African Drumbeat February, 2015

Al Hawthorne, Director
Peg Seitz, Assistant Director Francophone
Jennifer Bartholomew, Assistant Director Horn of Africa
Greetings from Southern California! Our transition back to the U.S. is now mostly complete and we are
adjusting to new time zone realities.
But the work will continue on in Africa and I will continue to travel to those locations where I can best
serve the efforts of our team and partners in Bible translation.
You will see later in this edition that MAST has come to the African Continent. MAST stands for,
Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation. It is a new way of helping our partners to do Bible
Translation. Peg Seitz and Blake Berry attended a workshop in Bamenda, Cameroon where many church
leaders and translation partners participated in learning all about this new methodology of Bible
translation.
In the mean-time, work continues on the Open Bible Story projects throughout Africa, with languages
such as Arabic, French, Amharic and Swahili underway as well as several other languages which have
commitments to translate. This process will expedite the translation of the 50 key Bible stories into a
multitude of languages in Africa.
Finally, construction continues to proceed in various countries with a new roof and solar panels installed
at the translation center in Bunia, DRC and the work in Juba, South Sudan is rapidly finishing up. Also,
the new dining facility at NBTT in Jos, Nigeria is in the finishing stages. As I type this, structural work
and roof repairs for our partners in Bangui, Central Africa Republic is also in progress.
Please continue to pray for the staff that are traveling and working in difficult areas of Africa and as
the continent deals with a multitude of threats.
There is no time like the present to be involved in the acceleration of Bible translation so that the love
of God can be understood in mother tongue languages of those on the front lines. It can and will make a
difference!
Al Hawthorne
Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39

People & Projects - Theres Something Happening Here

Africa High Priority Jobs
Job Title
Location
Organization
Job #
Program Manager
South Sudan
Wycliffe Associates
885071
.
Construction Manager
Central African Rep.
Wycliffe Associates
885746
Finance Manager
Central African Rep.
ACATBA
884643
Center Manager
Central African Rep.
Wycliffe Associates
885743
Language Program Facilitator Various Options
Wycliffe Associates
885735
Program Manager
Nigeria
Wycliffe Associates
884363
For more information, contact Judy at judith_yon@wycliffeassociates.org
Upcoming Teams
Team
Country
Start Date
End Date
English Language Learning
Ethiopia
04/13/15
05/01/15
Luke Partnership Workshop Nigeria
05/11/15
05/29/15
Luke Partnership Workshop Nigeria
07/06/15
07/24/15
Luke Partnership Workshop Nigeria
09/14/15
10/02/15
For more information, contact Judy at judith_yon@wycliffeassociates.org

Project Update from South Sudan

A major construction project in Juba, South Sudan is once again underway after an earlier evacuation of
Peter and Sunny Oh. Peter is the designer and project manager for the building program that had been
developed with the director of SIL Juba. It consists of four apartments, an office building with offices
and a large conference room.
The construction is scheduled to end by the end of March and will provide much needed spaces for new
staff members. We thank God for his provision of good workers. Peter enjoys training these workers
and starting every morning with devotions.

MAST Program in Cameroon

At the invitation of CABTAL, our national partner in Cameroon, WA has provided a team of five to
facilitate MAST training among five people groups. Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation is
exactly that not doing translation for the groups, but providing them with tools and resources that will
enable them to do the translations!

Dan Kramer setting up for Day 1.

Irene and Monica from Mankon working hard.

The more the merrier! We were expecting four language groups, but on the day before the event
started, a fifth group showed up at the Bamenda Regional Training Center for a program that was
not scheduled for this time frame. As a result, we added a fifth language, and we believe that God
is the one who invited these team members! On Day 1, two ladies from the new language were a bit
nervous to be included in translation. After all, handling the Word if God is serious business! But by
the end of the day the two teachers had gained confidence and had accurately translated 11 verses
of Mark 1! By Day 3 we had 32 participants representing the five language and things are moving!
We also welcomed a WA Video Team to record this even and other work being accomplished here.

Marketing Meets MAST!

Five groups 42 people!

Praise God for a good start to the first MAST event in Africa after team members
arrived safely in Cameroon despite some difficult travel situations. Pray for a
successful translation event with five language groups and for long-term impact among
those people groups.
Praise God for Nick and Shelly Swicegood who have adjusted well to their positions as
WA Volunteer Center Managers in Yaound, Cameroon. Pray that the family of six can
weather the cultural adaptations needed in the next few months.
Pray for wisdom and safety for a WA team of three working on the ACATBA Center in
Bangui and that God would bring just the right people to fill three open positions with in
that country.
Praise God for the completion of a project to re-roof a building in Bunia, Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Pray for good use of time in Als transition back to life in the United States while still
maintaining his work (Gods work!) in Africa. March 15 is Als birthday.
Pray for the many WA staff members traveling around the world.
Praise God for the upcoming Gateway Language Event in Orlando and for Gods provision
of native French speakers who will be participating.
Pray for a successful and enjoyable English Language Learning Course for Jean and
Anne Ndiriman who will be filling the role of Program Manager in Chad.
Praise God for a French congregation in Paris who are doing checking for Open Bible
Stories in French. Pray that they will stay engaged until the task is complete.
Pray for safe travel for Blake, Lindsey and Madelyn Berry who are coming back to the
US for a mini-furlough in early March.
For Carole Ellis, that she is able to honor God in all that He requires of her.
Praise God for all of the hard work done by Jennifer Bartholomew. March 15 is her
birthday.