http://higbyfamily.com/ en-gb 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 doug@nospam.com hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.23.1 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug The Higby Herald Dear Friends,It's official! 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. In our last message, I (Doug) mentioned that I was traveling to the first meeting of language technology coordinators in Thailand to discuss this new department. The meeting was a success, and we now have representatives for each global region whose task is to identify and train language technology consultants. If you are pragmatic like me, you're probably wondering what problem this solves. Well, let me explain. There are many good tools being produced to help Bible translators, and new technology is offering many solutions to simplify their work—mind you, without eliminating the need for the linguists, the exegetes, and the translators. But what language technology can do is to reduce the grunt work for these specialists, allowing them to focus Spirit-filled minds on the decision-making and problem solving that computers can't automate.We help them do this every time we sort through their volumes of language data and show them words that differ by only one sound. This helps them decide which letters to include in the written alphabet. We help them do this every time we underline probable spelling mistakes in the translation in red—without even a spelling or grammar manual for the language! We help them do this every time we automate the formatting and printing of a scripture booklet.But we can't help them do this when we lack a network through which to deliver the technology and the training to the translators. As an official Language Technology department, we now have a structure and mechanism to train the trainers that will ultimately bring us closer towards Wycliffe's Vision 2025: to see a Bible translation program in progress in every language still needing one by the year 2025. Praise God with us for this strategic breakthrough, and please pray for the other area coordinators, that they can grasp how to best perform their new roles.Our oldest son Henry has now graduated from the International School of Ouagadougou and has left for college in the US after packing his belongings. He will be attending Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he will major in biotechnology. As part of a senior project this year, Henry got some hands-on biotechnology experience at the National Center of Malaria Research and Education here that was actually studying the DNA of mosquitoes in order to make better pesticides and anti-malarial medication. This is the kind of thing he sees himself involved in someday.  Henry's heart is committed to the Lord and we pray God's blessing on him as he leaves our nest and embarks on his life journey.Kevin recently gave us quite a scare. While at my parents' in New Jersey for a summer job, he came down with a very high fever and fainting spells. Since Priscilla and I are still in Burkina Faso, we had a three-way emergency medical consultation between us, my parents, and a tropical medicine doctor in Belgium to determine how to treat Kevin. Malaria was determined to be the cause, and providentially, Kevin had the medicine with him. Since U.S. hospitals have very little experience in tropical diseases, our family always travels with malaria treatment medication just in case. We praise God that 12 hours after starting the treatment, he was back to full health! We thank the Lord that this intervention took place in the nick of time, before the malaria got any worse.One more big news item: Priscilla has resigned from her position at the International School of Ouagadougou where she worked as the administrative assistant for the past three years. Her salary went to a fund that provides tuition assistance for Wycliffe families. We realized that there was no need to continue adding to the fund, since only our two boys will be receiving assistance next year. She has enjoyed the work, but it has been extremely time consuming. She looks forward to taking the summer off and then beginning new assignment with Wycliffe. Please pray for the Lord's leading concerning the role that she will play beginning in October.We are traveling to the US this summer to move our US belongings from Kentucky to Michigan and to set Henry up for college. Our schedule is tight, but we would like to see you if time allows. You can find our complete itinerary on our website: http://higbyfamily.comWe can be contacted by phone: 616.499.3337 or send us an email!Partners in the Gospel, (Phil 1:5)Doug & Priscilla Higby  Praise & PrayerPraise God for the malaria treatment on hand for Kevin and his quick recovery.Priscilla and Doug recently celebrated their 20th anniversary and thank the Lord for His faithfulness to them and their family throughout these years. With Priscilla's job over at the school, she is now able to travel together with Doug for the whole summer, the first time in 3 years.Pray for the regional coordinators for language