the workshop, the participants began with the first steps working on the first seven verses of the Gospel of Luke.

The teaching sessions through the week were arranged so that the participants could learn and then practice each of the steps necessary to bring the translation of this short passage of scripture to completion.

All of the participants indicated that the workshop was useful to them and they all made plans to bring the things that they learned back to their communities and continue to make translation of the scriptures into their own languages a priority.

Alice Reed leading a session on “Translator Self-Narrative”

During the many discussions and interaction between the staff and participants through the workshop, the question of “why we do what we do” came up. One of the Blackfoot participants, Larry Waterchief, said that he wanted to be involved in translating the Bible into Blackfoot “Because I love Jesus. It’s as simple as that”.

Others shared that they enjoyed getting to know the other participants, and doing the actual work on their own translations rather than simply listening to instructions. Several indicated that coming to this workshop filled them with peace and comfort, and they felt the love and respect of others.

Thank you again for remembering to pray for these participants and the language communities that they represent, and that their vision and hope for Bible translation in their own languages would become a reality.

Serving with you, Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

That’s the end of the report, but we thought we would share a few more pictures if you have the time to scroll further down.

Tom & Bethany Scott with their youngest daughter Anna, and Meg Billingsley

Alice Reed and Jeff Green work with the Blackfoot team

Norma Jean–Workshop Coordinator: Everything behind the scenes

Sharing delicious meals every day in the dining room

Breakfast with the Naskapi team

Ven. Jacqui Durand leading Gospel-Based Discipleship

Relaxing in the lounge at the end of a busy day

Vincent sharing his testimony during morning devotions

Bill with a helping hand for Marianne

Martin Reed sharing about Wycliffe’s Indigenous Church Relations

Ben Wukasch from the Bible Society leads a session on exegetical resources

Meg Billingsley leads a session on internalization

Kevin Schlechter from the Canadian Bible Society describes resources and support to the participants

Participants with their certificates on the final day

Northern Translation Brief: 2022 First Nations Translator Workshop

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners

We are so grateful for your prayers for a successful First Nations Translator Workshop that was held in Guelph, Ontario in November. God has answered your prayers in wonderful and encouraging ways! This was our sixth such workshop since the first one in 2015, and the first workshop since the beginning of the covid pandemic.

Indigenous translators come to these workshops for instruction and encouragement. This series of workshops was begun as a response to First Nations church leaders who are interested in building the capacity of speakers in their own language groups to have better access to the Scriptures in their own languages.

Participants

The Naskapi language community (northern Quebec) sent the most participants, eight persons had planned to come, representing three distinct organizations:

George Guanish working with Bill at NDC–1994

The Naskapi Development Corporation (NDC) is the indigenous organization that sponsors the Bible Translation project in the community. Bill has been invited to work with the language team since 1994, initially helping with software development and computer support to enable them to use their script on computers, and assisting with database development for the Naskapi dictionary. George Guanish worked with Bill during those early years helping him learn the language and translating the first Naskapi scriptures with the Walking With Jesus literacy series.

Since then, George has worked as the head translator for the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach (NNK), the local First Nations government office.

Since the middle of the covid pandemic, the Naskapi Development Corporation no longer has any full-time translators on their staff. But the NDC Administrative Director, Ruby Sandy-Sandy Robinson, has also been attending and participating in the workshops for the past few years, and has recently become more engaged in Naskapi language work herself.

NDC Administrative Director Ruby Sandy-Robinson

Unable to attend from the Naskapi team this year was former NDC lead translator Silas Nabinicaboo and his wife Susan. (Silas was featured in a previous Translation Brief on about the dedication of the Psalms, here). Retired Naskapi translator Alma Chemaganish was also hoping to come, but she too could not be here with us this year.

The Naskapi community also sent two returning participants representing Saint John’s Anglican Church in Kawawachikamach, lay-reader Robert Swappie and Maggie Mokoush-Swappie, church administrator.

Robert and Maggie, working with Bill J

The Oji-Cree speaking language in northern Ontario had planned to send four participants. Rev. Ruth Kitchekesik came, representing the “Indigenous Spiritual Ministry of Mishamikoweesh” and their Bible Translation program there at the Kingfisher Lake First Nation, in northern Ontario. She accompanied translators Dominick Beardy and Yvonne Winter. Unfortunately, their main translator Jessie Atlookan tested positive for Covid just before departure, and was unable to come.

Ruth Kitchekesik, Yvonne Winter, and Dominick Beardy, working together with help from Matthew Windsor

We were also hoping for and expected participation from three other First Nations languages, but unfortunately no other language groups were represented this year.

Workshop Program

Each year, the workshop staff strives to provide training opportunities for participants that are relevant, stimulating, and lead them to a deeper understanding of the message of hope that we find in the Scriptures.

Jeff Green teaches a session on consistency in parallel Scripture passages

Besides sessions in basic Bible translation principles, this year’s workshop featured three interactive workshop topics in which the participants from their various language groups could work together on practical translation exercises that can be brought back to their home communities.

Bible Society: Consistency in Translation

We were greatly privileged to have assistance from the Canadian Bible Society, who sent their personnel to lead multiple sessions for the participants. Translation Officer Ben Wukasch and Bible Society Intern Sarah Newman, came to teach about the Biblical tools and principles to ensure that the translators’ was consistent and faithful to the original. The Bible Society’s Director of Scripture Translation Dr. Jeff Green also taught multiple sessions to the participants on the important topic of maintaining consistency in their translation projects.

