Our house has been full of both excitement and nervousness as Chris prepares to leave on his very first language survey trip bright and early tomorrow morning at 6:30am! I wish I could say that everything is all prepared and we have spent the evening relaxing with our feet up…but that is far from the truth. In actuality Chris is still packing after a long day at the office, but we still have a solid 8 hours until the survey truck will be rolling out, that’s plenty of time, right? In all seriousness, preparation for the survey has been going well and in terms of the language aspect of things Chris is good to go! Part of preparation for the survey was to visit the immigration offices in Njombe and Ludewa in order to get permission to travel to the Kisi region and do the language work there. We are thankful that these meetings went extremely well and the local authorities were happy to grant Chris and the team passage to Kisi and are very interested in their work. Some ways that you can be praying for us are listed below: (1) Please pray for Chris for a safe, productive, fruitful trip. (2) Also, please pray for me, as I will be alone for however long it takes for them to get to Kisi, do their work and return. This is the first time that I will be staying on my own here in Tanzania and I am very thankful for the community here that has overwhelmed me with offers of meals, rides and company to make this time a little easier. Next, enjoy a couple pictures from Chris' permission trip. The first is of some tea fields along the way, the second is of Chris standing in front of a sign for the Ludewa region of Tanzania.
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AuthorChristopher and Lauren Merke have joined Wycliffe to help fulfill the goal of seeing the scriptures translated into every language of the world! Christopher and Lauren live and work in Mbeya, Tanzania doing linguistic, language survey and vernacular media work. As a linguist, it will be Lauren’s responsibility to analyze and evaluate the linguistic and cultural data that is collected by language survey workers. Her role is very important because it speeds up the Bible translation process and makes translators for effective, ensuring the Good News of Jesus Christ reaches people as quickly as possible. Christopher will be fulfilling two roles as a language surveyor and as a vernacular media technician. As a language surveyor, Christopher travels to remote villages in order to gather linguistic and cultural data about various people groups and language groups. This is critical information, as it lays the foundation for Bible translation work through seeking answers to critical questions in the first stages of the Bible translation process. As a vernacular media technician, Christopher’s role will be to help translate various materials, such as the Jesus film and Christian radio programs, into other languages in Tanzania to ensure that the Gospel reaches as many people as possible. Christopher and Lauren are thrilled to be able to use the gifts that God has given them and would like for you to prayerfully consider partnering with them in this journey! Archives
September 2016
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