schizophrenic sky

I wish I had a wider-angle lense, because the further left you looked, the blacker the cloud became ... and it's a pity you can't hear the rumbles of thunder too! The other funny thing is that the cloud was moving towards me, so one side of the sky remained blue, while this huge thundercloud loomed overhead ... or at least on the righthand side of overhead!

Leviticus. Check!

I am happy to report that our week of checking ended with us finishing Leviticus - with just ten minutes to spare! Halfway through the week I really wasn't sure we'd make it, but it is always a tidy feeling to finish a week with a completed book. At the same time, the most important thing is to do the work well, so we'd never rush it just to be able to say we'd got it done.

I always have mixed feelings about our checking weeks. My team is great, and works really well with our consultant, Pierre, so I always enjoy the time we spend together. The work is intellectually challenging, and yet at the same time if there are no problems with our translation then I'm not actively doing anything except listening, which requires a lot of concentration.

I have to work fulltime during these weeks, and while that isn't a problem from the point of view of the work, I do miss spending time with my kids!

Translation work doesn't make for the most exciting photos. To make a change, I asked Marc to take a photo of us during a coffee break this last week. From left to right: me, Philémon, Pastor Samuel and our consultant, Pierre.

spot the odd one out!

what missionaries do in their time off...

(What?! Missionaries get time off?)

This is Family Fun Day - hosted by TWR and enjoyed by missionaries and ex-pats living in Benin...

Anniversary joy!

This Sunday, Pastor Samuel and his wife Hélène invited the whole church to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with them after the service. They had made fish sandwiches and hot chocolate for everyone - quite a feat! - and it was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces. They are such lovely people, and such a great example of what marriage can be when two people serve God together.

computers and clouds

Last week the translation team attended a workshop about our translation computer programme, Paratext, in Parakou. Here you can see all the participants (except me!):

And here are Pastor Samuel and Philémon listening intently:

Back in the office this week, and I'm all on my own as my translators are taking their annual leave...

... but working on three computers at once. Perhaps it's because I was afraid the computers would get lonely ... or perhaps I thought it would stop me from feeling too lonely ... or maybe it is just that after last week's workshop I wanted to get all our computer files up to date!

The translators have taken their annual leave to go and work in their fields, preparing the ground and planting. The rains have started, and so we are seeing lots of skies like these (both photos taken today):

(It's a pity about the electric wires getting in the way, especially since they do us no good at all!)

tired eyes?

Last week we were working on Job chapter 31 and in verse 16 the Hebrew speaks of Job (hypothetically) causing the eyes of the widow to fail. The idea is that she would have hoped to receive charity from him which never came.

One of the French versions says "si j'ai laissé les yeux de la veuve s'épuiser", "if I let the widow's eyes become exhausted". This seems to be what gave the Monkolé draft which said, "mà ǹ nɔ ǹ jɔ̀ jaaɔ̃ gɔ í cɔ sim kpãai ngɔgɔ hee ijuɛ í gbɛɛji", literally "or did I let a widow hope* something from me until her eye was tired". As we worked through the draft together, one of my translators said, "we'll have to take out the words 'her eye', because eyes can't get tired [in Monkolé], only people can" but the other translator said, "or we can leave 'her eye', but say 'was dry'".

So our version now has the widow watching until her eye is dry. I love these little details which should make our Bible sound more Monkolé!

*And as an added note, "to hope" in Monkolé is "to watch the path"