Since the early 1990s, John and Carol have served in Bible translation in four French-speaking African countries. They currently serve in the Central African Republic (CAR).
John’s roles are to organize the work of a team of talented linguists and to help prepare for crises. Carol is a translation consultant. She trains local speakers to translate Scripture and checks that their drafts are faithful to the source text and sound clear and natural to speakers of their language.
They and their colleagues support the local organization ACATBA, which oversees most translation projects in CAR. In the past 10 years, the team of linguists developed or tweaked around 10 alphabets and trained over 50 translators to produce natural-sounding drafts. And translation consultants checked Scripture in over 20 languages. In the last 5+ years, several New Testaments have been published as recordings and books. Local speakers are excited to hear and read Scripture in a language they master!
John and Carol returned to Ohio in 2019 to care for aging parents. After their parents passed, they decided to base their ministry in the US, since they were both over 60 and the Internet had improved. They mainly do their work online.
Location
Africa
Position
John: Linguistics Coordinator, Field Crisis Management Team Chair; Carol: Translation Consultant
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.