Mamadou’s voice continues to proclaim the Good News

Mamadou’s voice continues to proclaim the Good News

by | Jun 11, 2024 | Praise report

Mamadou was a Senegalese scholar and Bible translator who worked with an American member of WorldVenture named Marilyn to translate the original Greek and Hebrew of the Bible into Wolof. Several times in the mid-2010s as they translated different books of the Bible, Marilyn’s WorldVenture teammate Steve produced voice recordings of Mamadou reading the Scriptures.

Mamadou’s recordings were phenomenal, especially as he knew the text so well, and he was a great reader as well as writer. His voice expressed tremendous emotion and his storytelling was superb. His dramatization of the conversations between Moses and God at the burning bush makes the text come alive. His renditions of the Psalms in Wolof turn the text into spoken poetry.

Mamadou continued work on the translation and completed the last revision of the New Testament just days before he was admitted to the hospital and passed away in August of 2021.

Now as Marilyn and Corey are nearing the completion of the typesetting of the Wolof Bible, they and Steve are thinking about the importance of having a recording of the whole Bible to include in the Wolof Bible app and for other media such as videos. During the past months, almost every conversation between Corey and the team about audio has begun with a lament that Mamadou isn’t here to complete the recording because he was just so good! It was especially frustrating since they estimate that only about 5% of the final translation differs from the text he recorded. What a waste to have to throw that all away and start over from the beginning! Not to mention the difficulty of having to find another reader who could read as well as Mamadou did…

This past week, we were amazed to hear of an unexpected solution. Corey and Steve had a meeting with someone from the Artificial Intelligence department of a ministry called Faith Comes by Hearing (FCBH). They have an AI tool that can take a book recorded in Mamadou’s voice – say, Genesis – with some number of verses different in the middle, and make a clone of Mamadou’s voice. Then another mother-tongue Wolof speaker can re-record just the verses that have differences from the recorded version. FCBH can clone those re-recorded verses to match Mamadou’s voice, and then we can replace just those missing verses with the new verses. This means that we can keep Mamadou’s amazing voice work and also speed up the release of the final audio Bible books as he had already recorded about a third of the Bible, and going back into the studio to re-record a small percentage of the total will be much faster than re-recording the whole thing! How amazing is that!?

I often think of how God used the roads paved by the Romans, and the increased mobility of that time period, to aid in the spread of the Gospel back in the early days of the church. Now in our own times, we see God using the new technology of our day in a similar way to facilitate the spread of His Word! All Praise to Him!

Please continue to pray for the completion of the typesetting of the Wolof Bible which has taken much longer than expected. Pray for God to send out His Word among Wolof all over Senegal and around the world!  

Corey and Katie

First month back

First month back

by | Aug 1, 2023 | Picture Galleries, Praise report

We left the U.S. one month ago  – although it feels like we have already lived several months since then!

It was hard saying goodbye to Emma, Molly, and Wheaton but each of them is in a really good place and is opening a new and exciting life chapter – and technology allows us to stay connected in ways that weren’t possible when we first came to Senegal – so we are grateful!

The trip across the ocean was uneventful and the boys handled it superbly. Jet lag and all the newness made it hard to get to sleep for the first week but they have adjusted to the time change now.

We spent about a week in our new home in Dakar, the capital city, before driving out to Kaffrine (where we used to live) about four hours inland. Our week there was intense physically and situationally as it was extremely hot and we had a lot of work to do to sort through our things in storage and load a truck to bring to Dakar while also reconnecting with folks we hadn’t seen in two years, both in town and out in the one village where we had the closest relationships last term. The Lord gave us strength and we got the work done and we also had some really good conversations with old friends.

