Tutor Training in Alduba

We finished the tutor training in Alduba before lunch today. Praise God it went really well all things considered. The participants were very motivated and I don't think any of the 29 participants missed even one session, which is remarkable. However, more than 20 of them are not sufficiently fluent in reading (and writing) the Banna language to be able to teach the primers. We didn't know what to do about that, so we asked Getu & Ayke (two of the Banna translators) to meet with us last evening to look for a solution. We prayed for wisdom, and we feel God gave it to us. Getu & Ayke suggested that those who are able to teach (Getu, Ayke, David, and four others) begin teaching the rest one or two in a group. If they meet at least 4 times a week they should get through all 3 primers in 6 to 8 months. Then they can all start teaching someone else, and at that time we will give them the certificates we had planned to give them today. This was acceptable to everyone. Now we just need to pray that they will all follow through on it.

Tomorrow Patrick (one of the workshop leaders from Kenya) will preach in English. I'll translate for him into Amharic, and either Getu or Ayke will translate into Banna from my Amharic. We did that when James was here for the primer construction workshop, and it was appreciated.

Monday we will go to Turmi, a 3-hour drive from here. Duba & Fikadu will come to Turmi next weekend and be there for a week to review the tutor training. Then they will come and work with me for a week in Alduba. Then I'll work with Getu & Ayke on Banna translation for a week before returning to Addis September 11th. I leave Addis September 13th & arrive home the 14th.

Thank you for praying for us. Please continue to do so.

Praise God with me for:

• His blessing on the Aari tutor training workshop. At first the participants seemed only mildly interested, but by the end of the week they were excited about teaching someone else to read using the Aari primers.
• The leaders of the (SIM-related) Word of Life Church are now eager to have a tutor training workshop for themselves. They have agreed to host it and promised to choose 25 people for the training. We are off to a good start with the first Banna tutor training workshop. We had tried to limit the number of participants to 25, but 29 have come eager to learn and we did not have the heart to turn them away. Donna, David, Getu and Ayke have done a wonderful job of building enthusiasm for the training.

Please pray:

• that each workshop participant will actually use the primers to teach someone else to read within the next several months;
• that the leaders of the Word of Life Churches will have wisdom as they consider how best to plan and carry out a literacy program;
• that Duba, Fikadu and I will complete the translation of Joshua and Judges into the Aari language the first week in September;
• that God will give wisdom to the team in Alduba (Banna area) to resolve a serious issue that will affect the Banna translation team;
• for Mother's health and well-being.