Translation News - March 2022

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 International Translation Services (ITS) works in collaboration with colleagues in SIL and other agencies to creatively steward and advance the translation practices, tools, methods, and training necessary to enable a supportive environment for individuals and communities to flourish and engage with Scripture.
We value: Interconnectedness. Capacity Building. Diversity. Innovation.

March 2022

• People don’t go to church. The Church goes to people. - Greg Dekker
• New Translation Consultant - **Murali Garnipudi (**South Asia)
• New Scripture Engagement Consultant - Svetlana Durackova (Eurasia)
• Sustaining a 'Culture of Innovation' - Phil King
• KTOT Sixth Release - Dick Kroneman
• JOT - Call for Papers - Freddy Boswell
• New Training & Development Staff - Jacob Bullock 
• Training Opportunities - Phil King

Useful Links
SIL Translation Services

• International Leadership Team
• Area Translation Coordinators

People don’t go to church. The Church goes to people.
Greg Dekker (ITS Director)

Everytime I say it, Diane jokingly says, “Ya, ya, Greg, I know!”

I’ve become sensitized to how I use the word “church” and often still use it wrongly. I have become pretty lazy in my usage and I sometimes cringe when I hear how others use it. Our usage reflects how we think about our relationship to the Church, and often our terminology reveals unhealthy and unBiblical concepts.

SIL is taking a serious look at this, too, that is, our relationship within the Church. We’ve begun talking more and more about our relationships within the Body of Christ, rather than our relationship to the Body of Christ, the Church, like the Church is an entity outside of us. Our work, as followers of Jesus, is God’s work. And as such, we relate to a worldwide body of believers who are working together for God’s purposes, in God’s mission.

Paul speaks of the people of God, who form the Church, as one body (1Cor 12; Col 3:15) which has many parts (1Cor 12:20). And he emphasizes that the body (the Church, people baptized into Christ, 1Cor 12:12-13) does not consist of one member, but many (1Cor 12:14), and these members are as different as a hand or an eye in location (with reference to the rest of the body) and function.

The body of Christ, the Church, consists of individuals or groups of individuals who are unique creations of God, who have unique roles, unique personhood, unique skills, unique gifts, and engage in various activities, all of which contribute to and benefit the wider Church, the people of God, and contribute to the building up of God’s kingdom as a whole, which is the mission of the Church.

The assumption here is that as a follower of Jesus, a member of the Church, all I do is for the glory of God; all my work is, or should be, God’s work, that is, done to the glory of God.

Consistent with this, we cannot somehow “divide” the Church. We cannot say that the work of a group of individuals who seek to bring glory to God through their work within the Church is not part of the Church, the people of God. (I Cor 12:15) Sectarianism and exclusivity run counter to God’s purpose for the Church. This is particularly so if that grouping of God’s people are on His mission, working to reconcile people to God (2Cor 5:19-20) and adhere, of course, to the core tenets of the Faith.

So, SIL serves Christ and His mission and our fellow believers, the Church. Our service builds the global Church and brings glory to God by adding others to the fellowship of believers and by serving the Bibleless, the poor, and the marginalized.

Give this some thought the next time you go to ch… service! The Church goes to people! 

New Translation Consultant
Murali Garnipudi

Murali Garnipudi - South Asia
Congratulations to Murali Garnipudi (Rhema For the Nations, India) on completing all the requirements for certification as an entity-level Translation Consultant, including completion of the Asia TCDW 2020. Angie Foo and her Asia Bible Translation Coordination Team have verified that he is a qualified Translation Consultant and is now able to work independently with translation teams. Reverend Murali has been working with Beulah/ Rhema for the Nations in India since 2010 in a number of roles: video editor and technician for Jesus Films, audio technician for the VAST Oral Bible translation, and Exegetical Facilitator with a local team. In 2013 he began as a Consultant-in-Training (CiT) with several translation teams. Murali received a B.Sc. in Computers (2005) and then in 2007 studied for a Bachelor of Theology at Immanuel Theological Seminary. He also trained in general linguistics and translation with Wycliffe India. He has a Master of Divinity from Guntur Theological Seminary (2017), a Diploma (2017) and a Bachelor in Bible Translation (2020) from the Senate of Serampore. As part of his CiT training, Murali has been consulting with various teams in India and also in other countries. Murali and his wife Tanuja are blessed with two boys, Danny and Manvith Joy.

