Great Progress, Great Fellowship, and a Great Message - The Gospel of God!

Dan, Wakshuma, and Bonheur are making great progress in their translation efforts. Thus far they are further along than in December. It's helpful that it has been a very quiet setting and no need to transfer rooms. By this time last trip Bonheur remembers having moved to three different locations within Subiaco center.

The men's average over the past four days has been 1.5 to 2 sessions per day. Dan and Bonheur are dreaming about what they will do if they finish early. Dan is hoping to spend a few days touring Nairobi. Bonheur is thinking he will head home early. And Wakshuma, the seasoned veteran of recording, is wise enough to not get ahead of the game knowing that we could face challenges of poor health or technical difficulties such as power outages, computer problems, etc. I am grateful for their enthusiasm and yet pray fervently that God keeps us constantly dependent upon Him.

In addition to assisting the men with translation  needs, I spend my days editing the sessions they daily pass off to me before breakfast. Obviously that means I am at least a day behind them. In actuality, I'm more than a day behind as it is rough keeping up with three translators - especially given their great progress. For the last two days I've been able to edit three sessions per day.

My room is centrally located and with a desk in front of the window it allows me to keep track of what's going on and help out where needed.

Here's the view from my desk of the spot near the office where the guys gather before meals to give me their external hard drives for transferring files, use the internet to communicate with their wives and kids, and joke around after working hard.

I can see the cafeteria out of the right hand window of my room. Meals are fantastic times of fellowship. There is great food - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The cook's name is Richard, and he has the most infectious smile. All the other workers are also very kind. Mostly the four of us sit around the table, but on occasion a Swedish man has joined us. He will be leaving us on Saturday. As you can see by Wakshuma's plate of food, he enjoys his powdered red pepper.

The men have expressed several times their enthusiasm for translating these sessions from the book of Romans. The clear message of the gospel of God is powerful and relevant for every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. As I am learning, Africans have a strong tradition for oral learning. Thus, having these sermons from Romans translated into various African languages and loaded onto mp3 players is truly a valuable tool both for reaching people with the gospel of Christ and for building up local congregations of believers in the gospel of Christ.

PLEASE PRAY for Bonheur, Dan, and Wakshuma that they will remain physically healthy and in a good frame of mind to continue translating. PRAY that they would be constantly filled and led by the Holy Spirit to correctly understand the content of the messages and to accurately convey that in their own languages. PRAY ALSO that we would maintain good relationships so as to encourage one another in the work and to be a blessing to others around us.