technology as they discover how best to oversee technology training for Bible translation projects and how to mentor consultants in each region of the world.Pray for Henry as he embarks on his own to Calvin College. Pray for a good experience and for the Lord's leading in his life.Pray for Priscilla as she finally gets rest from her busy job at the school; ask for the Lord's direction for her next assignment. Doug & Priscilla Higby are serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Doug is the Language Technology Coordinator for Africa and Priscilla is the Administrative Assistant at the International School of Ouagadougou where their three boys attend. Mailing address: 01 B.P. 1784 Ouagadougou 01 Burkina Faso Michigan phone: Dial this number at your usual US rates to talk to the Higbys via the Internet. Remember they are in the GMT time zone (EST + 4 or 5 hours): (616) 499-3337 Website: higbyfamily.com Partnership opportunities: To support the Higbys financially, please make checks payable to:"Wycliffe Bible Translators" with the memo: "Doug & Priscilla Higby" Mail to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, P.O. Box 628200, Orlando FL 32862-8200 To contribute towards computer equipment for critical translation projects in Africa, include this memo: "28000 AFAREA, 44410-F30956" To give a gift online, use this link. Fill in the account no. 232675 and the amount of your gift. http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.22.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug The Higby Herald Dear Friends,Thank you for praying for the Outilingua workshop in Niger!  We praise God for bringing 23 people together from 14 different countries to receive training in the latest computer technology for Bible translation.  To give you an idea of how this training can help, let me share Elijah’s story.We met Elijah in 2008 when our family drove down to visit the Fulfulde translation team in Benin.  The team was continually beset with computer problems, and at one point we were able to arrange for them to receive a new donated computer.  During our visit, we were surprised to learn that there was a computer department for the various translation teams in Beninese languages.   There was Elijah, ready and willing to help translation teams any way he knew how.  Although Elijah had never received specific training in the translation computer tools, he did an amazing job with what he was able to figure out on his own.  Most of the problems that Elijah wrestled with already had solutions—he just wasn’t aware of them, and neither were the teams he was trying to support.  Having Elijah attend this year’s workshop was a pure joy.  He sat there and just soaked up the training, never falling behind, and always smiling. Now, Elijah is returning to Benin, and just like his namesake, he returns to give the message of God’s kingdom by making these tools available to the translators, making them more effective in their work.Right now I (Doug) am on my way to Thailand for a very exciting conference.  I have been serving as the “Language Technology Coordinator” for Africa.  This was a new position that we started in order to get the most effective tools and training into the translators’ hands.  Recently, coordinators have been appointed for all the other regions of the world (Americas Area, Pacific Area, etc.) and I’ll be helping lead the first ever meeting of these coordinators to discuss how we can best fulfill our task.Henry just celebrated his 18th birthday… hard to imagine!  He makes his final college decision this week (we’ll let you know) and then--in only two short, busy months--will be on a one-way ticket to the US.  We are trying to enjoy every day we are together as a family.  His trip to Turkey was quite an eye-opener.  He learned a lot of history on tours to various historical sites, and then participated in the Model United Nations meetings with 700 students from around the world.  Kevin and Henry are performing in the school talent show this week.  Henry juggling and Kevin twirling a flaming stick.  ... don’t ask.  Be assured a bucket of water and fire extinguisher will be handy!Partners in the Gospel,                (Phil 1:5)Doug & Priscilla Higby  Prayer and PraisePraise God for the successful Outilingua 2010 workshop in March, for the safe arrival and departure of all involved.  Pray too for the training workshops that these participants will lead now that they have returned to their countries.  They will need courage and confidence to teach others.After Outlingua 2010, our family participated in a three-day spiritual retreat in Niger with Reformed Church in America (RCA) and Christian Reformed Church missionaries.  We thank God for this time of refreshment during Passion Week (and the school's Spring Break).Thailand is not the safest place to be right now due to political unrest in Bangkok.  However, the meetings will be held in Chiang Mai, where there are no reports of violence as of yet.  Please pray for safety for Doug and for all the regional representatives as they meet to discuss how to get tools and training into the hands of language projects around the globe.The end of the school year is always busy for our family.  