Translation Work: Day 1

We are three. Bonheur from Rwanda, Joel from Tanzania, and I - the new kid on the continent.

I arrived late last night and nearly had an uneventful flight from Czech to Nairobi. In the Nairobi airport they take your temperature and mine was in the "red". It was projected up on a screen, so was no secret to all in line behind me that something wasn't right. I failed the test five times in a row waiting 5 minutes between tries. Then I had to fill out a long form with contact information in the case of a "complication". One question asked if I had been in the dreaded "E-zone". No, I hadn't been to Liberia and it's neighboring countries in the past 21 days. In the end, it seems that my medicine against malaria was the culprit. At least there were no bells and whistles. I met with Ken Onywoki on the other side of the visa desk and check out line. We enjoyed fellowship on the drive to the retreat center where we will be working on translating Scott Gilchrist's Romans talks from Ethiopia in May, 2014.

Bonheur arrived by plane earlier in the morning and Joel arrived today, Friday, just before lunch from his overnight bus ride from Tanzania. I started Bonheur out with translation while Joel freshened up from his night sleep on the bus - yes, he can sleep anywhere and through anything. We all met up for lunch and then tried to find suitable places for them to work the rest of the day on translating.

Expectations of the translation process are constantly being adjusted. I expected there to be a period of getting used to the recording program and Scott's teaching style, but I didn't think it would take the better part of a day. The initial goal was to translate 2 sessions a day for 9 days to cover all 18 sessions on this trip. By 10 pm tonight Bonheur was able to complete session 1, after having lost half of his work around 7 pm. Joel is taking a little longer with things, but is a determined learner. They are both hard workers and conscientious to offer their best to the Lord. We have come to realize that there is a difference between interpreting live at a conference and listening to recorded messages and translating.

PLEASE PRAY that God would use the teaching of Romans in their own lives while they diligently work to translate these rich truths into French (Bonheur) and Swahili (Joel).