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The Higby Herald

Newsletters

A few times a year we write to the friends, families and churches who stand with us — where the translation work has reached, what we are asking you to pray for, and what God has answered since the last letter.

Before that

Multilingual Support Agents In just three months, the Language Technology Use department that I (Doug) manage has gone from offering support for Bible translators in 9 languages to now providing help in over 95… AI, New Partnerships & 35 Years of Ministry Thirty-five years married and thirty-five years with Wycliffe, marked at Cape Point — while Doug helps draft SIL’s official approach to artificial intelligence. Building Capacity That Multiplies I (Doug) am writing this from Kenya where I am skipping out on a training session on Scripture App Builder for our African colleagues.
Earlier issues All 75, back to December 2008

2024

Lausanne Report from the Higbys Doug represents SIL’s Bible translation technology at the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Seoul, showing sil.tools and ScriptureEarth.org to five thousand church and mission leaders. Releasing the Power of God's Word - August 2024 When we were at a conference in Thailand earlier this year, a Bible translator came up to us after one session with a serious problem. Just can't delete God's Word! - February 2024 The 1990s marked a significant milestone with Reinier de Blois of United Bible Societies developing Paratext, a program initially designed to assist in Biblical exegesis.

2023

How many living languages are there today? -- August 2023 Our family is all back in the Grand Rapids area now, as Roger has completed his two-year term serving at the Black Forest Academy in Germany. Family, corpora, and consultants ... all growing! -- March 2023 The arrival of Addilyn Kaye on Sunday, February 12, happened shortly after Henry and Kaitlyn moved back to Kent County after years spent away for Henry's medical training. Starting Strong -- Higby Herald Jan 2023 On Monday, January 2, when I arrived in Atlanta and was told that my flight to Paris was canceled, I was desperate to find another way to Paris.

2022

Changing seasons and a new modus operandi --October 2022 Honestly, since his passing on September 27 I feel like there’s just a vacuum in life. Taxes, Knitting, and Bible Translation -- HH August 2022 You see, the Paratext Bible translation software is jointly owned by SIL and the United Bible Societies. How has the LORD gone before you? -- Higby Herald, March 2022 He also specializes in language technology, which accelerates all of the steps needed to make God’s Word available in the 272 indigenous languages of Cameroon.

2021

Can a virtual conference be better than a live one? For example, at the 2019 conference my (Doug’s) team hosted three separate training events before, during, and after the conference. Marking Pentecost and Making News We've just updated the stats to show that the Paratext software has been used in 3,051 languages now for Bible translation work—and the number keeps growing! Is the word Hallelujah the same in all languages? Here is Rev. 19:6 in a few of the languages I have on my computer from teams I’ve worked with.

2020

What do curbs and books have in common? Since 2006, SIL has been providing access to the Scriptures through its own publishing house, Global Publishing Services (GPS). How do you use a clay pot instead of a sword? When Gideon was rallying his army to fight against the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east, he felt woefully inadequate with his 32,000 troops. Can Bible translation training go on despite the lockdown?! A cancelled keyboard workshop in Switzerland is reborn online across eighteen time zones, from California to Papua New Guinea — the pivot that changed how the training is done.

2019

Bible Translators look out! Taking translation resources to the next level. From October 18-22, over 500 Bible translators, consultants, and scholars from all over the world got together at the SIL center in Dallas, Texas for the biennial Bible Translation Conference. What do you do when tech support doesn't answer? Papua New Guinea is the home of more than 800 of the world’s languages. What do we do about the slowest computer in the class? Language Technology Training in Asia and Pacific Areas STARTING SOON Next week, I (Doug) leave to teach two consultant training workshops, one in the Philippines, and one in Papua New Guinea. You've read the Bible, heard the Bible, but have you watched the Bible? Since March, four different villages in Mali have been subject to massacres in ethnic violence between the Fulani and the Dogon people. How can Bible translators get the consultant help they need? An avocado tree right there on the Bible Translation and Literacy Center!