Priscilla is handling the school administration, the boys are studying for exams and making summer preparations, and Doug is traveling.  Pray that our family will remain calm and rooted in Christ’s peace.The city of Ouagadougou is enduring extremely high temperatures and extended power cuts.  We are thankful for our power back-up systems, however coping with these daily occurrences can be draining.  Please pray for our family's stamina until the rains come. Doug & Priscilla Higby are serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Doug is the Language Technology Coordinator for Africa and Priscilla is the Administrative Assistant at the International School of Ouagadougou where their three boys attend. Mailing address: 01 B.P. 1784 Ouagadougou 01 Burkina Faso Michigan phone: Dial this number at your usual US rates to talk to the Higbys via the Internet. Remember they are in the GMT time zone (EST + 4 or 5 hours): (616) 499-3337 Website: higbyfamily.com Partnership opportunities: To support the Higbys financially, please make checks payable to:"Wycliffe Bible Translators" with the memo: "Doug & Priscilla Higby" Mail to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, P.O. Box 628200, Orlando FL 32862-8200 To contribute towards computer equipment for critical translation projects in Africa, include this memo: "28000 AFAREA, 44410-F30956" To give a gift online, use this link. Fill in the account no. 232675 and the amount of your gift. ~ http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.21.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug Trip to Lobiri village to install backup power system http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.20.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug Message is not being displayed correctly? View it on the web. February 16, 2010Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoDear Friends,Last month, I (Doug) was excited to represent Wycliffe at meetings with the United Bible Society (UBS) in Canada. I don’t often get excited about meetings, being more of a doer than a talker, but these held special interest for me. UBS is responsible for the creation of Paratext – the software program used by most Bible translators around the world, and the software we used during our work on the Fulfulde New Testament. I got to meet the Paratext developers and also got a sneak preview of their newest version. Nothing prepared me, though, for the incredible advances made by these gifted programmers. In fact, of the many applications that we teach our Africa field consultants, this one has jumped to number one on our priority list. What is more, the development team is going to try to release a beta (test) version in time for the fourth annual African consultant training workshop on March 15! What’s so special about this software? Here is just one of the new WOW features that I wish we had when translating the Fulfulde Bible:Translators can now see apparent misspelled words underlined in red. Ha! You thought that was easy? You might even say it is a feature of any software program. Oops, the word rudimintary is underlined in red; it should be “rudimentary.” My computer knew this, of course, because it has a massive dictionary that contains every English word in all of its conjugated forms. Type a word that is not in the list and it gets underlined in red. Yet this is precisely what Bible translators cannot do because there is no such exhaustive dictionary in their newly written language. So the new software uses a new approach to guess misspelled words. It compares words with other words and looks for anomalies. By making its own index of all the words used so far in the translation, it can guess what the affixes are in the language. Even without a dictionary for English it could guess that -ment, and –ary are affixes that occur frequently. So when the word rudi-mint-ary shows up and it doesn’t find “-mint” in its list of affixes, it would (correctly) guess that the word is misspelled. If the computer guesses incorrectly, the translator tells it so, and the computer revises its guessing rules for the next time. Believe me, what goes on under the surface is incredibly complex, but the important thing is—it works! Praise God for this new tool and pray for a smooth introduction and training for the African consultants in March.We’ve been teaching the boys the Heidelberg Catechism, and a couple families here have decided to join us. Every other Sunday night we have a group of nine teenagers gathered to study, making catechism way more exciting than if it were our family alone. We are also reading the book “Do Hard Things” by Alex & Brett Harris for teenagers, and would highly recommend it for your own kids or grandchildren. College preparation for Henry is at its most intense right now, but he’s been awarded some outstanding scholarships and we are suddenly more hopeful that things will all come together. Thank you for praying!We appreciate your continued