Ben Wukasch getting ready to lead his session

Understanding the Meaning

Another multiple-session series focused on a crucial step for Bible translation that ensures accuracy and faithfulness to the original text called “Understanding the Meaning”. SIL Translation consultant Meg Billingsley guided the language teams through this step by helping them to study the source text until they thoroughly understood the meaning of the passage themselves before they began to render it into their own languages.

Meg Billingsley helps the participants learn to use the resources to assist them with understanding the meaning

Using the “Bloom” book creation software

SIL’s Colin Suggett was on hand to demonstrate and guide the participants in using an extended set of software tools developed to make it easier for speakers of minority languages to produce their own books for use in their communities and churches.

Colin Suggett watches the Naskapi team using the Bloom software to make their own Naskapi language books

In addition to the basic Bible translation principles sessions each day, and the three major topics (Understanding the Meaning, Consistency in Translation, and producing books using the Bloom Literacy Library) the participants also engaged in open sharing sessions about how their work is influencing their communities, how having the Scriptures in their own language has impacted their own lives, and learned how First Nations Bible Translation is being prayed for and supported by the wider Church and Bible Agencies. Leaders from SIL International, Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Bible Society addressed, encouraged and prayed for the participants and the facilitators during the sessions each day.

Corporate worship, Scripture readings and devotional times were also scheduled throughout the week, along with times of fellowship and connection.

Bill leads the group in a song from a Cree language hymnal

Rev. Ruth Kitchekesik leads the group in a devotional talk about a Scripture passage

Canadian Bible Society regional director Kevin Schlechter with the Naskapi and Oji-Cree participants

Wycliffe Canada Project Liaison Dan Grove shares with the participants

Bill sharing with the group

Thank you for your interest in and prayers for us as we help these language groups gain capacity to translate the Bible and develop their languages in their own communities.

Serving with you, Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Back Row: George Guanish, Robert Swappie, Dominick Beardy, Yvonne Winter.
Front Row: Ruby Sandy-Robinson, Maggie Mokoush-Swappie, Rev. Ruth Kitchekesik.

Northern Translation Brief 03Mar2020

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

Today we would value your prayers for three major concerns that we are carrying right now:

First Nations Translator Workshop
Bill’s mom’s heath
New children in our care
Last year’s First Nations Translator Workshop

2020 First Nations Translator Workshop

We have been working hard preparing for this year’s First Nations Translator Workshop to be held in Guelph Ontario, Canada, this March 29 to April 3. There are a dozen staff members serving with us, preparing workshop sessions and presentations for an expected 15 or so indigenous participants from three or four different First Nations languages all across Northern Canada.

Pray that God will bring the right people together and guide us to provide better access to His Message in their languages.

Bill’s mom, Martha Jancewicz, feeding the chickadees this past September at Nico & Brooklyn’s wedding in British Columbia

Bill’s mom and her health

Bill’s mom, Martha Jancewicz, is 93 years old and has been extremely active and healthy her entire life. Just a few weeks ago she was suffering from a sore throat due to what she thought was a stubborn cold. After a few visits to the doctors last month we were all saddened to learn that she has been diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer in her lungs and throat. Just yesterday she had emergency surgery at Yale-New Haven hospital in Connecticut for a tracheotomy to restore her breathing. She will be there for the next week and we are all waiting for an update after a biopsy.

Pray for her comfort, her spirit and for God’s peace and wisdom for all of the family during these difficult and uncertain days.

Joseph (9-years-old) and his sister Emma (10-years-old)
(Their faces in this picture are blurred intentionally to protect their privacy)

New children in our care

While we were traveling last month, the local Children’s Aid Society asked us to take in two children who needed a family resource home. Joseph and Emma have moved in last week and are a part of our family now for as long as they need a loving and safe home to be in. We are making school lunches and reading stories at bedtime and doing all the things that they need to be secure, in partnership with Children’s Aid.

Pray that we continue to look to God for his strength, grace and wisdom as we learn to parent Emma and Joseph together.

Thank you again for your prayers with us for:
1. The Workshop
2. Bill’s mom
3. Joseph & Emma
Gratefully serving with you,
Bill & Norma Jean

PS: We may be able to give you more details on any of these requests if you ask us off-line (by email)

Northern Translation Brief: 2018 Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners

We are so grateful for your prayers for a successful First Nations Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop that was held in Guelph, Ontario in April. God has answered your prayers in wonderful and encouraging ways! This was our fourth such workshop in as many years.

Speakers from three language communities came to this year’s workshop

What is a Mother Tongue Translator?

Even though we serve with a “Bible Translation” organization, we ourselves do not really translate the Bible ourselves: it is the fluent, “mother tongue” speakers of these languages who actually perform the Bible translation day-by-day, verse-by-verse.

Oji-Cree mother tongue translators Zipporah and Jessie at work

These precious individuals speak their mother tongue, their heart language, and with some help from us translate the Word of God into the indigenous language of their community and family. Linguists, consultants, Bible Translation facilitators and others (like us) work along side mother tongue translators–we learn their language, we help them understand what the Bible means, and we equip them to make the best translation they can into their own language.

What is a Mother Tongue Translator Workshop?

While most of the work of Bible translation happens in the mother tongue translators’ home community, we conduct workshops to bring together many mother tongue translators from several communities. That’s what we did in Guelph this April.

