Wycliffe Needs Administrators & Managers!

Leading the Way for Bible Translation

With all the people and projects involved in the translation task, management and administrative professionals are a vital part of the team.

Overseas and at home, the need for administrators continues to grow as work expands into new countries. Besides translators, administrators are one of the most critical needs in Bible translation. Although the focus is on service overseas, Wycliffe also has openings for qualified administrators here in the U.S.

“It's exciting to know that someone like me can be a part of the life-changing Bible translation movement, using the specific gifts that God chose for me. As Barnabas had an impact on eternity through his encouragement of Paul and the believers in the early Church, I can provide fuel and support for my team members through encouragement and prayer.”
—Wendy, Team Manager

Areas of responsibility could include:

Normal management functions (planning, organizing, coordinating, staffing and achieving accountability) within the context of an evangelical mission organization.
Helping fellow missionaries and nationals effectively fulfill their responsibilities.
Working with other administrators to facilitate the work of Bible translation.
Training nationals in management.

Managers talking together A degree in business administration would be helpful. Equally valuable is management experience in a business context.

Wycliffe typically provides the opportunity for administrative candidates to attend its Management Development and Orientation Course, held in Dallas, Texas. This acquaints candidates with the organizational ethos, dynamics and management styles.

Interested in working in administration or management?

Contact Roger Gilstrap
800.WYCLIFFE ext. 3753
manager_recruiting@wycliffe.org.

Search our Service Opportunities for a sampling of open positions around the world.

UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS THE HOUSE:

Storms, insects and decay over 14 years had hollowed the foundation in Mike and Thera Anderson’s village home in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The floor swayed whenever they walked across a room.

The Andersons are Bible translators with the Sudest people on an island in the Milne Bay Province of PNG. When a supporting church offered to send a work team to build a new home for them, Mike and Thera were thrilled.

A Diverse Team

For this work team the Lord called a surgeon, a plumbing contractor, a high-school computer science teacher, a husband and wife veterinarian team, and an accountant with his wife and two sons. This group had willing hands, but limited carpentry experience, so Mike and Thera asked Matt Caddell, for help. As construction manager at SIL’s Ukarumpa center, one of Matt’s jobs was to schedule building and remodeling projects for our personnel in PNG.

The Andersons asked that their new house be built during July 2000. Matt knew it usually took construction crews four weeks to build such a house, and the church volunteers would be coming for only two. Finishing the house in that time would be impossible unless the Lord intervened.

Material Matters

Much depended on getting materials in time. A similar project in another location was lagging far behind schedule because materials had arrived three months late. Since the usual carpenter-trainer was still tied up on that job, Matt decided to oversee the building of the Andersons’ house himself. He would soon realize, however, that the One truly in control of this operation was God.

Matt had planned to arrive in the village a day before the work team, to look over the materials that had been ordered and shipped. But before departure, pilot Will Benning came to Matt with a request: “Instead of going directly to Sudest, would you spend a night at the Alotau regional center and wait for the work team to arrive? Since the plane is now only half full, I can take some of them out with you early in the morning and fly the rest of the team and their luggage later in the day.”

Matt agreed. He packed and prepared what he could, taking along a generator and several power tools. Before he left, we prayed together. Matt and the work team would need God’s help. As Scripture says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain..." (Psalm 127:1, NIV).

Weighty Issue

When Matt arrived in the village, he looked things over and realized they were lacking seven foundation posts. Each post measured from 12 to 20 feet in length, 8 to 10 inches in diameter, and weighed 800 to 1,000 pounds. Getting more posts would be no easy task, but without them the house could not be built. Again Matt prayed.

A large group of villagers ventured nearly two miles into the rain forest for more posts. It took about ten men to carry each post. Amazingly by the end of the first day, all the posts were in place and cut to size.

Working Together

The church team and the Sudest people worked side by side. Four of the village men had learned basic carpentry at a trade school, but they had only seen pictures of power tools. They were delighted when Matt showed them the power tools and how to use them.

As the work progressed, the team repeatedly ran out of necessary building materials. Since the closest hardware store was a five-day boat trip away, they had no choice but to improvise. Each time that Matt prayed for wisdom, Philippians 4:4 came to his mind, and he would hum the tune, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” And every time, the Lord showed them a different way to accomplish the work.

The plumber, accountant and others soon realized that whenever Matt was humming this song, some item was missing. They would then watch to see how God would meet the need. Praising and praying as they worked, the team finished the house in two weeks.

Back to the Foundation

On the last night, the entire village of about a hundred people squeezed into the new home. The Andersons had invited them in to help with the final checking of the Book of Jude, which had recently been translated.

Matt was fascinated as he listened to Solomon, the main Sudest translator. Solomon would read a few verses in Sudest and then ask the villagers questions. If the peoples' answers showed they understood the verses, he could be sure the translation was correct. Then for the benefit of the work team, Solomon summarized in English what had been said. This process was repeated until the entire book of Jude had been checked.

The next day the work team left for home, stopping for a visit at Ukarumpa. At the SIL center they saw pilots, mechanics, teachers, accountants, nurses, literacy workers, managers and other behind-the-scenes workers. God had called each one to help Bible translation teams in PNG. The church team had a supper of pukpuk (crocodile) at our house. They traded stories and we watched the video that had been made of the house being built.

The Andersons now have a new home, and God used this experience to teach nine volunteers, their Sudest coworkers, and their construction manager something special about praise, prayer and His provision.

—Pam Caddell