Reading, Writing, and Interviews

Here's a little bit about how the application process goes:
(This is actually kind of boring...really only for people who are really curious about details.)

I started talking with my recruiter - pretty sure that's the official title, although I call him Patrick- a long time ago, so we knew this would be coming up as I approached graduation. We set a date in October and went through some initial questions together over the phone. (The questions from the "Thinking about Missions" pamphlet for those of you who are familiar with it). They're basic questions to see how you will work in the environment and if you have any significant barriers to starting work with them.

Online
We decided Christmas break would be a good time to start the rest of the process so in December, I started the online part of the application, which was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. Some of the questions were really difficult for me to answer, but I'm glad they ask them.

One of the questions was "How many times have you read the entire Bible?" Now that is a fair question - especially for someone wanting to go into Bible translation. The thing is, there were a lot of books I had simply never gotten to: Leviticus, Numbers, and the minor prophets to name a few. So I decided to finish it. I had 40 days to finish the online part, so I gave myself 40 days to finish the Bible. Granted, I didn't read every book - just the ones I couldn't remember specifically finishing. In the end, that added up to about 660 chapters. (To date, I've read 404, and I'm ahead of schedule). For the record, it is not a requirement that someone read through the whole thing before they can become a member, but it was something I felt was important to do. It's been a real challenge, but a really enlightening one.

Interviews
I will have a total of three official interviews. I have already done two of them: the initial interview with my Application man, Carle (there are a lot of titles; my apologies...I cannot keep them all straight), and one with my home pastor. Since I have interned with my youth pastor, Aaron, at my home church, I know him a lot better than my head pastor, so I chose him to be my home pastor and the one Wycliffe will be in contact with. Aaron and I talked about how the church will be supporting me throughout my adventures, and Carle and I talked about some initial getting-to-know-you and protocol stuff. I have another interview with Carle, and a couple of things have to come in (a school transcript and one last reference) before I am completely done with this part. Other than that, I am really close.

Picking a region of the world
Now, people are beginning to ask, "Where will you be working?"
Here's the answer: I have no idea.

*There are primarily three areas of the world that have the most work to do: Central Africa and Nigeria, Mainland and Southeast Asia, and Indonesia and the Pacific Islands. Chances are, I will end up in one of those areas. The real question is which one.

All I know is that I like places that are hot and humid, which pretty much doesn't say anything because all of those places are pretty hot and pretty humid. Currently, I am fluent in Spanish - which doesn't help much in those regions, and I can get by pretty well in Portuguese - which is spoken in just a handful of African countries. I wouldn't, of course, be translating into either of those languages. Those are just national languages - crucial for getting around the country in general.


Prayers
I have a lot to learn, and a lot to ponder, weigh, and decide. Your prayers are greatly appreciated, and I know that you are praying. Some days, I'm hit with thoughts of whether or not I've gone nuts in heading down this path, but then I remember the reason I'm doing it, and nothing in the world makes more sense.

To quote one of the most famous missionaries of all time,

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

- Jim Elliot

Tentative Timeline

For future-thinkers (or people who are just curious...or confused), here is a short view of what my life should look like for the next couple of years:

May 2011 - Graduation from Texas A&M with a Bachelor's degree in International Studies

July 2011 - Start grad school at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics in Dallas, where I will earn a certificate in linguistics

June 2012 - Finish certificate work at GIAL

July 2012 - Attend Wycliffe training of sorts in Orlando Florida; Begin building ministry partnership team (that's prayer and funding). Six months allotted for that.

December 2012 - Hopefully have full support;

January 2013 - If all goes as planned...IN FIELD!

Diving In - the application process

I have officially started my application to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. What does that mean, exactly? Well, it means that I will be a member for life. Yes, it is a career. And I will (if all goes according to plan) soon be an official Bible translator.

You might want to know how I decided on this as a career. So I will tell you.

It all started when I was about twelve years old. My Grandmother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said, "Well, I don't know, but I like codes and foreign languages." Now, that was an odd thing for me to say for several reasons. First, I didn't know any foreign languages. I hadn't even had a Spanish class. But I knew I enjoyed learning about them when I could. Moreover, I had lots of other talents and hobbies that I enjoyed. Why I had chosen to tell her that at that moment of my life, I do not know.

She told me, "Well, you could be a translator." That sounded cool. I don't think I had considered it before, so I asked, "What would I translate?" She said, "Well you could translate for a travel agency." That sounded cool - the idea of showing people new things and communicating between travelers and locals. Then she said, "Or you could translate for the United Nations." That was a definite "no." My social studies class put me to sleep. I certainly didn't want to be in politics for the rest of my life. But then she said something that really hit me. "You could be a Bible translator."

What? I thought. There are people in the world who don't have a Bible in their own language!?

Yes. There are. An astounding amount, too.

*Of the 6,909 identified languages in the world, there are almost 2,100 languages without any part of Scripture. That is more than 340,000,000 people. That is 340 million people who cannot go home and read about the saving message of Jesus Christ because it is not in a language they understand.

There is a wonderful organization called Wycliffe Bible Translators who has been working very hard since 1942 to change that. They have a very interesting history, but so as not to bore you with details, you can read their story here if you so wish:
http://www.wycliffe.org/About/OurHistory.aspx



A lot of people will probably ask,
"Well have you been called to work with Wycliffe?"

I certainly believe so.
First, we are all called to share the love of Christ with the world.

Matthew 28:18-20 says, "¹⁸ Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” It wouldn't make sense to teach them in a language they don't understand. And he says "all nations."

Second, I have been given a gift - a strange and insatiable passion for language-learning. No one else I know gets a thrill out of a class in phonetics, or would spend their free time looking up Portuguese grammar rules online. I would be a failure at sports ministry or medical missions, but language, I can handle.

This is something I have been leaning towards (and gone back and forth a little about) for nearly nine years. I have been praying about it, and at this point, I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. I welcome any prayers you want to offer. Now especially for guidance through the application process, and direction as to where in the world I will serve. I felt it was important to inform you from the very beginning to what I am getting myself into. If you have any questions, please post them!

Que Dios les bendiga a todos,
God bless you all,

Diane

*Stats come from http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx