Technology Solutions: Greater Things to Come
The website-building workshop in Togo, Africa, had a wrinkly start. Most of the participants had little education, no media in their language, and no computer experience—not even a computer. They hadn’t the slightest idea of what they were going to do in this workshop. The instructors discussed whether they should cancel the workshop. Instead, they decided to teach them some basic skills: how to work with websites, create pages, and basic design principles.
Many of the participants had no experience in typing, especially not in typing in their language. So, the teams called for help. Mama Brigitte, a member of the Ana translation committee, called her son. He came in every day, all day long, and helped the team type their Scripture texts. The Ana team had brought along some translated passages of the book of Mark. One of the instructors asked if they would like to put these verses on their website, and they enthusiastically agreed.
At the suggestion of the instructors, the team recorded these passages and put them on pages along with the text. According to Werner, one of the instructors, “Two more teams followed their example. They got started on their Bible translations right away, typing their translations into the website and adding audio recordings to it.”
Werner confessed that “the six websites we produced are certainly not the best, richest and most interesting. But they are a great encouragement for the translation teams. They are a starting point for greater things to come.”
In the end, the instructors thanked God for leading them not to send the students home, but to make the best of the unusual situation. And now six websites are ready and waiting to offer the Scriptures to people in a language they know best!
Partner with us to help make possible “greater things to come” for Scripture websites in Africa.
