What’s Jackie up to?? ….Debugging the what??

What Does Software have to do with tribal missions?

Let me tell you a little bit about what I have been doing and maybe that will answer the question for you. I, Jackie, enjoy having a long-term project to work on. For the past month or so I have been working with a team who are making a software prototype for writing tribal primers. This program will be used when missionaries have broken down a group’s language, put it in writing, and want to teach the people to read and write. All this is done so the tribal people can eventually read and understand God’s word in their own tongue.

My job is to type in the primer information given by tribal missionaries from the Kuna Language (of Panama) or one of the other tribal languages I have been given. This way the programmers can test the software on a real tribal language and any problems with the software should show up and all the bugs can be worked out before releasing the program for our missionaries to use on the field.  This program which is being developed by our programmers should save our missionaries weeks or months of work as they plan and write their primers. I enjoy being involved in a project like this as I can see how my support job can be a big help to our tribal missionaries and the people they serve.

I am also busy with church activities: co-teaching a children’s Sunday School class on Sunday mornings & Phil and I both serve as Awana leaders on Sunday evenings. I will be giving up teaching a ladies small group for the next 9 months or so in order to take a Navigator 2:7 class on discipleship which most of our church leaders are taking.

 

 

 

 

 

The other ministry I am involved in is teaching an ESL (English as Second Language) class on Thursday evenings. Most of our students are Spanish speakers who want to learn English. This gives me an opportunity to practice my Spanish. We also have a short Bible study for the students so we have the opportunity to share God’s Word with them. Pray these students will be hungry to learn God’s Word as well as to learn the English language.