SIL International Translation consultant Steve Kempf teaching about Old Testament sacrifice

At workshops like this, the mother tongue translators can benefit by learning from a wide range of facilitators who serve on staff and come to bring their experience and expertise, helping each translation team with their own unique challenges.

Bible Society translation consultant Ruth Heeg teaching translation basics

They can also learn about new tools, materials and media that can help them bring the message of God’s love in their own language to a wider range of people in their own communities.

Colin Suggett demonstrates a talking “Scripture App” with audio

Martin Reed helps participants plan the future of their language

We usually think of the Bible in a “book” when we talk about Bible translation, but the Word of God is living and active, and is a vast story of God’s love for and redemption of every people, language and nation. At this workshop, participants were also trained to craft the story of the Bible in their own language and tell these stories orally.

Meg Billingsley helps the participants learn the story of Adam & Eve

Matt Windsor helps the Oji-Cree team craft and record their oral Bible story

Even more importantly, mother tongue translators interact with other mother tongue translators from other languages, learning how their shared experiences can be an encouragement to each other, and realizing that they are not alone doing their task of Bible Translation for their home community.

Speakers of Naskapi, Oji-Cree and Swampy Cree learning together

Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, the National Indigenous Bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, addresses, encourages and prays for the participants

Why translate the Bible into minority First Nations languages?

God is doing a work in the hearts of speakers of indigenous languages across Canada. Their grandparents and great-grandparents were taught God’s message of love and grace during the past century and a half. Many of these learned the Word of God from books that were translated into languages that were not in their own their “mother tongue”, but sometimes some other language, such as a neighbouring dialect of Cree.

1863 translation of the Bible in Western Cree

Many of the First Nations mother tongue translators that we work with love Jesus. They also love their communities and they love their traditional languages that they learned from their parents and grandparents. Now, God has given them the desire to pass on their faith to their own children and grandchildren, along with their precious language which is such a vital part of their culture.

The history of relations between the First Peoples of this land and non-indigenous people have been sometimes strained and difficult. Practices of the newcomers and policies of our governments often resulted in the tragic loss of their traditional languages. Besides providing access to God’s message of love in their own language, the First Nations Bible translation movement also gives speakers of these languages the resources they need to make their languages sustainable and even to flourish.

God has been using these MTT workshops to train, equip and encourage mother tongue translators with the skills and capacity they desire to see their vision and realized.

Thank you for your prayers for this one. They were answered in wonderful ways.

Serving with you, Bill & Norma Jean

Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald

“Mother tongue Bible translation is the most important thing you can be involved in for your community. It is really saving lives. It is hope that we give to our children and our grandchildren and great-grand children. The Holy Spirit assists you in your work of translation because it results in praise to God.

“The Word of God must become living and real in the languages of our communities. It is a part of our preparation of the coming of Christ: Bible translation in your local languages has a role in God’s plan for the universe. So, it is vital on a physical level but also on an spiritual and eternal level as well.”

–from the address by the Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Bishop, to the participants at the 2018 First Nations Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) workshop, Tuesday, 17 April 2018, Guelph, Ontario.

More pictures from this year’s workshop:

Northern Translation Brief 09Apr2018

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

Next week, the Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) workshop for First Nations Bible translators will be held in Guelph, Ontario (April 15-20).
What are these workshops for? They are a response to the request from First Nations church leaders and community members themselves, to bring together people from different related language communities, creating a safe environment for mutual encouragement, and equipping their own community members and speakers of their languages to more adequately handle the complex task of Bible translation.

Participants are guided to work together at the 2017 MTT Workshop

The program this year is multi-tracked to accommodate both beginner and more experienced translators.

We are also planning a program that includes:

Oral Bible Storytelling:
This year, besides the usual modules covering translation principles, we are also pleased to announce that there will be an extended focus on Oral Storying. First Nations culture places a high value on storytelling, and this approach ties together the Stories of our Creator and His love for His People with the traditional First Nations practice of passing stories to the next generation orally in their heart language. These story modules will be facilitated by Rod & Liesel Bartlett.

Old Testament Sacrificial System:
This year, guest instructor Steve Kempf is introducing the topic of sacrifice in the Old Testament, in particular, the key terms for each of the five main sacrifices as well as how the sacrificial system worked. He is also presenting about the Day of Atonement and its significance as perhaps the most holy day in the Israelite sacrificial system. There are a lot of key terms here that extend throughout the Old Testament which help us to understand the significance of the death of Jesus Christ.

Participatory Methods and the Future of Our Language:
Another guest instructor, Carletta Lahn will continue applying the theme of participatory methods to grassroots local indigenous language program planning to help with the maintenance and sustainability of these threatened mother tongues.

Pray that all these who come will experience God’s anointing, protection and provision as they travel from near and far and serve First Nations language communities.

Participants in 2017 discover how and where their own language is used.

Thank you for your prayers for the staff, participants and the program of the upcoming 2018 workshop.
Also remember those traveling from long distances, as they pack and plan their trips this week. Our next message with prayer requests will be from the workshop site next week.

Serving with you,
Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Northern Translation Brief 02Apr2018

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

Thank you for praying for the upcoming Mother Tongue Translator Workshop participants last week. Please keep them in your prayers through the next few weeks. We’ll send you another reminder.
This week we are also asking you to remember the staff for the upcoming workshop:

The next Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) workshop for First Nations Bible translators will be held this April 15-20 in Guelph, Ontario.
First Nations church leaders are seeing their vision for workshops that bring together people from different related language communities realized: creating a safe environment for mutual encouragement, and equipping speakers of their languages to more adequately handle the complex task of Bible translation.

Staff (Jeff Green) works with the participants at the 2017 MTT Workshop

We are blessed, especially this year, to have a large staff to share the teaching and facilitation tasks for the workshop sessions. We hope that you will find the time to pray for each of these staff members by name:

Cree Initiative “Next Generation” teams:
Alice & Martin Reed
Matthew & Caitlin Windsor
Meg Billingsley
Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz
Senior Translation Consultants and Bible Translation Facilitators with SIL/Wycliffe BIble Translators and the Canadian Bible Society (both active and ‘retired’)
Steve Kempf
Ruth Heeg
Jeff Green
Rod & Liesel Bartlett
Colin & Dot Suggett
Scripture Access team leader for SIL Americas “North Region”
Carletta Lahn
Other participating SIL & Wycliffe Staff
Beat Kunz
Colleen Boyd
Tom Woodward
Brandie Green
Special guests
Bishop Mark MacDonald
Dr. Cindy Westfall
Tom & Bethany Scott

There is still the possibility of a few more staff and/or guests. We will keep you posted.

Pray that all these who come will experience God’s anointing, protection and provision as they travel from near and far and serve First Nations Bible Translators.

Translation consultant staff (Steve Kempf) presenting to participants in 2017

Thank you for your prayers for the staff and participants at the upcoming 2018 workshop.

Serving with you,
Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Northern Translation Brief 26Mar2018

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

We are so grateful for your prayers for Bill as he continues to recover from his accident with the tree, chainsaw and ladder last November. The ongoing challenges include a dull headache and back pain. We appreciate your continued prayers, but with God’s help we have been turning our attention to something else.

Over the past few months we have been anticipating, planning and coordinating the next Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) workshop that will be held this April 15-20 in Guelph, Ontario.

Our next few Translation Briefs will be inviting you to pray for this event, by focusing on the participants, the staff, and the guests; and also on the vision, the program and the effects.

The First Nations church leaders and speakers of these related Algonquian languages identified capacity-building and training for their own translators as one of their priorities at the First Nations Bible Translation Capacity-Building Gathering in Prince Albert back in June of 2014. They were inspired by how God’s Word translated by and used by the Naskapi community was having a growing positive influence on their lives and creating a hunger to know God in their own language.

They had a vision for workshops that bring together people from different related language communities, creating a safe environment for mutual encouragement, and equipping them to more adequately handle the complex task of Bible translation.

Participants work with the staff at the 2017 MTT Workshop

Again this year, the Naskapi community is sending both experienced and newer language workers involved in Bible translation and language development work. You are invited to pray for each of these participants by name:

Naskapi Bible translation project, Naskapi Development Corporation:
Silas Nabinicaboo
Ruby Sandy-Robinson
Amanda Swappie
Kissandra Sandy-Dominique
Naskapi translation services, Naskapi Nation Quebec:
George Guanish, translator
St. John’s Church (Naskapi) Kawawachikamach, Quebec:
Susan Nabinicaboo, Naskapi lay reader
Cheyenne Vachon (possibly)
Oji-Cree Bible translation project, Indigenous Spiritual Ministry of Mishamikoweesh, Ontario:
Jessie Atlookan
Ruth Kitchekesik
Saloma Sainnawap
St. John’s Church (Swampy Cree) Tataskweyak Cree Nation Manitoba:
Larry Beardy
Elizabeth Beardy

There is still the possibility of a few more participants. We will keep you posted.

Pray that these who come will experience God’s peace, protection and provision as they travel so far from their home communities.

Workshop Participants in 2017 working on domains of language use

Thank you for your prayers for the participants for the 2018 workshop.

Serving with you,
Bill & Norma Jean Jancewicz

Northern Translation Brief: 2017 Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

Ever since First Nations representatives and church leaders met with us in Prince Albert in June of 2014, we have been responding to their priorities identified for the First Nations Bible Translation Capacity-Building Initiative. One of these priorities was to coordinate a series of Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshops to help the speakers of First Nations languages acquire the skills that they need to take the lead in their own Bible Translation and community language development projects.

We planned and coordinated the 2017 Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop at the Guelph Bible Conference Centre from April 9th to the 14th. Speakers of First Nations languages from three different language communities were able to come to the workshop this year.

Travel Delays and Challenges

In the weeks leading up to the workshop, we had also planned an additional translation checking session for the Oji-Cree translation team: They were to come to southern Ontario the week before the workshop and gather at our home in Windham Centre with the translation consultant (Meg Billingsley) and one of the new Bible Translation facilitation teams (Matthew & Caitlin Windsor). However, a relative of one of the Oji-Cree translators passed away that week, so they were unable to come down early.

With Matthew & Caitlin at Simcoe Immanuel CRC church before the workshop

We are grateful for all the offers of food, lodging and assistance that we received from our church family in preparation for this checking session, and even though it did not work out–we are happy that the Oji-Cree team was able to come to the workshop itself anyway. The translation team and the consultant are making alternate arrangements so that they can work through the scripture checking that they had planned.

Most of the Naskapi team had hoped to leave their community of Kawawachikamach by plane the Friday before the workshop–but a snowstorm on April 7th cancelled their flight. They were eventually able to rebook on Monday, the first day of the workshop, and arrived safe and sound (but tired!) a 1:30 AM Tuesday morning!

Silas Nabinicaboo

Silas, the senior translator for the Naskapi team, had to cancel his attendance at the workshop this year–while he was en-route, his mother Susie had heart problems and was flown out of the community to the hospital in Quebec City, where she eventually underwent an operation for a pacemaker. Silas stayed by her side rather than coming to the workshop.

So, of the 15 registered First Nations participants, 14 were finally able to come.

Participants

Coming for the first time were two experienced James Bay Cree translators from the Mistissini Lake Quebec community, Mary-Jane Petawabano and Juliette Neeposh. They had worked on the translation of the New Testament in their language and came to find out about starting to translate the Old Testament too.

Mary Jane Petawabano and Juliette Neeposh, from Mistissini Lake, Quebec

The Kingfisher Lake Oji-Cree community sent five of their Bible translators, who continue to work on their new translation of the Gospels and Epistles for the Sunday Lectionary readings. Four of their translators, Ruth Kitcheksik, Jessie Atlookan, Zipporah Mamakwa, and Dominick Beardy had already been to previous workshops. They brought with them a new member of their team, Saloma Sainnawap, who came to this translator workshop for the first time. Two other members of the Oji-Cree translation team who had attended previously had to stay behind at Kingfisher Lake: Ruth Morris and Theresa Sainnawap.

Jessie Atlookan, Saloma Sainnawap, Zipporah Mamakwa, Ruth Kitchekesik and Dominick Beardy from Kingfisher Lake, Ontario

The Naskapi language community of Kawawachikamach sent translators and language personnel from three of their community organizations: The Naskapi School sent Naskapi language teacher Seasi Swappie, and the Naskapi Nation sent their lead translator George Guanish and the editor of the Naskapi newspaper “Naskapi Tipachimoon”, Isaac Einish. This was Isaac’s first time at a translator workshop outside his community.

Isaac Einish, Seasi Swappie & George Guanish from Kawawachikamach Quebec

The Naskapi Development Corporation (NDC), which is continuing work on the Naskapi Old Testament translation, sent four participants: Tshiueten Vachon, Amanda Swappie, Kabimbetas Noah Mokoush and the NDC administrative director, Ruby Sandy-Robinson. As noted earlier, their senior translator Silas Nabinicaboo was unable to attend.

Naskapi team working together

Program

Like in previous years, the program of the workshop was crafted to meet Bible translation training needs of the First Nations translators. Since this was the third workshop, and many of the participants had been to similar workshops in the past, just a brief time on the first day was spent doing review, so that all the new participants could find their way alongside the more experienced ones.

“Bible Translation Principles” and “Bible Translation Basics”

The core curriculum was from the translation textbook “Bible Translation Basics: Communicating Scripture in a Relevant Way” by Harriet Hill. We have used this book since 2015, and we are slowly working through it with plenty of review at a pace that can be followed by the translators. We are also using more conventional translation training materials, such as “Bible Translation: an introductory course in translation principles” by Katy Barnwell, and other materials. We also featured a special topic again this year taught by Steve Kempf, an international translation consultant, on “Translating in the book of Proverbs”.

Steve Kempf on Proverbs

We also focused on a range of other practical topics, including the use of cell-phone technology for scripture engagement, participatory methods for domains of language use in a community, and the important role of oral story telling in presenting the message of the Bible, and teaching skills to use computer and software tools to help with understanding the Bible’s message better, and to help with the translation work.

Staff

Besides Bill and Norma Jean who coordinated the workshop and taught some of the lesson modules, we were privileged to have many other teaching staff on hand this year from a wide range of experience and background.

As noted above Steve Kempf was with us on Tuesday and Thursday for the focus on translating Proverbs. We were also assisted by translation consultant Ruth Heeg, Canada Institute of Linguistics (CanIL) professor Jeff Green from Tyndale University College, and Canadian Bible Society (CBS) director of scripture translations Myles Leitch, all of whom taught lessons in sequence from Bible Translation Basics.

Jeff Green with Ruth Kitchekesik and Dominick Beardy from Kingfisher Lake

We were also very pleased to have the following “Next Generation” members of the team on the teaching staff this year: Alice & Martin Reed, currently serving their in-field internship with the Naskapi translation project; Matthew & Caitlin Windsor, also preparing to serve as Bible translation facilitators to First Nations communities, and Meg Billingsley, translation consultant-in-training working in Cree projects.

Meg Billingsley’s teaching module

Alice Reed (standing, right) with the Naskapi translation team

Matt Windsor’s teaching module

Catherine Aldred-Shull’s presentation

Canadian Bible Society translation officer-in-training Catherine Aldred-Shull was also on hand to demonstrate a Cree Bible reading cell phone app and present her research on oral storytelling as it relates to Bible translation.

Terri Scruggs, Ruth Heeg, Liesel Bartlett

Wycliffe Canada projects manager Terri Scruggs was with us for the entire week and presented a compelling module to the translators on the importance of sharing how the translated scriptures are having a positive influence in their own First Nations language communities, and Wycliffe translation facilitators Rod & Liesel Bartlett guided the participants in learning to craft chronological Bible stories in their own language. Rod & Liesel have served for many years working with the James Bay Cree First Nations communities in Quebec, helping guide two separate New Testament translations to completion–one in James Bay Cree (southern or inland dialect, 2001) and one in the northern dialect of James Bay Cree, just published by the Bible Society at the end of 2016. The staff and participants took time to praise God and celebrate His faithfulness to the James Bay Cree communities during the workshop.