His primary mentor, Paul Schmidt (SC Translation Consultant) writes: 

• I have had the privilege of working with brother Murali for the past six years and witnessed his growth both spiritually and professionally, first as a Translation Facilitator and the past four years as a Consultant-in-Training (CiT).
• I commend him for his patience and perseverance, and whole heartedly recommend him as a Translation Consultant!

His supervisor, Sudharani Prathipati, says:  

• Brother Murali has demonstrated a genuine interest and involvement in the work of God, also relates well with his co-workers.
• He shows a good degree of sensitivity and tolerance to differing situations and viewpoints and the ability to resolve conflicts.  
• He is a respected worker and growing leader with Beulah/Rhema for the Nations and has served in many capacities: such as teaching, checking, conducting workshops, technical skills, helping in the translation, etc. 
• I believe Murali is able to motivate co-workers and others and am personally convinced of his commitment to Christ. He is a life-long learner and willing to serve others. 

New Scripture Engagement Consultant
Svetlana Durackova

Linda Humnick, Chair of the SIL Eurasia Consultant Technical Evaluation Committee (CTEC), announced that Svetlana Durackova has qualified as a new Scripture Engagement Consultant. Svetlana comes from Slovakia where she trained as a school teacher. She taught primary school and then worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship, before joining SIL . She has been serving in Eurasia for the past twelve years and currently she is assisting nine translation teams with their Scripture Engagement activities. Svetlana is passionate for God’s Word to be used, to be understood, and to be obeyed. She finds joy in seeing people’s lives transformed by the power of God’s Word.  

Linda writes:  

• We praise God for what He has done in your life and ministry, and we want to offer our most sincere congratulations! 
• We would especially like to add our thanks to your sending organization and all those in Eurasia and beyond who have invested in your development through their mentoring and guidance, prayers, finances, and other types of support.
• We are very grateful for the impact you have already had on communities in Eurasia, and we recognize the value that your specialty in orality brings to this context.
• Most of all, we are grateful for your commitment to Christ and to communicating the truth of Scripture.

Sustaining a 'Culture of Innovation'
Phil King

What do we mean by 'innovation'? And how easy or difficult do we think it is to innovate within SIL? These were some of the questions that a small group of ITS staff wrestled with in February, as we participated in SIL's global 'Culture of Innovation' conversation. We looked at the importance of creativity, creating value, and thinking deliberately in the process of translating ideas into new or improved products, services, processes, systems or social interactions. We also recognised some innovations we'd experienced over the years:

• Development of the Global Consultant Pool
• Virtual consultant checking
• Checking for multiple teams simultaneously
• Developing free New Testament Greek training videos on YouTube
• Focus on building the capacity of local consultants rather than expats
• Bamboo Project for translation notes
• Simplification of consultant certification process (and the Competency Based Certification tool)

We recognised that SIL is an organisation that is 'into change,' and full of creative individuals. However, innovation is not always easy, and we identified these barriers: 

• it's hard to find the time and space for innovative development alongside other commitments; 
• remote working makes it harder to hear about new ideas or develop those ideas collaboratively; 
• there is resistance to new ideas, especially those ideas that come from outside the group;
• lack of a clear framework for evaluating innovations;
• innovations may be perceived as cutting corners compared to the perceived quality of previous approaches;
• challenges getting an innovation from a individual to be adopted more widely in the organisation.

So what could we do to make it easier for new ideas to thrive in SIL? Some suggestions included:

• creating a safe space for developing and piloting new ideas (check out the Opportunity Network to see what is currently available);
• affirming an attitude of curiosity and openness to possibilities rather than defaulting to critical analysis and analytical problem identification;
• supporting iterative development of new ideas, rather than having to get something perfect before trialing it;
• giving space for younger staff and their ideas. 

But what do you think? If you have thoughts about innovation within SIL, start a conversation with your colleagues and see where it takes you!

KTOT Sixth Release
Dick Kroneman

The Key Terms of the Old Testament (KTOT) team announces the sixth release of 10 articles, bringing the total number of completed articles to 73, which are now available in Paratext. For Paratext, the latest release can be downloaded and installed at Paratext Extras website. Scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find the download link and directions for installing the latest release. 

• לֵב    Marlute van Dam
• אֱוִיל    Bronwen Cleaver and Michael Jemphrey
• אֱלִיל / אֱלִילִים    Paul McLarren and Simon Zekewos
• תְּרָפִים    Paul McLarren
• רדה    Michael Jemphrey
• סכל    Colin Mills
• נוח / מָנוֹחַ    JoAnna Hoyt
• אלה / אָלָה    Prabhakar Atluri and Anne G Kompaore
• עָרְמָה    Colin Mills
• אִשֶּׁה    Peter Schmidt

The KTOT team thanks Paul and Janet McLarren (SIL Eurasia) for their excellent work over these last two years. In addition to their contributing several articles, Paul has also provided leadership as the KTOT Manager. The McLarrens are now retiring from SIL, but will continue authoring KTOT articles.

