What's it really like? One to One
"...I guess you can be a Bible translator and never even translate a word of Scripture yourself!"
Last year I spent 4 months in Mali, West Africa, with Wycliffe on the One-to-One programme. I went out as a "roving computer trainer" as a result of some work I’d done when I was in Mali for a month with a Wycliffe Transform team.
From January to May I was travelling around the country, giving assistance to the various translation teams. It was a life changing experience!
My first trip to Mali in July ’06 made me want to go back for a longer period; I really fell in love with the culture and the people, so I was very thankful to be able to go back for four months.
The time ended up being split about 50:50 between staying in Bamako, the capital, and travelling round the country. My work mainly consisted of teaching Malians (mostly Bible translators) basic IT skills. It actually was incredibly varied – some had no knowledge whatsoever, while others were already quite advanced and just needed some clarification on particular points.
Bamako - the capital of Mali
I was also able to help some of the missionaries with specific linguistic programmes that I’d had training for. It was really fantastic to be part of the team and feel that I was somehow contributing to the work of translating the Bible into the many Malian languages. I saw that we really are a body – each part has a part to play, and one part can’t survive without the other.
For me the biggest example of that was the head of IT in Mali. He has to keep everything running, do repairs for people, and teach (if he ever has time!). He is always busy. Without him there is no possible way that Bible translation could continue effectively in that country. That spoke a lot to me. I guess you can be a Bible translator and never even translate a word of Scripture yourself!
Teaching basic IT skills
I also helped out generally in the office in Bamako and was able to help with a childrens' club which was put on for the missionary kids during a spiritual retreat, which was a whole lot of fun! It was good to be able to help out in that way so that some of the missionaries could take a break.
Personally, I learnt so much during my time in Mali and it was such a privilege to have that experience. It was amazing to be able to get to know some of the people and to even make friendships. It is fantastic to see the world from someone else’s point of view and realise that you haven’t got it quite right yourself!
Boys from the north of Mali
I learnt that we, as the Church, are the Body of Jesus – including the Christians in Mali, and that at the end of it all we’ll all be worshipping together (see Rev. 7.9! What a fantastic thought!
I would recommend the trip to anyone – it is amazing to actually live in a different country and get to experience first-hand the culture and the people. You learn so much from it and are a help to the missionaries already out there. I would challenge anyone reading this to pray and see if the LORD is leading you to do a similar thing!
Typical village in the north of Mali
Aaron
