March 2017

The 2017 Higby Ministry Tour began with a solo trip by Doug first to Haiti and then to Burkina Faso in February. This March, Doug and P.J. will work from Texas. April and May will find them in Europe and Africa.

Haitian Creole gets Library of Children's Books

In Haiti, I (Doug) was exposed to Haitian Creole, the majority language and a derivative of French. It was a challenge to understand. The government has recently acknowledged the importance of Creole in education, and this trip was about enabling authors to produce easy-reader books. The full article was reported on the SIL website!  https://www.sil.org/about/news/haitian-creole-gets-library-childrens-books

Ten Years of Outilingua

Since we left Africa, it has been more difficult to organize the annual training of Language Technology specialists. This year's workshop was directed by Jeff Heath who joined my team last year, and I came aboard to help teach. We are excited for Jeff's new leadership that will continue to equip Bible translation teams in West and Central Africa. We celebrated the ten years since the program of training trainers was begun in 2007.

Machine-Assisted Translation Workshop

P.J. and I are now working from Dallas for a couple weeks. P.J. is publishing another electronic book, and I am meeting with a team to hammer out ways that Bible translation software can be augmented with artificial intelligence. While skilled translators are indispensable, there are things that a computer can do behind the scenes to make the translator's work easier. I've always had the vision to see how work on dictionaries in minority languages can serve as tools for Bible translation through better integration. We are working on ways for the computer to suggest words during the translation process based on the underlying Greek or Hebrew source texts. Please pray that our meetings will result in better-informed translators and more accurate translation of God's Word!

Kulumi Mini Project

Right before the Haiti/Burkina trip, we received a box of Kulumi Minis direct from the factory! We are a pilot project for this new solar-powered LED lamp and audio player. We intend to set up each device with the dramatized Fulfulde New Testament (NT) for distribution in the area where that dialect is prevalent. In addition, World Mission is partnering with us to send 50 units of their Treasure audio Bibles for distribution. As you know, getting God's Word to the Fulani is still our and Wycliffe USA's passion. We invite you to pray for the success of this special trip in May, that the Fulani would have access to God's Word.

We are grateful for and encouraged by your prayers, notes, and contributions to Wycliffe USA, making it possible for Bible translation to move forward.

Partners in the Gospel, (Phil 1:5)

Doug & Priscilla Higby