I thought I would share with you the perspective of Al Hawthorne, the Africa Director for WA. I have met Al both in the US and in Nigeria. I have also worked with a number of people named in his report like Blake Berry and Peg Seitz. I have been in Nigeria, Madagascar and DRC which are named below. In Nigeria I worked with NBTT on a number of their Bible translation projects. This will tell you a little about other work WA is doing in Africa.
African Drumbeat
February, 2014
Al Hawthorne, Director
Greetings from Jos, Nigeria where I am blessed with the opportunity to visit with our Bible
translation partners and attend the board meeting for our Global South Services company, Net
Access Nigeria. This week has also been a time to re-connect with our wonderful staff members
here in-country who are deeply involved in supporting the forward movement of Bible translation.
Also, One of our WA board members, Ken Axt is here for his first time in Africa, and he is seeing and
experiencing the joys, excitement and challenges first hand of the dedication of those
committed to seeing God’s Word in the hands of the people of Nigeria. As we talked, it was
amazing to me, to think that God is using us and many more like us in WA, here in Africa and
around the world to see this task completed! To be a part of it is humbling. Ken shared a lot of
wisdom as he observed the happenings in Nigeria. Very encouraging! It was also, very interesting
to note that at a dinner with the NBTT leadership, once they knew that a WA board member was
to be present at the meal and out of respect, they arranged to have one of their board members
there as well. The dinner meeting was a great opportunity to just get to know each other.
This This trip was, like many I am sure around the WA world, energizing as we meet many new people
and partners who are excited about accelerating Bible translation. NBTT revealed more details
about a regional plan to support the over 100 languages and Bible translation programs that are
currently underway, and we discussed how WA can support this effort as well as the additional
40 they would like to start next year. With nearly 300 to go, they are on fire to reach the goal
of Vision 2025 starting Bible translations in all of the languages in Nigeria before that date.
This month there have also been some major changes in staffing throughout Africa Area.
I have asked Peg Seitz to take on the responsibility of Assistant Area Director for Africa-
Francophone. This will allow me to focus more on some of the Anglophone area and on the over-all
strategic planning and needs for Bible translation throughout Africa. She has already started in
the transition and will be officially in the role in April.
Also, Blake Berry will now be taking on a larger role of Program Manager for Democratic Republic of
Congo. This is a vast area and will be a challenge for sure, but one that we feel he is capable of
tackling. In addition, Dwight Erickson has agreed to move into the Program Manager role for
Cameroon that was open with Peg’s move to her new role.
These are exciting times! Please give congratulations and lift up in prayer for those in the new
leadership roles as we work toward the goal of the Word of God in all languages throughout
Africa!
Blessings,
Al
Al
People & Projects - There’s Something Happening Here
Africa High Priority Jobs
Facility Maintenance Manager
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (885375)
Construction Supervisor - Bingham Academy
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (885440)
Facilities Manager/Trainer
Jos, Nigeria (885388)
Language Programs Manager
Tanzania (885351)
South Sudan Network Technician
Juba, South Sudan (885389)
Operations Manager - SIL
Dem Rep Congo (885267)
Finance Mentor - Eastern Congo Group
Dem Rep Congo (885266)
Accountant / Mentor - CABTAL
Cameroon (885438)
Trained Psychological Counselor - RFIS
Cameroon (884255)
Finance Director – SIL
Cameroon (882855)
Bingham Academy High School Dedication
On January 10, 2014 the new campus of Bingham Academy was dedicated. WA volunteer Michael
Heaton oversaw the project. Bingham Academy is a vibrant Christian International school that
serves students in grades K-12. Located in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, teachers and
students come from over 30 countries across the globe. About half of Bingham's over 300 students
in grades K-12 come from the city's diverse international community. The other half of our
students come from families working all across Ethiopia with a variety of Christian organizations.
Bingham Academy provides high quality, culturally sensitive education, within a Christian
environment, which challenges each student to impact the world for God's glory!
Above: Flags representing the nations of Bingham Academy students. Left:
Gregg Bartholomew (WA) with Brad Adams, Bingham Director.
New WA Africa Staff Assignments
Opportunities to serve our Bible translation partners and thus advance Bible translation in
Africa continue to multiply. In order to structure our management in a more strategic way to
meet the many needs, some changes have recently been made in staff assignments. We have
added a new position “Assistant Area Director for Francophone Africa” and increased
responsibilities for several existing positions. Shown below is a map of the countries in which
WA currently works.
Dwight Erickson is now serving as Program Manager for Cameroon. He previously served in Bunia, DRC. Peg Seitz begins her role as Assistant Area Director for Francophone Africa in April. Mark Sweeting is training to become a Bible translation consultant in Nigeria. Blake Berry is now serving as Program Manager for all of Democratic Republic of Congo.
Please pray for our WA staff and volunteers on their birthdays:
Jennifer Bartholomew: March 13
Al Hawthorne: March 15
Praise God for the dedication of new buildings on the Bingham Academy campus
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Pray for funding for the newest CABTAL Bible translation project among the
Baitsawara people of Northern Cameroon.
