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Press Release: May 31, 2024
Friday Field Notes
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MENDE CHECKING – DR. JIM AND SUSAN KAISER
As the Mende team and I worked through the book of 1 Kings, there were a variety of revisions that were made. Here are a few of them.
1 Kings 13:1 – The translation said, “As Jeroboamwas standing near the altar to offer incense, the Lord sent a prophet from the land of Judah to go to the town of Bethel.” The relative timing of the events in the translation was wrong. God did not send the prophet while Jeroboam was standing at the altar, but had sent him at some earlier time. He arrived while Jeroboam was standing by the altar. The translation was revised to show this.
1 Kings 22:20 – The translation said, “…so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” The word “fall” here is a euphemism for “die, be killed”. But in Mende, “fall” does not have that meaning. It only has the literal meaning of “fall down”. The translation was revised to “die”
KEREWE TRAINING – REV. DR. MICHAEL AND JO ANN MEGAHAN
In the picture to the left of this are Rev. Mahendeka (background) and Rev. Malelo (foreground), two of the Kerewe translators. They are working on assignments during a training session led by our LBT trainer Ruthie Wagner. It was exhausting but valuable as they move forward in their skills development. Training of translators is an ongoing process during a translation program. Keep Ruthie in your prayers as she provides wonderful service. And may the translators grow in their knowledge of Bible translation and in their relationship with Christ.
Ruthie did more training with our “back translator” Protaz. The back translator helps retranslate the Kerewe back into English so that Michael has an easier time understanding their translation. It is not easy for Michael to keep all the languages in his head. This is a very important piece of the translation process.
TRANSLATION TRAINING WORKSHOP – RUTHIE WAGNER
This workshop with the Kerewe translation team in Mwanza was a testament to their unwavering dedication and enthusiasm for learning. The participants, including the exegete/coordinator, the three translators, and the back-translator, along with the exegete/coordinator for the Taturu program, showed remarkable commitment. We had a wonderful time learning together and spending downtime getting to know one another better. It was an 11-day event, not including Sundays. This workshop was the most extended training they have had.
We had a lot of hands-on training in both software programs—Logos (for exegesis) and Paratext (for translation). For instance, each translator drafted a passage they had previously worked on and revised it through the workshop. On the last day, they compared their workshop drafts with those before, as you can see in the [below] picture. This exercise demonstrated their improved understanding and application of the principles we discussed. It was convincing for us all that their hard work had paid off!
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