What does it take to equip 15 translators from 4 language groups with computers for their translation work…in the middle of the South Pacific?

Just choosing the computer is difficult. It needs to be sturdy – really sturdy. These computers could be subjected to humidity, dirt, salt water, rats, and bugs. The screens need to be big enough for the older translators to see but small enough to be easily transported on the small planes that take them back and forth from their island to ours. Price, of course, is a big determining factor, too.

So we buy the computers. Great, that’s done! Now we just have to get them here. How hard can that be? Well, new regulations make it hard to ship computers in bulk because of the lithium-ion batteries. Long story short…the IT team in Dallas got all 15 computers prepped and ready to ship in three boxes of five computers, the carrier picked them up, and they were promptly classified as haz-mat and “returned to sender”. Our patient IT team repacked and re-shipped them in sets of two, so they wouldn’t cause any red flags. Here comes the best part of this story. The 8 packages shipped on Thursday and were in Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital city, on Monday. Sometimes a human can’t travel here that quickly!
 

On Friday morning, I flew down to Port Vila to pick up the computers. As a team we had decided that we didn’t want to deal with the regulations of trying to fly the computers up here to Santo (if it was even possible). So I was going to bring the computers back on the ferry.

My “home” for 26 hours
 

The Vanuatu Ferry travels back and forth between Port Vila and Luganville once a week. We pulled away from the wharf in Vila at about 7:30 p.m. Monday night. The trip is supposed to take 22 hours, including one stop at Litzlitz on Melekula, but that took way longer than normal. So instead of arriving on Santo at 4:00 pm we arrived at 8:00. To make the end of the trip really fun, the air conditioning in the passenger area stopped working when we left Litzlitz. It was miserable for those last five hours.

While in Vila, I was also able to reconnect with some ministry friends, meet several people from another organization, and meet with a facilitator from The Jesus Film who is in Vanuatu dubbing the film into some vernacular languages. While I was getting the computers, PBT colleagues from Michigan were in Luganville improving our internet setup. Once the computers arrived, they got to work setting up the computers and now they are doing some instruction during this first week of the module. We are so glad they are here!

 

As I write this, our translators are out in the classroom working on the laptops that will become a great tool for them as they continue translating the Bible into their own languages. This week they are working on typing skills and learning some basics. In the last two weeks of this module they will learn how to use Paratext, the computer program that Bible translators around the world use to improve and speed their work.

It has been quite the journey from dreaming of the work the translators could do with computers to having the translators sitting out in the classroom today learning how to use a “small rat” (mouse). God is good and He provides.

I’m so glad you’re on this journey with us!

Matt (for Angie and the kids, too)