interest, prayers, and support, and hope that you can participate in our joy at the many advances that are simplifying the task of Bible translators. May God be glorified through the creativity of programmers and through the training that puts these tools in the hands of translators, that every language might have access to the Word of God.Partners in the Gospel, (Phil 1:5) Doug & Priscilla Higby Prayer & PraisePraise God for the powerful new Paratext software that will be taught to trainers from across Africa in March. Please pray for the developers as they try to get this version finalized and ready by mid-March.Thank God with us for Henry's scholarship awards and pray for the Lord's continued direction and leading for his future.Please pray for Doug and Jeff Heath who will be doing the consultant training in March. The course will be in Niger this year. Doug & Priscilla Higby are serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Doug is the Language Software Coordinator for Africa and Priscilla is the Administrative Assistant at the International School of Ouagadougou where their three boys attend. Mailing address: 01 B.P. 1784 Ouagadougou 01 Burkina Faso Michigan phone: Dial this number at your usual US rates to talk to the Higbys via the Internet. Remember they are in the GMT time zone (EST + 4 or 5 hours): (616) 499-3337 Website: higbyfamily.com Forward this email to a friend. Stop receiving this newsletter. Change your email address. Partnership opportunities: To support the Higbys financially, please make checks payable to:"Wycliffe Bible Translators" with the memo: "Doug & Priscilla Higby" Mail to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, P.O. Box 628200, Orlando FL 32862-8200 To contribute towards computer equipment for critical translation projects in Africa, include this memo: "28000 AFAREA, 44410-F30956" To give a gift online, use this link. Fill in the account no. 232675 and the amount of your gift. http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.19.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug The Higby Herald December 28, 2009 -- Burkina FasoDear Friends,We wish you a Merry Christmas and God’s richest blessings for 2010. Wow! 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. So much has happened in those 10 years and it is wonderful to see how the Lord’s hand was at work through it all. We had much time to reflect on this during this past week when we made a family trip back to Mali, accompanied by good friends, the Van Dingenen family. The roads were unpaved for over half the journey, but this presented little challenge for our newly acquired Land Rover. Last time, we had asked you to pray for the paperwork process to put our vehicle on the road. God indeed answered your prayers, for we feared we would have to cancel the trip when the paperwork was still stuck on some government desk with less than a week to go. But again, God extended his grace to us and just five days before our voyage, we had Burkina plates and all the necessary papers. Since Henry leaves for college next summer, this trip was important for us to relive the eight years we spent in Mali.Pastor Timothy Kodio next to the completedprogress chart for the Dogon BibleDuring our trip, we spent time with Timothy Kodio in his remote village location. His team is preparing for the publication of the entire Bible in the Dogon language. I always am eager to get my hands on a translation computer—to check that the anti-virus is up-to-date, that data is backed up, and that the latest versions of the software are being used. To my great chagrin, I discovered that Timothy’s computer contained none of the Translator’s Workplace resources, a collection of over 500 exegetical resources and Bibles destined for translators, neither did it contain a separate collection of resources in French. I was able to install these so they can at least be of assistance during the final revision, but this incident galvanizes us once again in our goal to make sure that every translator everywhere is using the technology that allows them to work most efficiently.To that end, I recently had an amazing opportunity to address all of our language program managers across Africa who supervise Bible translation projects. In the presentation I showed a picture of my teenage boys and explained how I might teach them to drive a car: “Press down on the clutch, turn the key till it starts, select a gear, let up on the clutch and accelerate. OK, boys, here are the keys. Have fun and don’t stay out too late!” After the laughter died down, the room became very quiet when I explained that this is exactly what we do when we hand a computer to a language worker without providing adequate training. Please pray for these program managers as they try to implement the recommendations on how to plan and budget for the training that will make our translators more effective. Kevin as GoliathIn our last letter we mentioned the boys were on a mission trip to a village with their youth group. They uploaded a music video here that shows them in action. Kevin played the part of Goliath in the skit by riding his 6 foot giraffe unicycle!Many have asked us how we celebrate Christmas in Africa, far from family. We always attend the Christmas service in Mooré and French at our local church, but we keep a foot in our home culture. We find ourselves in the company of English-speaking friends who have also left family to serve overseas. In this community, we are “Uncle Doug” and “Aunt Priscilla” to many, and our boys have many “uncles” and “aunts”. For our English Christmas celebration we joined with two other families for Christmas dinner and listening to the BBC’s “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” live from King’s College in Cambridge, where P.J. and I had visited last summer. In addition to the friends here, we no longer even count the cost of talking to family in the US, which modern connectivity allows us to do for less than 2 cents per minute! We praise God for the opportunities we have to celebrate Christmas, despite the distance. This Christmas and New Years, we extend our warmest greetings to you and yours, thanking you again for the part that you play in our ministry here in Africa.Partners in the Gospel, Phil 1:5Doug & P.J. HigbyPrayer & PraisePraise God for the paperwork on the Land Rover being completed in time for our trip to Mali. We now have a sturdy vehicle that we can all fit in.Praise God that Doug was able to meet with all the language program managers in Kenya to stress the importance of technology training for Bible translation teams.Pray for God's grace as Doug will be traveling quite a bit in the next few months. Doug & P.J. were apart 84 days in the last year, and want to make sure not to go beyond their limits. Pray for stability in the family and good communication.Pray for wisdom as we are in the midst of navigating the financial labyrinth of sending Henry to college. There are a lot of paperwork and deadlines for college applications and scholarships and we don't want to let any opportunities go by, while seeking the Lord's direction. Doug & Priscilla Higby are serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Doug is the Language Software Coordinator for Africa and Priscilla is the Administrative Assistant at the International School of Ouagadougou where their three boys attend. Mailing address: 01 B.P. 1784 Ouagadougou 01 Burkina Faso Michigan phone: Dial this number at your usual US rates to talk to the Higbys via the Internet. Remember they are in the GMT time zone (EST + 4 or 5 hours): (616) 499-3337 Website: higbyfamily.com Partnership opportunities: To support the Higbys financially, please make checks payable to:"Wycliffe Bible Translators" with the memo: "Doug & Priscilla Higby" Mail to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, P.O. Box 628200, Orlando FL 32862-8200 To contribute towards computer equipment for critical translation projects in Africa, include this memo: "28000 AFAREA, 44410-F30956" To give a gift online, use this link. Fill in the account no. 232675 and the amount of your gift. http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.18.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug Dear Friends,Exciting things are happening in our ministry, for which we praise the Lord! 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 national language). This ministry has been growing, and in March we will have our fourth annual training event for that group of twenty or so consultants from more than a dozen African countries. In Africa, there are actually less Anglophone countries where Bible translation is being done than Francophone, so it was natural for us to start our training in French. However, until now we had done no training for the Anglophone countries and this burden weighed on us heavily as requests for help came in from places like Nigeria and Tanzania.So for the past two weeks in Nairobi, Kenya, it was a great joy to assist one of my new staff members, Kent Schroeder, in teaching the first group of language software consultants in English. Participants came from five different countries with the aim of learning to train users in their local language projects to use new software. One of the participants reported that he has been doing computer maintenance and repair since 1998 but doesn’t remember a single software training event happening in as much time. Does this mean software from the mid 90’s is still in use?! Technology has come a long ways since then!For example, the new Bible translation program we taught allows teams to store their translation data in a common repository on the Internet, allowing each team member to create, edit, and improve the Biblical text no matter where they are located! In the past, the absence of a key team member from the project would halt progress until that member’s return. Now? Plug in anywhere in the world and get work done, sending comments back and forth through the software. Such ease of collaboration was definitely not possible in the mid 90’s and the thought energizes us to get these tools and training into the hands of the translators.We are deeply grateful for your prayers as