Praise God for the safe arrival of a team painting and setting up a new campus
for FATEB Seminary in Yaounde. Students will attend courses in Bible
translation in Cameroon instead of war-torn Central African Republic (CAR).
Pray for the new leadership of CAR as they attempt to bring lasting peace and
pray for our brothers and sisters who live in unbelievable hardship right now.
Praise God for Elaine Shellabarger who is beginning her role of SVC in Jos,
Nigeria. Pray for good adjustments to African living and for health and safety.
Pray for several WA Africa staff members who are in the US for medical
treatment (Peg Seitz, Ken Kauffman, Michael Heaton) as they seek God’s healing
and a return to their positions in Africa.
Praise God for Christine Harrison’s deployment to South Sudan which is planned
for March. Pray for the remaining details of her move and work there.
Pray for Peter and Sunny Oh as the travel to Benin to plan for a construction
project there for our partners at Wycliffe Benin.
Praise God for several candidates who are considering accepting or returning to
key roles in WA Africa Area.
Please continue to pray for the upcoming WA Africa Area Conference as travel
plans are being made for a large number of people from diverse areas.
Welcome to my blog. Here you can keep up to date with what I am doing and communicate with me.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Spring update
Greetings my friends,
March is almost half over and we are approaching a quarter of the year being passed. Amazing how time flies. What have I been up to lately? In the past couple months I have worked mostly with setting up and deploying computers and other tech equipment in the Orlando office. I have also participated in training for tech partners overseas through our video system called vidyo.
Video is a growing technology that is just beginning to see its potential in missions and business around the world. I believe video conferencing is going to have a great impact in the coming years. Here are a few examples of the possibilities. Lets say there is a solar panel kit powering a small office in Nigeria. Something goes wrong and the panels cease to give power. Instead of flying an expert out to Nigeria to fix the panels, that expert connects with the team in that office and walks them through steps to fix the panels from the states. If this works multiple thousands of dollars can be saved. A training seminar for national Bible translators discovers their trainer has taken sick and cannot come to lead them. Instead of canceling the seminar and all the effort put into bringing it about; video can be used to connect that trainer or another one from the states. This allows the training seminar to continue and broadens the number of people who can be involved. Some of you are familiar with dedicated video conferencing systems. Some rooms use full wall screens and rooms with the exact same design to give the feel that those in both rooms are in the same room.
As for me personally, I just moved again from Saint Cloud back into Orlando proper. This time I moved mostly by myself and am still organizing my belongings into my abode. I will hopefully finish the move today or tomorrow.
While being in Saint cloud I enjoyed riding my bike to work every once in a while. It is about 13 and a half miles one way, so I enjoyed the exercise. Fortunatley I was able to do this because WA has a shower facility in the visitors RV park. Thus I could ride my bike to work shower and have my work clothes unaffected. Being back does not mean an end to my riding either. There are some routes I am looking forward to ride in the coming weeks.
I am eagerly awaiting my visa for India, which should be arriving soon. My initial trip to India will run from March 29th to April 20th. I will leave you with some pictures from New Delhi were I will be going in India. These pictures are from Google pictures I found while searching New Delhi. I look forward to uploading pictures of my own later.
March is almost half over and we are approaching a quarter of the year being passed. Amazing how time flies. What have I been up to lately? In the past couple months I have worked mostly with setting up and deploying computers and other tech equipment in the Orlando office. I have also participated in training for tech partners overseas through our video system called vidyo.
Video is a growing technology that is just beginning to see its potential in missions and business around the world. I believe video conferencing is going to have a great impact in the coming years. Here are a few examples of the possibilities. Lets say there is a solar panel kit powering a small office in Nigeria. Something goes wrong and the panels cease to give power. Instead of flying an expert out to Nigeria to fix the panels, that expert connects with the team in that office and walks them through steps to fix the panels from the states. If this works multiple thousands of dollars can be saved. A training seminar for national Bible translators discovers their trainer has taken sick and cannot come to lead them. Instead of canceling the seminar and all the effort put into bringing it about; video can be used to connect that trainer or another one from the states. This allows the training seminar to continue and broadens the number of people who can be involved. Some of you are familiar with dedicated video conferencing systems. Some rooms use full wall screens and rooms with the exact same design to give the feel that those in both rooms are in the same room.
As for me personally, I just moved again from Saint Cloud back into Orlando proper. This time I moved mostly by myself and am still organizing my belongings into my abode. I will hopefully finish the move today or tomorrow.
While being in Saint cloud I enjoyed riding my bike to work every once in a while. It is about 13 and a half miles one way, so I enjoyed the exercise. Fortunatley I was able to do this because WA has a shower facility in the visitors RV park. Thus I could ride my bike to work shower and have my work clothes unaffected. Being back does not mean an end to my riding either. There are some routes I am looking forward to ride in the coming weeks.
I am eagerly awaiting my visa for India, which should be arriving soon. My initial trip to India will run from March 29th to April 20th. I will leave you with some pictures from New Delhi were I will be going in India. These pictures are from Google pictures I found while searching New Delhi. I look forward to uploading pictures of my own later.
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