For many in Christian work, the past two years of lockdown and limited ministry opportunity have been a frustrating and challenging time. However, at the end of last year, Paul and Marina Briggs were able to visit Ivory Coast. Paul writes, “God wants us to continue to worship Him and serve Him, no matter what obstacle or hindrance appears in our path. With light beginning to appear at the end of the Covid tunnel, may we see the Lord do a mighty work in 2022 and may we faithfully move forward with renewed vision and vigour in the tasks that the Lord has entrusted to us.”
Please be praying for the Loron translation helper that is checking a new commentary that Paul and Marina have written for the book of Galatians in the Loron language. They always thoroughly verify the work that they intend to publish with a native speaker. He has all the necessary equipment, including a new computer and smart phone, but they are having problems with the internet connection in the village, so it has been difficult to make much progress. They are able to send and receive messages and emails, but currently cannot use WhatsApp or other apps like Zoom for voice or video communication.
Please pray for a resolution to this issue.
Paul and Marina are working closely with the Bible translation team in the village using a text-based internet translation programme as they prepare for the final check of the books of Hebrews and James with a translation consultant. A Loron Pastor leads the translation team and arranges the numerous preliminary checks with a variety of Loron speakers – young and old, male and female, etc. – that need to be completed before the final check takes place, Lord willing, in the spring or early summer.
From where they live in Northern Ireland, Paul and Marina check the translation for accuracy and clarity, as well as grammar, spelling and appropriate use of discourse features in the language. They also use the internet programme to produce a comprehensive French-to-Loron interlinear breakdown of all the parts of each word in the translation, primarily for the benefit of the translation consultant, but also to identify any deficiency in the translation. It is an intricate and time consuming part of the process, but well worth the effort.
Pray for Paul and Marina as they prepare these two books for the consultant check.