a day in the life...

... of a Bible-translating Mum, during a week of Bible Consultant checking.

My night was rather disturbed, and ended at 6.10am with a very wakeful baby smiling and kicking next to me. Fortunately her joy is contagious and I make the most of having a 20-minute lie-in! I just hope her squeals haven't woken our translation consultant, Pierre Barassounon, who is staying with us for the week.

From 6.30 until 8.30 we go through our usual pre-work-and-school routine, getting ourselves and the children up, dressed and fed. I also hand-wash yesterday's nappies, as I probably won't have time later. I even have five minutes to sit down for a breather before heading off to the office at about 8.25.

I arrive at the office at about 8.26 – it isn't a long commute! – and find Pierre already at his computer, Philémon sweeping the floor (as the youngest member of the team he automatically takes on this task) and the Pastor Samuel getting his things in order. When everyone has set up we usually begin with a short devotion, but today Pierre simply prays for our day of work.

We are working on the Book of Proverbs and have already checked the first two chapters with Pierre last time we had a week of work with him.

We get started – Philémon reads one verse in Monkolé and Pastor Samuel translates it very literally into French. Pierre has the Hebrew text plus various other helps open on his computer. I have the Monkolé, two French, one English and the Hebrew version open, plus my own notes from the work we did together as a team. For many of the verses Pierre just says, "Good, next verse." Sometimes he asks a few questions to help him understand what the Monkolé version really says, then says it is fine. Other times he suggests ways in which we could improve our version, and we try to find a more accurate rendering which still sounds natural in Monkolé. I type all corrections into my computer, and the translators also put them onto paper so we can double-check the computer version later.

The discussions often turn up interesting insights about the Monkolé culture. For example the verse which says (to paraphrase) that a thief who steals to satisfy his hunger will be understood, even though he must still be punished. Apparently in Monkolé culture you are allowed to pick and eat someone's crops if you are hungry – but you must cook and eat it on the spot. In the past, people whose fields were beside the road would even leave a small fire so that hungry travellers could stop and re-fuel! So the idea of this being theft seemed difficult … though I pointed out that crops are not available all year round, so there must be some time of year where it would be more difficult for someone hungry to find food!

We work from 8.30am till about 12.40pm, with a half an hour break at 10.30am. We then break for lunch and rest-hour, and come back to work at 3. Our lunch is always sent up from the village, so when I get home I just have to feed the baby and then we can tuck in.

Leaving again at 3pm is the hard bit for me, as I usually only work mornings, and it is a wrench to leave my 6 month-old baby, especially now that she is more aware of what is going on!

In the afternoon we work from 3pm until about 5.45pm, with a 15-minute break midway. It is hot (between 37°C and 39°C) and there isn't much air, so we are all dripping! But team spirit is good, and we work well together. We have worked together often enough to appreciate each other's strengths and to know how to encourage each other.

When I get home I feed the baby again, and by the time I've finished my husband has the tea on the table. He is a real support during these intensive weeks of checking. After that it is bed- and bathtime, and by the time we get to sit down and relax it is about 8.30pm. We'll be in bed by 10, for another warm night of disturbed sleep!

Pastor Samuel reading:

Pierre listening:

Corrections by Philémon:

A banner made for us by Marc, Simon and Benjy: