Well, vacations are all very well, but must always be short so that we can have time to get our work done! Our translation workshop lasted Monday through Friday, around 9am to 3 or 4pm. Fernando, the main translator, had prepared a draft of the translation. Then his wife, Christy, had translated his draft back into English, with the help of a computer software tool that BI has created (that's called the back translation). Ross Hodsdon, the senior consultant, studied the back translation and the Greek texts, and made notes on various points that looked like they could cause confusion, or parts that didn't seem to match up with what he was seeing in the Greek. Then in the workshop we discussed these points and recommended changes where necessary.As part of my training as a future consultant, I was given the responsibility of leading a workshop session through a chapter of Acts. It's only the second time I've done this, so I felt rather like a teenager learning to drive, but everyone was very gracious with my inexperience and it actually went quite well. I'm looking forward to more such opportunities in the future!
We were able to hold three days of our workshops in area churches. People from the churches were able to attend and see our work firsthand. As you can imagine, this does create more distractions at times, but it allows the church members to experience a really unique opportunity, since such workshops are usually held overseas where most church members would never be able to attend. The people got quite enthusiastic about the work, and sometimes they made really useful suggestions too!
On Saturday evening, I regretfully said goodbye to my dear friends, the Hodsdons, and flew home to Indiana. Due to a flight cancellation, I arrived a day late, but at least I got there in one piece! But as soon as I got home, I packed my bags again for yet another trip. Today I drove the 465-mile trip to Greenville, South Carolina - a very lovely drive through wooded, hilly countryside, and perfect weather too. Can you believe it - I'm actually going to be in the same bed for over two months! I can't even remember the last time that happened! Please pray for me anyway, as I start my first linguistics class on Monday: Language Learning, a course on language acquisition.
On the way to Greenville today, I learned that a new church has taken me on for support (my first supporting church in the state of Ohio), for $200 per month, which brings me to 58%! Praise the Lord!!
