In 1997, Matt and Janet followed God's call into Wycliffe. Using their managerial skills learned as electrical engineers with General Motors, the Dawsons were led to be administrators so that language workers would not need to leave a Bible translation project in order to fill management roles.
They first served in Côte d'Ivoire, managing a conference and training center for Bible translation teams in West Africa, until civil war erupted in 2002. They then served nine years with Wycliffe France: Matt, initially as Assistant Director, then as Director; Janet, in Personnel and Communications.
Since January 2014, Matt has been serving as Corporation Secretary of the Wycliffe Global Alliance. Janet is Matt's assistant. They help the Board of Directors of the Wycliffe Global Alliance govern and set the vision, mission, and purpose of the 100+ member organizations in the worldwide Bible translation movement.
Janet also assists the Chief Operations Officer of the Alliance in keeping HR records up-to-date. Additionally, she is assigned to SIL Global, using her administrative skills to facilitate the task of producing Scriptures in the languages people understand best: As Scripture Publications Funding Liaison, she represents translation teams to funding agencies for finances to produce and ship the physical books. She then tracks the publication to its dedication, keeping the teams and funding agencies abreast of the progress.
Please consider how you might partner with Matt and Janet in their Wycliffe ministries.
Location
Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Pacific
Position
Matt: Corporation Secretary, Wycliffe Global Alliance, Janet: Assistant to the Corporation Secretary; HR Asst to the COO; SIL Scripture Publications Funding Liaison
Children
Jessica (adult; not pictured), Valerie (adult; not pictured)
Wycliffe Ministry Budget
Wycliffe establishes a Ministry Budget for its members to reflect recurring expenses related to family factors and their geographic location of service. Giving to Wycliffe directly impacts members' ability to begin and remain in their assignment.
This monthly budget covers ministry-related expenses, insurance and retirement, social security and taxes, and Wycliffe administrative costs. The remainder is what the members receive as "take-home pay" for their daily living expenses.