is evident by the measure of blessing the Lord has been pouring out on our work! We also depend on your financial support to continue on. Lately the dollar has been falling against the local currency making everything more expensive, including the boy’s tuition. We have also outgrown our Nissan double-cab pickup truck, tired of battling with the seat forward and backward to accommodate long legs to no one’s satisfaction! An opportunity came to sell it and replace it with a much roomier Land Rover at a reasonable price increase. Any gifts towards the replacement Land Rover would be appreciated, since this expense is not part of our normal support.Henry and Kevin are in the middle of a five-day youth ministry trip up to the village of Yako during their October break from school. They will be leading vacation Bible school for a large number of children and assisting with medical screenings. We’ll have pictures and an update on that soon after they get back.May God bless you as you continue to serve with us as…Partners in the Gospel, Phil 1:5Doug & Priscilla HigbyPrayer & Praise Praise God for the participants who attended the consultant training workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. Pray for these new consultants as they take cutting-edge technology back to their places of work and train the local translators and language workers in its use.Praise God for the opportunity the boys have to participate in this outreach program. Pray also for the childrens' lives that they are able to touch on this trip.Praise God for the many mission and relief agencies who are providing aide to the flood victims we mentioned in our last newsletter. Pray that the church's witness will increase!Pray for the paperwork process to put our Land Rover on the road, which may take up to a month!Pray for relief from the financial pressures we are currently under due to the weakening dollar and vehicle purchase. http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.17.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug Dear Friends,A week ago Tuesday the rain started at 5:30 in the morning. A good steady rain that just got heavier and heavier. We were thankful that we had gotten the leaks in our roof fixed at the beginning of rainy season. Driving Priscilla and the boys to school, I could see the roads beginning to flood, actually driving through water up to our bumper to get into the school entrance. But the rain didn’t stop. For around 10 hours it continued, and our rain gauge measured eight inches – more than we’ve ever seen in our 15 years in Africa. It was also more than the city drainage system and dams could handle. Many vehicles were submerged and houses flooded or completely washed away. In many zones of Ouagadougou, houses are made out of mud brick which presented no resistance at all to the flood waters. Reports say that over 100,000 people are now homeless. Fortunately, the government is responding quickly with aid and is calling on other aid agencies for help. A number of the employees at our office and at the school were affected and we’ve contributed to a fund to help them rebuild. In a previous letter, I mentioned the battery backup system we were going to install for the Lobiri translation office. Well, the man who imports them woke up to three feet of water in his storage room. So I spent Saturday taking one of the units apart to see if I could salvage it. A missionary friend of ours is doing the same salvage work for the medical scanning equipment at a local mission hospital, submersed in the dirty flood water. The main city hospital is also shut down and medical care is unavailable for many. Please pray for the situation here, that aid would continue to come in and that the victims of the flood would be reestablished soon. Pray for the churches and missions here as they are offering shelter and food for the homeless, acting as Jesus’ hands and feet during this crisis.It has been a while since I last wrote, following our whirlwind of a summer. At one point, Priscilla and I were at meetings in England, Roger was in Germany, Kevin was in Kentucky, and Henry was in Michigan. Each has many adventures to tell about, and we thoroughly enjoy our family times at meals, savoring the moments together and our family devotional times during Henry’s last year at home. College is beckoning, and this year will hasten by before we know it.The Outilingua program of training language and translation software consultants across Africa has been very effective in the French-speaking countries, but this year we are finally able to extend the training to the English-speaking countries as well. Kent Schroeder is working with me part-time from Kenya and together we are organizing the first consultant training workshop in English for three weeks in October. Lord willing, this will extend our reach to the English-speaking countries where translation into the minority languages is being done, such as Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and a number of other countries. Kent and I are busy preparing the course content and a website to keep