Juliette Neeposh, Rod & Liesel Bartlett, Mary Jane Petawabano, Ruth Heeg

Guests

We were pleased and honoured again this year to have a visit from the National Indigenous Bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, Mark MacDonald. He came to address the participants and to encourage them in their work of bringing the message of the scriptures to their own language communities. He reminded us again that the message of the Gospel is the one thing that the more it is translated, the more we as the Body of Christ gain and know of the love of God.

Mark MacDonald encouraging the translation teams

Esther Wesley, the coordinator of the Anglican Healing Fund along with Nancy Hurn, the archivist of the Anglican Church of Canada were also on hand to meet and encourage the First Nations participants.

Elaine Bombay, a member of the Wycliffe News Network photojournalism team, served the workshop by being on hand Monday and Thursday to interact with participants, hear their stories and take wonderful photographs, many of which are featured here in this article. Thank you for these pictures, Elaine!

Colin & Dot Suggett, Wycliffe Canada team currently serving in Burkina Faso, was on hand to observe and get to know the First Nations participants–they are seeking the Lord’s direction for how they might contribute to the Bible translation movement among First Nations. Also on hand was Ben Wukasch, Wycliffe Canada candidate, Jeff Westlake, and Jack & Joann Koetsier, Wycliffe Canada partners.

Colin & Dot Suggett, Ben Wukasch

Also again this year Wycliffe Canada Korean Diaspora Church Connections 한인 디아스포라 교회 협력 team brought a group representing the Korean church, who continue to pray for, encourage and assist their First Nations brothers and sisters to have better access to the scriptures in their own languages. This year the First Nations participants were invited to pray for the needs of the Korean church. Many of the First Nations participants shared how blessed they were to reconnect with their Korean friends. Having guests attend the workshop is a good way for relationships to develop within the Body of Christ, since Bible translation remains the responsibility of the whole church (Kirk Franklin 2008)

Visitors from the Korean Diaspora Church Connections Team

Participant Evaluations

On Friday, the last day of the workshop, we took some time to reflect and evaluate the
workshop program, and all the participants provided feedback for the organizers to consider for the next workshop. Here is a sampling of some of the participants’ comments:

What was something new that you learned during this workshop?

“…Translating Proverbs.”
“…How to make my translation relevant to my community.”
“…How to record and edit audio using my laptop–really neat!”
“…Implicit and Explicit information in translation.”

What did you particularly like about this workshop?

“…The hands-on activities on language use within our communities.”
“…All the facilitators.”
“…I liked participating in small groups.”
“…Talking about Jesus.”
“…Teamwork, involvement in tasks.”
“…The sense of community and fellowship with other First Nations and ethnicities.”

What were the best aspects of the workshop?

“…When we got to work together.”
“…Hearing testimonies from experienced First Nations translators”
“…Hearing reading and singing in our languages.”
“…I felt like I fit in and that people were eager to help us, and that we were listened to.”
“…how everything was connected in the way the workshop was taught.”
“…being encouraged by one another.”

God continues to be at work bringing His message to His people in their own languages. We are so grateful that you can be a part of this work with us. Thank you for your prayers and support for this workshop and for the wonderful things God continues to do in the lives of our First Nations friends.

Serving with you,

Bill and Norma Jean

Alice & Martin Reed, Matthew & Caitlin Windsor

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 03Apr2017

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

We were counting the months and then counting the weeks and now we are counting the DAYS until the 2017 First Nations Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop that is being held in Guelph Ontario, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, April 9-14, 2017.

This Translation Brief invites you to pray for this event, by focusing on the staff, the participants, and the guests; and also on the vision, the program and the effects.

Vision

The First Nations church leaders and speakers of these Algonquian languages identified capacity-building and training for their own translators as one of their priorities at the First Nations Bible Translation Capacity-Building Gathering in Prince Albert back in June of 2014. They were inspired by how God’s Word translated by and used by the Naskapi community was having a growing positive influence on their lives and creating a hunger to know God in their own language. They had a vision for workshops that bring together people from different related language communities, creating a safe environment for mutual encouragement, and equipping them to more adequately handle the complex task of Bible translation.

First Nations Bible Translation Capacity-Building Initiative

Participants

Naskapi Bible translation project, Naskapi Development Corporation:

Silas Nabinicaboo
Ruby Sandy-Robinson
Tshiueten Vachon
Kabimbetas Mokoush
Amanda Swappie

Naskapi translation services, Naskapi Nation:

George Guanish, translator
Isaac Einish, editor of the Naskapi Newspaper

Naskapi language education, Jimmy Sandy Memorial School:

Seasi Swappie, Naskapi language teacher

Oji-Cree Bible translation project, Indigenous Spiritual Ministry of Mishamikoweesh:

Jessie Atlookan
Ruth Kitchekesik
Dominick Beardy (going in place of Theresa Sainnawap this time)
Zipporah Mamakwa
Saloma Sainnawap

Council of the Cree Nation of Mistissini:

Mary-Jane Petawabono
Juliette Neeposh

Pray that these who come will experience God’s peace, protection and provision as they travel so far from their home communities.

First Nations Mother Tongue Translators at the 2015 workshop

Program

The special sessions this year are on the topic of translating Proverbs by Steve Kempf. Catherine Aldred-Shull has offered to present a session on Orality, Literacy and The Bible. Also Norma Jean will be leading the language groups in an activity on Domains of Language Use applying Participatory Methods, and Terri Scruggs is preparing a module about Translation Project Management for mother tongue translators. Rod & Liesel Bartlett will talk about Chronological Bible Storying.