2018

How many Bible translators were active on October 2, 2018? The numbers currently show: 2,630 languages with active Bible translation projects 2,185 languages with no work in progress and a definite need for Scriptures. What you should know about Bible translation and language technology The map of Africa on the right shows the reach of the first workshop on this trip, but in the past eight weeks, we’ve worked with technologists in Southeast Asia as well.

2017

The Ripple Effect of a Global Bible Translation Conference The biennial world Bible Translation Conference took place from October 13-17. Fulfulde Audio New Testament Brings Joy! Fifty solar audio Bibles carrying the dramatized Fulfulde New Testament reach Fulani believers in West Africa — the 2016 recording finally in people’s hands, and in one discarded smartphone. Fulfulde audio Bibles en route to West Africa On April 6, the long anticipated new version of the Paratext Bible translation software was released. March 2017 The 2017 Higby Ministry Tour began with a solo trip by Doug first to Haiti and then to Burkina Faso in February. New people joining the team for greater impact! Eight years ago, SIL’s Global Language Technology Training department didn’t exist.

2016

How do you teach 2,217 Bible translation teams? Of the 2,217 active language development programs globally, the vast majority are using Paratext for Bible translation. Fulfulde Audio NT is finally available! After months of waiting, we finally got the message today that our team’s hard work in January and February has paid off. Semi-nomadic training for Bible translation The semi-nomadic pattern begins: a nine-and-a-half-week trip through the Netherlands, Belgium and West Africa, training wherever translators need it and working from friends’ spare rooms in between. Mary's voice took us by surprise Before P.J. and I (Doug) left to record the New Testament from our former translation project, we had been convicted of the need for an audio version, but didn’t fully grasp its importance. Lacking "Paul chosen by God ...sent out to preach God's Good News" The two recording technicians from Ghana sit with their earphones on, tuned to the protruding boom microphone of our reader’s headset. Headed to record Fulfulde Scriptures at last! After three years based in Europe the Higbys move home to Grand Rapids — and leave within days for five weeks in West Africa to record a dramatized Fulfulde New Testament with twenty voices.

2015

A road trip into the future - Higby Herald October We were newlyweds then, visiting people and churches to share our vision for Bible Translation and to find the financial backing to send us out. Higby Herald June 2015 Last month we were blessed to spend a few vacation days to celebrate our May 26th wedding anniversary, and as part of the fun I (Doug) managed to make a cairn with 25 stones. Scripture on Smartphones in Africa--Higby Herald March 2015 This was on March 19 in Burkina Faso and we had been battling against very poor Internet causing some participants of the Digital Bible Publishing workshop to struggle at their task.

2014

Higby Herald December 2014 “Doesn’t the Bible already exist in French?” A fair question, because that is how the name “Wycliffe Bible Translators” identifies us. Higby Herald September 2014 The work on this took place from August 7 – 12 at the Digital Bible Library (DBL) workshop in Kenya. Higby Herald May 2014 After attending the Presenting God’s Word Conference, Priscilla and I are fired up about using non-print media to share the Good News. Higby Herald March 2014 What happens when you want to put the Scriptures on the Internet or distribute them on memory chips that can be read by cell phones? Higby Herald January 2014 It's called the Fulfulde Harmonization Project (FHP), and we’ve been a part of it since before we even began translating the Bible into one of the Fulfulde dialects.

2013

Higby Herald December 2013 Our son Roger has Christmas in his bones—born on Thanksgiving day in 1995, he sees it as his family duty to usher in the Christmas season by playing Christmas music earlier than either Priscilla… Higby Herald November 2013 Two years ago, Dr. Ellis Deibler Jr., an experienced Bible translation consultant, spoke about good consulting techniques at the biennial Bible Translation Conference in Dallas. Higby Herald June 2013 Reflecting back over our years together, Germany will soon be the sixth country we’ve called home for a year or more since we started out in 1990! Higby Herald April 2013 For eight days, three hours, and 20 minutes, I (Priscilla) helped 16 Black Forest Academy students to discover Christian service in Burkina Faso. Higby Herald January 2013 In Wycliffe, translation consultants are very important because they use their knowledge of the original languages to check the validity of every Scripture verse translated.