JOT - Call for Papers
Freddy Boswell

The Journal of Translation will have a special issue featuring the translation of conditionals. The October 2022 issue of the Journal of Translation will be dedicated to discussion of how conditional sentences in the Bible are translated into other languages. Papers are invited that address the following topics:

• language overviews: brief descriptions of how conditional meanings are expressed in a given language, with examples of how this has affected translation;
• exegetical summaries: exegesis of passages that contain conditionals, in particular where the intended meaning is debated;
• discussion of specific conditional constructions in Biblical Hebrew or Greek.

For more information and key dates, see the Call For Papers Conditionals or contact the JOT Editor. 

New Translation Training and Development Staff
Jacob Bullock

Welcome to Jacob Bullock, who is joining Phil King in the International Translation Training and Development team, to support the Bible Translation Training and Development Community of Practice (CoP) and other global training initiatives. Jacob joined Wycliffe USA in 2010, and since then has been working in PNG, most recently as a trainer of Papua New Guinean translators. He is married to Juliann and has five children. He holds a ThM (2018) from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, TX, and an MA (2010) from Western Seminary in Portland, OR. 

Training Opportunities
Phil King

Here's an update on a few current initiatives for translation training:

Digital Training Library - the first certificate of the Digital Training Library (Foundations in Bible Translation) is now available in Spanish, and should soon be available in Hindi (currently being proofread). Translations into French and Indonesian are in progress, and work on the 'Introduction to Greek' certificate is nearing completion. Applications for scholarships for any of these certificates are open from 1 March to 1 May 2022 - contact Susie Lipps if you would like further details.

A Sign Language Digital Training Library (SDTL) is now also being developed, initially to be delivered in American Sign Language.

Learning Biblical languages free online:

• There are now over 84 'Aleph with Beth' video lessons freely available on Youtube to learn Hebrew, without needing to know English or any other language of wider communication. Additional quizzes, scripts and accompanying grammar materials are being added all the time, available at the Free Hebrew website. You can also follow them on Instagram to keep your Hebrew fresh.
• The sister channel, 'Alpha with Angela' now has 9 lessons available, supported by further resources at the Free Greek website. Subscribe to the channel, watch the videos, and please continue to encourage Angela as she develops content!

Thomas Hemphill is starting up an "Exegetical Advisor / Translation Advisor" affinity group on EMDC.online, aimed at advisors and MTTs (mother-tongue translators) who do exegetical work, although TCs, CiTs, MTTs, project managers and consultants from other domains are also welcome. The topics will focus on day-to-day exegetical practices, that will help in the everyday work of doing exegesis in a translation project. If anyone is interested in helping out (organising, tech hosting, promoting), please contact Thomas directly. 

Useful Links

• Email the SIL International Translation Resources Office
• International Translation Services ILS Google page
• Join/visit the SIL Translation Resources Google Group
• Visit the public SIL.org/Translation site
• Purchase Translation Resources at SIL.org/Resources/Publications 
• Bamboo Project website
• Mentoring Matters website - Mentor Training Courses
• Consultant Development and Management Team

SIL Translation Services

International Leadership Team

• Greg Dekker - ITS Director
• Dick Kroneman - International Coordinator for Translation Research and Practice 
• Paul O'Rear - International Coordinator for Translation Resources
• Phil King - International Coordinator for Translation Training and Development
• Nathan Payne - International Coordinator for Oral Translation Services
• Bill Bivin - Global Consultant Pool Director
• Brian Migliazza - Operations Manager

Area Translation Coordinators

• Angeline Foo - Asia
• David Nicholls - Pacific
• Michael Jemphrey - Francophone Africa
• Jonathan van den Broek - AngloLusophone Africa
• Thomas Hemphill - Eurasia
• Rick Floyd & Mike Miller - Americas 
• Yuki Yamada - Global Sign Languages Team (GSLT) 

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Copyright © 2022 SIL International Translation Services. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because of your interest in translation updates.

This newsletter is produced by SIL International Translation Services. Editors are Tuula O'Rear and Brian Migliazza. It contains items of interest for translation personnel within SIL and related organizations. It includes notices of upcoming conferences and workshops, announcements of recent dissertations and journal articles, and pointers to useful information related to translation.
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