We saw God’s incredible timing in two situations too as we were there to help one friend in a moment of need at just the right time and we were with another friend when she got the awesome news that she passed the bac exam. (This means she has completed high school and will be given a spot at university! Only 3% of the population of Senegal attends university and passing on the first try, like our friend did, is rare!) We also got to talk to her parents and later on July 20 she came to stay with us for a month or so in Dakar which is a lot of fun (although we all wish Wheaton was here too since they are such close friends!).

After another week settling in to our new place, Corey took Will and Jake and hopped on the bus and went back out to Kaffrine with a short-term team from a partner church. The team has developed relationships and worked in one particular village for many years; on this trip they did some fun soccer times with the village kids so Will and Jake were excited about that. Unfortunately, Corey got hit with food poisoning on the trip out so was down a couple of days, but the team took the boys with them to the village  anyway so the boys got to play lots of soccer. Corey did recover before the trip was over and was able to help out, and they are now back from Dakar.

Meanwhile, I have been in New Teacher Orientation at Dakar Academy all week getting to know the other new teachers and some of the school leaders. I have a key to my classroom and I know which 5 class periods I will be teaching French to which grades (I will have some 1st through 12th graders!) although there are some vital details still to work out about levels and curriculum. School starts August 16th so I covet your prayers for me to feel ready by then!

Many of you are aware of the demonstrations that have been going on in Senegal – we had a bout of them about two months ago and then things calmed down, but this weekend events kicked off again. We had some rowdy crowds that damaged banks very close to us and even burned a bus right in front of Dakar Academy. Due to the violence banks, gas stations, and many stores are closed down now. Follow the news about Senegal and pray for peace.

We know so many of you have been praying for us – thank you!!!

Please continue to pray:

  • for good health

  • for each family member’s adjustment to this new chapter. Pray specifically for good friends for each of our kids who is in a new place. We are trying to help Will and Jake relearn Wolof and connect them with boys their age in the neighborhood. Wheaton heads to Chicago today Tuesday Aug 1 and will start at Wheaton College shortly after. Molly will begin her second year at the Coast Guard Academy after traveling (to northern Europe and California!) with the Coast Guard all summer. Emma is living with a family in CT; she is about to finish up her nannying job and next month she will begin online classes through Grand Canyon University.

  • Pray for peace in this country from now through the presidential elections in February.

  • Pray for clarity and wisdom about my teaching assignments and for good resources to help me teach well.

  • We have had several opportunities to share about Jesus or to help someone download the Wolof Bible app recently; pray for God’s Spirit to work in our relationships and ongoing conversations.

Prayer answered – a place to stay!

Prayer answered – a place to stay!

by | Mar 2, 2021 | Praise report

 Thank you all for praying for us! God has answered once again so graciously. The Lord has provided a place for us to live during our upcoming home assignment in the US! Over the weekend, we were contacted by a couple who loves Jesus to ask if our family would like to live in their furnished house for the whole year. Of course, we did not hesitate to accept their kind offer – this is such a huge answer to prayer! And we will be within walking distance of our home church, the Barn! We are overwhelmed with gratitude and relief! Our Father, and His people, are so generous!

We are getting more and more excited to be “home” in Connecticut. Our three girls haven’t been in America since the summer of 2016 and our boys have only had brief winter visits, so this is a huge deal for all of us. We are looking forward to so many things – especially to seeing our friends and family we haven’t seen in so long! This five-year term has at times felt a bit like slogging through a swamp – a mud marathon – but we can now see the finish line approaching! Thanks for praying us through!

Citizens!

Citizens!

by | Jan 27, 2020 | Praise report

Coming out of USCIS office – we went in two Americans and two Guineans, and came out four Americans!

We did it! International adoption for Americans living abroad is no joke, people. But it is done! We had our first homestudy in 2013. The boys were born in 2014. We were matched with them in 2016. We went to Guinea to get them and they legally became our sons in 2018. And now, in 2020, they are finally American citizens and this process is complete! AND their full names are spelled correctly on their certificates of citizenship, can you believe it? We did not do this alone — we have had a whole army of you along with us, praying and helping us in a million ways throughout the whole long process. Thank you and woo hoooooo! And thank you, Jesus!!! <3

Prayers and Praises

Prayers and Praises

by | Oct 16, 2019 | Praise report, Prayer request

We appreciate your continued prayers. Here’s what’s happening with us. 

