February 18, 2011: Dear Friends, I returned nearly two weeks ago from Africa, but this afternoon is the first opportunity I have really had to provide an update. Thank you for upholding me in prayer during the trip - it went great! Our first week of meetings was intense but productive. By the end of that week we had developed a detailed plan for the second year of IT training for our African peers. This will help them provide better computer support to translators, literacy workers, and others involved with the Bible translation process across the African continent. We are very thankful that everyone involved stayed healthy throughout the meetings. It is common to introduce sickness at gatherings like this, since people have come to the meetings from various parts of the world and have rubbed shoulders for many hours with lots of other people in airports, airplanes, and busses along the way. The Lord kept us healthy, which enabled us to focus our energies on the work at hand without being hindered by illness. For the second week of the trip I spent time on the following tasks:
Now that I’m back in the office I have been catching up on work here, for one thing the Low Power Computer / Remote Connectivity project. The work is moving along steadily and our partner organization, Wycliffe Associates, is preparing for a large roll-out in central Africa involving a number of volunteers to set up new systems. Today a new missionary, Karl Crossman, began working in our Communication Systems team, having completed his support-raising work! Praise the Lord! He will be going through training to provide expert support for satellite data and other communication technologies. We are excited and very thankful to see the Lord providing more people to help with the task! Please continue to pray for me and the others involved with this aggressive project, as it is providing a big boost in the progress of Bible translation. On the home front, Krista took Nick to Liberty University last weekend to check out the college. Nick is considering attending Liberty this fall, and is comparing this school with a couple others. Krista was quite pleased with the college, as was Nick. I just finished up our tax returns, and now I’m starting the federal college financial aid process to see what aid we qualify for. As a private Christian college, Liberty is about twice the cost of state colleges, maybe more, so we are praying that we will qualify for good scholarships and grants if it’s the Lord’s will for Nick to attend there. Nick had applied for an Air Force ROTC scholarship but his SAT scores were a bit too low to make the entry requirements. The Air Force ROTC has the highest score requirements of all the military branches, so the Lord has closed that door. Please continue to pray for the Lord’s direction in this big life decision for Nick, and for the Lord’s provision of the funds for our family, now that we will have two children in college! Thank you for your continued support for our ministry. Krista and I feel very privileged to serve the Lord and to be part of the team working to bring people God’s Word! Through your prayers you are part of that team as well, and we are blessed to be partners with you in this venture. In Christ, Hank & Krista Scott Wycliffe Bible Translators |