it readily accessible at all times.We started on Genesis nine years ago with the life of Abraham, and through the work of Ketil Vestbostad in Mali, the rest has been completed. Priscilla is almost done formatting the book of Genesis in Fulfulde and soon we will send it to the printers.We hope your summer was enjoyable, and we wish you God’s richest blessings in Christ. We are grateful for your continued support and prayers as you partner with us in the vital ministry of Bible Translation.Partners in the Gospel, (Phil 1:5) Doug & Priscilla Higby Prayer & PraisePraise God for the addition of Kent Schroeder to my team, enabling us to begin running an annual consultant training workshop in English as well!Praise God for safe travel this past summer, for bringing us back together again, and for the richness of our family time together.Pray for the flood victims without food, housing, or medical care. Pray for the rapid distribution of aid, and that the churches here would be places of refuge, caring for those in need at this time.Pray for the participants who will attend the October 12 consultant training workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. It has been very difficult to find qualified people to train, and one of them recently backed out. Pray that the training we offer will get to the most strategic people who can then train others.As Henry considers colleges, please pray for wisdom for both he and us. We'll be depending heavily on scholarships, and need to be on time with our applications. We trust that the Lord will supply. http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.16.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug Dear friends,Greetings from Burkina Faso! Cloudy skies are bringing cooler weather but with increased humidity as we enter the rainy season. Our kitchen refrigerator lost the battle with the tropical heat of the past few months and we had to get a new one. 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 110°. What a difference with the new one—things stay cold even with three teenage boys opening and closing the refrigerator door!For two weeks in the middle of May, I taught a first-of-its-kind workshop for a number of our language teams here in Burkina Faso. All of the teams are involved in a Bible translation project and were looking to work on the lexical data that they collected through the years. Often, these are lists of words and definitions collected in a haphazard manner. Our new lexical database is called FieldWorks and has much to offer to keep the data consistent and allow for easy printing of a dictionary. Since this program was completely new to most of the students, I watched their reactions closely. They were most impressed by the ability to click on one of the words in their scripture translation and have a dictionary definition pop up for that word. Secondly, they were really wowed when I showed them that by linking their computers together in a small network, the separate computers could work together on the same project simultaneously—yes, even on the same chapter!The Lobiri language team hopes to benefit from this technology in their village office, but they currently have two desktop computers that crash every time the power gets cut—which is very often. We’d like to pay them a visit the first week of July to install a network and battery backup system. I could use some help, got any spare vacation time?P.J. & our growing menHenry, P.J., Kevin, RogerHenry and Kevin are passing the six-foot mark, with Roger anxious to catch up. This past year the younger two have discovered their musical talent! Roger has taken to the trumpet and has made his way to first chair in the school band. Kevin has taken to the guitar and has even composed his first song. Both performed in the school concert and made us proud! We need to find them instruments of their own in the US this summer. If you have any that are collecting dust in your attic, let us know—the boys would be interested.The school year is almost over and we are all scattering in different directions. Henry and Kevin to the US for summer jobs, myself to Dallas for specialized software training, and then P.J. , Roger and I take some vacation time in Belgium on the way to meetings in England. The vacation will be very welcome because we have both been a bit stressed out and are looking forward to a slower pace in July. We will be visiting with some friends.We asked you to pray for the lawsuit against SIL in Côte d’Ivoire. The court date was changed 3 or 4 times before finally taking place May 29. Unfortunately, SIL’s appeal of the first ruling (where they were not allowed to represent themselves) was not upheld. As a result, SIL has to pay $22,000. Although they have the option of trying another appeal with the Supreme Court, something tells me all this time, effort, and frustration aren’t worth it. This has already dragged on for over a year. Please pray for our colleague and branch director Tim Tillinghast as he works to resolve this situation. We know that our Lord is sovereign and that His plans are for the best. We