2012

Higby Herald November 2012 We have exciting news on the Bible translation front as Wycliffe has just released the 2012 statistics for Scripture access! Higby Herald September 2012 God has blessed us so very much in the transition from furlough in the US to our new location in Germany. The Higby Herald - June 2012 Henry and Kevin are out of college for the summer and both working up on Mackinac Island. The Higby Herald - March 2012 Ghana Workshop The Buli Rapid Word Collection workshop was a success, and the total number of words and phrases collected was 14,747. The Higby Herald - January 2012 This would allow Bulsa children to be taught in their own language at school in addition to English. 2.

2011

The Higby Herald - December 2011 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. --Titus 2:11 Give thanks to God with us for His outpouring of grace to us in Christ Jesus. The Higby Herald - October 2011 Doug & P.J. at the Roman Colosseum Some of you may be wondering if we fell off the merry-go-round that was pictured in our last newsletter in July. The Higby Herald - July 2011 Our opinion could have something to do with the 90 degree temperatures both in and outside of our house the week we left Ouagadougou. The Higby Herald - June 2011 Celebrate with us that our son Kevin has now graduated from the International School of Ouagadougou! The Higby Herald - May 2011 We are rafting the rapids of time as our furlough approaches and we close out our 17 years in Africa*. The Higby Herald - April 2011 Look around the next time you are sitting in church and take note of how many people are reading Scripture on electronic devices, whether it be a Kindle, a PDA, or a cellphone. The Higby Herald - January 2011 We are now calling it “Rapid Word Collection.” Traditionally, language workers develop a database of 5,000 or more words over a period of many years.

2010

The Higby Herald - Christmas 2010 Much to everyone’s surprise, a group of around 40 unchurched local students showed up in response to someone’s invitation. The Higby Herald - October 2010 The book of Genesis in Fulfulde is now in print and is in the process of being distributed to the Fulani in Mali. The Higby Herald - June 2010 The “Language Technology” department has been created in SIL International, making way for the promotion of high technology standards for Bible Translators around the world. The Higby Herald - April 2010 We praise God for bringing 23 people together from 14 different countries to receive training in the latest computer technology for Bible translation. The Higby Herald - March 2010 You may remember a story a couple years back about how I (Doug) was able to solve a computer problem for the Lobiri translation team by remotely controlling their computer across the Internet. The Higby Herald - February 2010 Last month, I (Doug) was excited to represent Wycliffe at meetings with the United Bible Society (UBS) in Canada.

2009

The Higby Herald - December 2009 That is such a round number, it reminds me (Doug) of January 1, 2000, when I began working on the Fulfulde Bible translation after passing my language test. The Higby Herald - October 2009 Since we began equipping Bible translators with new technology to expedite linguistic and translation work, we have focused our attention on the Francophone countries (where French is the… The Higby Herald - September 2009 A week ago Tuesday the rain started at 5:30 in the morning. The Higby Herald May 2009 Edition Having now learned how to read the sticker on a new refrigerator, I (Doug) realized our mistake with the first one: it was only rated ST for subtropical instead of T for tropical climate, up to… The Higby Herald March 2009 Edition “Can you really train someone to be a language software consultant?” asked a long term Wycliffe member who is a full-time computer consultant for Bible translation teams. The Higby Herald February 2009 Edition We are thankful to the folks at Mission Aviation Fellowship who introduced us to this technology more than 10 years ago, and we’ve been using it ever since.

2008

The Higby Herald December 2008 Edition The first Herald. A fifty-million-dollar gift launches Wycliffe’s Last Languages Campaign, and Doug teaches “Proactive Software Training” to colleagues from around the world.