Greetings from Lancaster!
I (Ali) am enjoying this time of year in the UK when all the dead things start to come back to life. Working from home is a new experience and I am trying to get out for a half an hour walk every day so that I don't just end up indoors all day! I have enjoyed seeing new life popping up all over the place; crocuses and daffodils and big buds on the dead looking trees.
Tim has settled well into his new role with the International Language Services team. He is starting to connect with each of the team leaders to offer them help and support as then engage with our new management and reporting software. One of the teams that he is working with is the Scripture Engagement team, headed up by John Ommani. Tim has written a blog post about some of the amazing work that they are doing in Trauma Healing.
A couple of weeks ago Tim had a trip to Germany for an innovation confab. This is something that he has actually been involved with for several years so it has been great that he can continue to be a part of helping SIL to think creatively and come up with novel solutions where needed.
Ali has now started her new role with SIL. Drum roll please . . . she is working for the Ethnologue! Doesn't mean anything to you? Never mind! It is an SIL publication that describes every language in the world. It is generally considered to be the number 1 source globally for information about languages. You can explore their new website and see what you can find out about the world's languages! Ali's role is going to be focussing on improving some of the old or missing information that they have about languages. She will be working with SIL staff all over the world to help them gather information from their geographical areas to ensure that we are sharing the most up to date information possible. Maybe you are wondering why that is important? Have you ever tried to plan a journey using public transport? You probably know where it is you need to get to and when you need to get there. Now imagine trying to plan that trip without access to good information. You don't know when the trains are running, where the buses will stop or how to get to your destination smoothly.
You could just go to the station and jump on a train that looks promising and hope for the best but you will likely waste a lot of time and possibly money. Now think about how much quicker and more cost effective it is when you have all the correct information at your fingertips. You simply plug in your location and your destination and several options pop up, giving you the ability to make an informed decision about how to get to your goal. Knowing what languages are where in the world, who speaks them, whether the language is written, whether the language is being passed on to the next generation (and many other details!) all add up to a much clearer picture to enable mission organisations to make wise choices about how to come alongside the people who speak those languages.
Dan is still plugging away at his job working on e-learning modules for Wycliffe UK. He is currently down in Oxford working on the next set. This time he had to get himself there and back again so had to work out the intricacies of the UK public transport system. Great experience for him and probably why public transport is on my mind!
We are continuing to get involved at our church, Tim had the opportunity recently to lead worship for our Sunday Celebration service which everyone (including him!) appreciated. The church is currently running a Marriage Course which we signed up for and have found very encouraging and positively challenging especially as we are re-establishing ourselves in a new location and at a new stage of married life.
Please do continue to pray for us as we progress through our transitions and hopefully start to settle into a new "normal" as we start working again.
We would also love to hear any of your news and prayer requests so we can pray along with you.
Praise
Dust is starting to settle for Tim in his new role and he is making positive progress.
Good start to Ali's new role.
Great opportunity to participate in the Marriage Course at our church.
Dan developing his independence skills!
Prayer
Ali to get up to speed quickly and have wisdom in helping shape her new role.
A good balance between work and rest as we get used to doing both in the same place.