thank you for standing with us in prayer both for this specific request, and for our various ministry endeavors. May God be glorified through your lives!Partners in the Gospel, (Phil. 1:5)Doug and Priscilla HigbyPrayer and PraiseWe’ve been asked to help typeset the book of Genesis in Fulfulde, and soon after, the life of Moses. Praise God that these Scripture portions will soon be available for the Fulani!Pray for Henry as he adjusts to his summer job at Camp Geneva, starting June 4. For those of you in MI, please consider stopping by to encourage him. You’ll find him in the kitchen.Pray for safe travel for our family members this summer as we will scattered for the duration of the summer.Pray for the Côte d’Ivoire branch as they deal with the court ruling against them.Pray for Alhamdou, a Fulani friend from Mali who teaches literacy. He called to say he is going blind, so we invited him to come to Burkina Faso to help him get treatment. Pray for restored vision and renewed faith in Christ. The seed was planted while we were there, but has not been nurtured. http://higbyfamily.com/news.php?item.15.2 2010-09-06T03:55:06-04:00 Doug Dear Friends,“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. “There are so many quirky details to remember for all the different programs, I figured only someone with years of experience could become a consultant.”In its third year now, the Outilingua [ u-ti-lin-gwa ] consultant training effort has turned this assumption on its head. Now 21 participants from 11 countries, many of whom started with basic computer knowledge, are being trained as the consultants who will deploy software tools across Africa and train translation teams to use them. These new consultants are beginning to master complex operations that even the seasoned consultants have difficulty with. Through the Outilingua consultant training, we are able to bypass the “years of experience”, thrusting Bible translation work in Africa into the 21st century--putting the technology into the hands of every linguist and translator to make their work more effective. Victor receives his certificate at the end of the course in CameroonWhat makes our training effective? Bringing these scattered folks together as peers for 2-3 weeks each year as we worship and learn together enables them to build a sense of vision, community and purpose. Knowing each other in a personal way helps them to collaborate via Internet communication despite the vast distance between them. Already, two weeks after the workshop, there have been several pleas for help – “What do I do when I get this error message?!” But this time, others in the group are beating me to the reply! Praise the Lord for this effective training, and pray “…that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph” (2 Th. 3:1 RSV) through the ministry of these consultants.We received a report from our former location in Mali where a gathering of Fulani Christians took place. Mary Crickmore wrote to share, “One thing that was a great joy was seeing each of the Maasina [Fulani] believers with their New Testament. The Pulaar [Fulani from western Mali] believers of course had the Futa Toro NT's. They read the passage in both versions.” She went on to say that they moved all the tables and chairs out of the room prepared for them and brought in straw mats to sit on – Fulani-style!Just last week our boys took part in World Vision’s 30-hour famine. They fasted together with their youth group to raise awareness of world hunger. You may remember they did this last year and raised almost ten thousand dollars to fight hunger here in Burkina Faso! This year they will again do food distribution. If you’d like to be involved, please email henry©higbyfamily.comIn the past month we received two Christmas packages! It may be March, but we’re ready to celebrate Christmas any time of year. A big thanks to those who were involved!Partners in the Gospel,Phil 1:5Doug & Priscilla Higby Prayer and PraisePraise God for safety in travel for the 21 participants of Outilingua. Traveling from all over Africa, everyone arrived safely and returned home without incident!Pray that the language software consultants will go out and implement what they have learned before it is forgotten.We would appreciate your prayers as our workload are becoming difficult to manage. For Doug, the number of training workshops he is planning will greatly increase next fiscal year, and he needs to take care that he doesn’t bite off more than he can chew. This past eight week quarter at school has been full of activities during, after and outside of school hours. Not every quarter is as busy as this one was; pray that Priscilla can maintain a better balance between work and home. We need to remind ourselves that the Lord doesn’t depend on our acts of service, but rather wants hearts of devotion to Him. Pray that we may spend more time “being” in Christ and less time “doing” for Christ.The time is upon us to begin looking into colleges for Henry in 2010. Please pray for wisdom and for guidance as we look at colleges, scholarships, and financing options.