  • Praise God for his protection as the passenger side tie rod of our vehicle snapped suddenly on Sunday. Thankfully, Corey was in town and only going about 20 mph when it happened – it could have been much worse if they had been moving at a higher speed. He and our son Jacob and two Senegalese teachers from the Kaffrine Christian school were all in the car when it happened and no one was hurt. Pray for our vehicle to be repaired soon and well; we have been without a car since Sunday, making do with just Corey’s motorcycle to take the boys to preschool, etc. which is not ideal. 
  • The community garden project idea that Corey was investigating is not going to happen. Pray for wisdom and God’s leading as we pursue another idea for a project to help in this village.
  • Praise God that most times when Corey visits the village, he ends up doing a Bible study with someone, often with someone who has never read any of the Bible before! Pray for those he is following up with, that they would want to read more and that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes and give them understanding and faith.
  • Praise God for several donations to the Kaffrine Scholarship Project. The Scholarship account had gotten down to essentially $0 and school started up again this month so this is a big praise! Pray for God to bless and work in the lives of each of the Scholarship students.
  • We are still waiting to hear from USCIS – pray for them to give us an appointment for our boys’ citizenship interview before the boys’ visas expire at the end of February.
  • Pray for wisdom and grace to parent all of our kids well. Pray for our three girls at boarding school, and for the two oldest (Emma and Molly) as they make decisions about college during the next two years. Pray for patience with our boys and good connection with them.
  • Pray that we will not be discouraged. We’re saying goodbye to our teammates the Gallaghers as they leave Kaffrine next week heading for a new role in the US. Also we were surprised to learn that our Senegalese pastor here in Kaffrine has been relocated by his denomination. He has been a friend to us and an invaluable ministry partner here in Kaffrine for the last nine years so this is a sad loss for us. He and his family moved yesterday. Pray for the new pastor and the new school director who will be sent out by the denomination. 

Thanks for praying with us for the Kingdom of Light to advance here!

New Scholarship student goes from not attending school at all to earning fourth place in her class!

New Scholarship student goes from not attending school at all to earning fourth place in her class!

by | Jun 20, 2019 | Praise report, Prayer request

Well done, little one! Your school career is off to a great start!

On Saturday we went to the end-of-year program at the school that our boys attended this year. After some singing, dancing and a skit, the top ten students in each grade (1st through 6th grades) were called forward to receive a prize. When I heard the name of a certain six-year-old girl called, my heart burst with joy! This first-grader had not been to school before, never having attended preschool or kindergarten. Over the summer we had talked to her father, encouraging him to put his two young daughters in the church school and letting him know that the Kaffrine Scholarship Project could pay the $12 monthly tuition as well as the registration fee and the cost of their uniforms and school supplies.  

Our SIM Kaffrine Team began this Scholarship Project in 2007 when some mature Wolof Christian leaders from another region of Senegal encouraged us to invest in the children and young people in the small Christian community here. Many families can’t afford to pay for their children to attend school, particularly a private school where the teachers don’t go on strike and the students can get a good education. So we launched this project which has helped over two dozen young people at different points in their education, from preschool all the way to university or job training programs. We have seen the short-term impact already, and now that the project has been running for twelve years, we are beginning to see glimpses of the long-term impact as students graduate, get jobs, and choose to serve the Lord as adults.  

We are so grateful to all of you who have given money towards the Scholarship Project. Our young friend who came in fourth in her class this year thanks you for the opportunity to go to school! I am praying that she will go far!

If you would like to help these young people through the Kaffrine Scholarship Project, you can give here. Your prayers and gifts make a big difference!