VanOrman Roadtrips: Wycliffe Bible Translators

Wycliffe Bible Translators is an organization dedicated to translating the Bible into every language and dialect on earth. They are presently working in over 50 countries. They have an extensive volunteer system which allows individuals to further this effort by undertaking tasks and performing work which would otherwise hinder and slow down the work of the translators.
Edie and I volunteered a couple of weeks at an associated organization called the Summer Instititute of Linguistics (S.I.L) headquartered in Catalina, Arizona. Most of the Institute's work deals with Mexico. Our first task was to "mud" a new fitness room to serve the several hundred volunteers and translators on site. A local Curves had closed and donated all their equipment. Our second project was painting a house owned by a translator who had just returned from Mexico. This translator has worked on the Mixtec language in Oaxaca, Mexico for the last 15 years and should be finished in 2012. A third project dealt with preparing a house for an arriving volunteer family.

Our stay here was a learning experience especially since we arrived with very little information. Our first surprize was our accomodations. Expecting anything we were given keys to a posada which turned out to be a very comfortable 2 bedroom apartment. This was partly due to the absence of the multitude of volunteers who began arriving in late Novemberr and peaks in January and February. The second surprize was the variety of ways volunteers serve and what they accomplish. New houses are built, vehicles are repaired, furniture refinished, and data entered.