Staff teaching at the 2016 workshop

Staff

The rest of the staff on the roster are continuing to teach the participants from the textbook we began in previous years, Bible Translation Basics: Communicating Scripture in a Relevant Way, by Harriet Hill. The new Wycliffe teams assigned to First Nations projects–Matthew & Caitlin Windsor and Alice & Martin Reed–will be on hand for the entire workshop and presenting lessons from this book. Also, Ruth Heeg, Meg Billingsley and Bill will lead some sessions using this book and other materials as well. Further, Jeff Green, an Wycliffe member teaching linguistics and translation at Tyndale, and Myles Leitch from the Canadian Bible Society will also each be teaching lessons from the book.

I know that we will all be grateful if you remember to pray for the staff members by name:

Bill & Norma Jean–First Nations Bible translation workshop coordinators
Matthew & Caitlin Windsor–new Wycliffe Bible translation facilitators
Alice & Martin Reed–new Wycliffe Bible translation facilitators and interns serving the Naskapi language project
Terri Scruggs–Wycliffe Canada project administrator
Meg Billingsley–Translation consultant-in-training
Catherine Aldred-Shull–Canadian Bible Society translation officer-in-training
Myles Leitch–Canadian Bible Society director of scripture translations
Ruth Heeg–Translation consultant mentor
Steve Kempf–SIL International translation consultant
Jeff Green–CanIL instructor of linguistics
Rod & Liesel Bartlett–Wycliffe Bible translation facilitators

Pray that these who are giving their time and expertise will experience God’s empowering, protection and provision as they come to serve the First Nations Bible translators.

Guests

Like at previous workshops, a number of people who are interested in or supporters of the First Nations Bible Translation movement have asked to come to observe or visit the staff and participants during the workshop. We are happy to accommodate them, and found that their presence and encounter with the First Nations Bible translators has been a mutual encouragement and a blessing. Pray with us that this will also be so this year. The guests we are expecting are:

Elaine Bombay–Wycliffe Global Alliance photojournalist
Colin & Dot Suggett–Wycliffe members interested in First Nations translation projects
Daniel Yoon–Wycliffe Canada Church Connections team
Gyoojun Lee–Wycliffe Canada Church Connections team
Ben Wukasch–Wycliffe Canada project facilitator candidate
Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald–National Indigenous Bishop, Anglican Church of Canada
Esther Wesley–coordinator of the Anglican Healing Fund, Anglican Church of Canada
Nancy Hurn–archivist, Anglican Church of Canada
Jack & Joanne Koetsier–partner/supporter of Bible translation projects
Jeff Westlake–Senior Development Officer, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Guests at the 2016 workshop

Tshiueten, Kabimbetas and Cheyenne at mealtime at the 2015 workshop

Pray that these who are investing their time and interest will sense God’s wisdom and direction in their lives as they come to interact with the First Nations Bible translators.

Effects

In previous years, the participants expresssed their appreciation for the opportunity to take part in this training, but also were grateful for:

“…Learning from patient facilitators who were patient with me.”
“…Learning new things about translating the Bible.”
“…Sharing of other teams’ experiences.”
“…I enjoyed the visitors and all they offered for us in their prayers, and the direction of the facilitators.”
“…The singing and devotions and great workshop presenters, and the explanations about the basics of translation.”

Please pray with us for the ongoing positive effects that the participants can bring back to their Bible Translation projects in their home communities.

Next Generation Bible Translation Team

This is the first workshop where all of the current Next Generation personnel are coming to interact with the participants. Please pray for God’s provision, deepening relationships and clear guidance and wisdom for these who have been called to serve First Nations Bible translation.

Staff: Meg Billingsley, Matt & Caitlin Windsor, and baby Hazel (ᐊᐱᑯᓯᔅ)

Staff: Martin and Alice Reed

Thank you for remembering this upcoming Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) workshop in your prayers between now and Easter, and may God bless you as you celebrate His victory over death and the grave.

Serving with you,

Bill and Norma Jean Jancewicz

Northern Translation Brief: 2016 Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Bill Jancewicz

Our Dear Partners,

When the First Nations representatives and church leaders met with us in Prince Albert in June of 2014, they identified several priorities for the First Nations Bible Translation Capacity-Building Initiative. One of these priorities was to conduct a series of Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshops to help the speakers of First Nations languages learn the skills that they need to be involved in Bible Translation and community language development.

With assistance from our friends at the Canadian Bible Society, we planned and facilitated the 2016 Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop held at the Guelph Bible Conference Centre from April 24th to the 29th. Speakers of First Nations languages from four different language communities were able to come to this workshop.

What Happens at a Mother Tongue Translator (MTT) Workshop?

Every morning we began with a hymn: we sang in Naskapi, or Oji-Cree, or Cree, either from an old “legacy” hymnbook, or an up-to-date adaptation into today’s language, or even a completely new song. The participants all enjoyed learning worship songs in their different languages from one another, praising God in their beautiful languages.

Myles Leitch, Canadian Bible Society

Then each day one of the staff shared a devotional from the Word of God. Whenever it was available, the scripture passage was read in the mother tongue of one or more of the First Nations languages of the participants. We reflected about how God uses language in His Mission (Genesis 2, John 1 and Psalm 8); how God’s Word is meant to be understood (Romans 15:1-6), which became a theme passage for the entire workshop. We considered the spiritual warfare we are engaged in when when we are working on making God’s message clear for the first time in the languages spoken in these communities, and how the stories of God’s love and grace can be communicated and passed on in engaging and life-changing ways.

