Wednesday, July 5 - Training Day 1

Health update: Thanks to your many prayers, my cough was almost completely gone when I woke up this morning; what remained was a very productive cough that helped to clear my throat of the aftereffects of my cold. I was able to talk as much as I needed to without it interfering, and I didn’t need to worry about passing it on to everyone else. I am grateful for the quick transition to full health.

Workshop update: Today was the first of three days of training. During this first phase of the workshop, I focus on preparing those playing key roles the next two weeks to each do their part to the best of his or her ability.

The most striking thing about this group on this first day was the fact that, when I arrived, there were already about 15 people inside the church building, seated and ready for the session to begin. Punctuality is not something that Africans are famous for, so the fact that this group had such a large number of people there at the announced starting time was noteworthy.

Since Ivory Coast is a French-speaking country, that is the language I use to communicate with people here. My training is done in French, but since there are some in the audience whose French is not really strong, everything I said was interpreted into Djimini.

This first day went very well. We began with prayer, a song, and a devotional, and there were a few items of business here and there throughout the day, but I had the floor for most of the day. My goal was to help everyone there to understand what we want to do and why, but especially the mechanics of how we expect to do it. We are right on schedule in terms of what I had hoped to accomplish by this point.

Worship time - the women standing are leading a song



 The methodology of collecting words in categories is shown by a family tree.

Kevin is demonstrating the work flow process: words are collected in groups; then the number of words collected is recorded on computer; next, the glossers translate the words into French; then the number of words translated is recorded; after that the words are typed; then that amount is recorded.  

 During coffee break, Kevin gets to know Eric and Justin.