What I do with Wycliffe Associates

In this post I will talk about what it is that I do with Wycliffe Associates.

Wycliffe Associates has a goal of bringing the Word of God to every language that needs one; so that every person can read the Bible in their heart language, or language they use. Wycliffe Associates works with several partners like Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Seed Company to accomplish the goal of producing and distributing these translations of the Bible. One of the main goals of Wycliffe Associates is to locate problems that are inhibiting or slowing the process of translating and resolving these issues.

I work as a member of the Tech Advance Team within Wycliffe Associates. The Tech Advance Team is working to use technology as a tool to speed up the process of Bible translation. Think three key words Equip, train and sustain.

Equip: We equip national Bible translation teams with technology to help speed up the process of translating the Bible.
Train: We train those teams how to use the technology we give them, so that it can be used effectively in the translation process.
Support: We support the teams while they translate, helping solve problems they encounter.

Here are some examples of the technologies we send out.

BTAKs, Cell amplifiers, generators, computers, etc.


A BTAK is a complete system. It involves a power source, computers and a communication source. For example,
Solar panels feed batteries through an inverter. The batteries provide a constant source of power for laptop computers which are used for translation work. The laptops hook up to bgans to communicate over the internet. bgans are satellite communication devices which send data over a satellite system. The end result is a team which can work on a translation in a place with no power or communications. This team is able to stay in contact with other translation teams, consultants and Bible translation groups.

Cell Amplifiers pick up a cell signal and rebroadcast it in a short radius around itself. Those close by can also connect to the greater cell network over the cell amp. If you are on the edge of a network or in a hole in the network, the cell amps can give you a strong signal and keep you working.
The reason cell amps are nice is that they keep translation teams connected to each other and their consultants.

Real world examples.

In Nigeria I deployed five cell amp systems. Some of the teams who received these would walk multiple hours to a location where they could make a cell phone call. Other teams had such a difficult time connecting, they would wait weeks or months to ask questions concerning Bible translation. With these cell amplifiers in place, they are able to call or e-mail that day with questions. They are able to get answers back sometimes in minutes and keep the translation work moving.

In Madagascar many of the translation teams are using pen and paper as the sole means of translating God's word. I traveled there and helped begin training translation team members how to use computers as apart of the translation process. The eventual goal is that these computers can become the primary means of translating. Secondly, we can create backups of the computers and translations being done. This is good for when a power outage happens, or emergency arises. The translations are kept safe and the translation work is not hindered.


So you have a small taste of what I do when I travel, but what do I do when I am in the US? When I am in the US I help set up the laptops and other tech being deployed oversees. For example, I helped work on a master image for all the laptops we set up. I also have set up a couple dozen laptops going oversees. It takes a couple days to get all the customizations, updates, languages, cd keys and registrations finished.
Beyond setting up equipment I work to learn new technologies so I can continue to be effective going forward.

There is a lot of good work going on around the world with Bible translation and I am excited to be apart of it. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask in the comments or send me an e-mail. My e-mail is adam_lewis@wycliffeassociates.org.