After 25 years...
Jose Maria and Adelina finished the translation of the Bible into Pokomchí, a Mayan language from Guatemala. I have always enjoyed working with them. In the early years it was just Jose Maria. He worked with pen and paper. However, as the years went by his daughter started to work with him, at first just helping with the computer but as the years went by she became a very good translator herself. They make a great team.
Over the past 12 years I have visited them from time to time giving them a bit of help along the way. Sometimes it was to solve some problems or update their software. My last visit there in February was to help them finish their work. We ran lots of checks for consistency and made some final corrections. As we were working Jose Maria told of how many people come to their door asking when the translation will be done. The people are anxious. The wait for God's Word in their language will soon be over. At the end of our working together we prayed that the translation would not only reach the people, but change lives. It was an emotional moment for me, historical for the Pokomchí. Another tribe and tongue being reached.