Next, the staff took turns teaching chapters from the Bible Translation Basics textbook, which focuses on communication theory, along with modules from the Bible Translation Principles course, which focuses on distinguishing the “form” from the “meaning” of the message, and participants learned how to express the meaning of the message in the form that corresponds to their own language and culture. Each of these resources were useful to help learners understand the translation task and to help them gain the skills they need to do it well.

We also introduced several tools for Scripture Engagement, exploring different ways that the message of the Bible can be made available in print and non-print media, including the use of audio playback devices (Megavoice) and graphic-novel style presentations of God’s Story such as “Good and Evil“.

Resources for sustainable local Language Development programs were presented, which offered ways of involving their own community leadership, community organizations and education with their translation teams to help them:

To raise awareness of the current situation of their traditional language.
To raise awareness of how they use all of the other languages at their disposal.
To help the community come to a decision and a response about what they want to do with their entire language ‘repertoire’ in the future.

Some of the more practical and technical aspects of the Bible Translation process were covered each day, including the use of the collaborative translation software program ParaTExt, which assists translators by providing source translations and resource documents as well as tools to assist them in translating into their own language and checking their work. Several of the participants had never used this software, so we were careful to start very gradually. Those participants who were more familiar with the program helped the beginners during hands-on practice sessions in small groups.

Steve Kempf, SIL International consultant

On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, SIL International translation consultant Steve Kempf came as a guest instructor to teach us all about translating names and especially the special care and consideration that need to be taken into account when translating the Names of God, such as Elohim, Adonai, and YHWH (Yahweh).

Bill also taught modules on the Algonquian language family and grammatical structures, the history of Bible Translations in First Nations languages, and practical considerations for setting up a local language development program that includes Bible translation and individual professional development. Discussion between the translation teams from different language communities helped them to see how the different challenges that each one faces may be addressed.

So each day contained a stimulating blend of discussion and instruction, worship and encouragement from the scriptures, training and capacity-building. We closed the week with a celebration and presentation of certificates to all the participants.

Guests, Connections and Staff

Natasha and Dwayne, Word Alive magazine

For the first four days of the workshop, Word Alive editor Dwayne Janke and photographer Natasha Ramírez were “embedded journalists” with the workshop staff and team. Word Alive magazine is Wycliffe Canada’s journal whose mission is to inform, inspire and involve the Christian public as partners in the worldwide Bible translation movement. They have already featured a wonderful description of the Naskapi Bible Translation project in their Spring 2013 edition. They were with us gathering material to for a future publication to highlight First Nations Bible translation in Canada.

Throughout the week we were also visited by several guests who were interested in making connections with and serving First Nations Bible translation projects, including Paul Arsenault and Jeff Green from Tyndale University and the Canadian Institute of Linguistics (CanIL), Benjamin Wukasch, a student interested in service in First Nations language communities. Our guests also included staff from the Canadian Bible Society Scripture Translation offices in Kitchener, Ontario, Barb Penner and Tomas Ortiz.

Jeff Green and Paul Arsenault, CanIL / Tyndale

Barb Penner and Tomas Ortiz, Canadian Bible Society

On Thursday, Wycliffe Canada Korean Diaspora Church Connections 한인 디아스포라 교회 협력 brought a group representing the Korean church, who are very interested in praying for and working together to assist their First Nations brothers and sisters to have better access to the scriptures in their own languages. Many of the First Nations participants shared how blessed they were to meet their new Korean friends.

At the end of the week Elaine Bombay, a photojournalist with Wycliffe Global Alliance visited the workshop to meet the participants and also helped by taking photographs of the staff and participants and the workshop closing ceremonies. Several of the photographs posted here are her work. Thank you Elaine!

The workshop was staffed by faciliators and instructors Bill and Norma Jean, Ruth Heeg and Myles Leitch from the Canadian Bible Society, Meg Billingsley, an SIL translation consultant in training, and Matthew and Caitlin Windsor, who are preparing to serve as translation project facilitators in a First Nations community soon.

Ruth Heeg, Canadian Bible Society translation consultant

Meg Billingsley, Matt & Caitlin Windsor, and baby Hazel (ᐊᐱᑯᓯᔅ)

Participant Evaluations

What was something new that you learned during this workshop?

“…Translating Biblical Names.”
“…God is trying to speak to people in their language.”
“…Saying “less” can mean “more”.”
“…The features in Paratext–I got to learn more about how to use them.”

What did you particularly like about this workshop?

“…Meeting other Algonquian language speakers.”
“…The technical part–how to use the programs.”
“…I enjoyed the whole workshop.”
“…Singing hymns / Everything.”
“…Hymn singing, devotions, sharing, everything.”
“…I liked the experience with the Koreans.”

What were the best aspects of the workshop?

“…Learning from patient facilitators who were patient with me.”
“…Learning new things about translating the Bible.”
“…Giving our opinions and experiences.”
“…Sharing of other teams’ experiences.”
“…I enjoyed the visitors and all they offered for us in their prayers, and the direction of the facilitators.”
“…The singing and devotions and great workshop presenters, and the explanations about the basics of translation.”

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: https://www.wycliffe.ca/member/jancewicz-billnormajean/