What is your consulting philosophy? (1) As I said above, I get excited knowing that the Word of God will work in each heart when we prepare for a consultation and when we check the text. (2) As a consultant, I serve the teams I work with. Serving may come in many ways: helping in admin tasks such as writing/ reviewing a project brief, teaching and mentoring, and for sure checking and revising the biblical text. That might include challenging the teams in their choices but for sure encouraging them in their work. I might have a preference of translation style or key terms, but I will trust that the team knows their audience and its needs when they choose how to translate the biblical text. I will honor their choices. Together we strive to achieve the highest quality. (3) As a consultant, I learn from the teams I work with: cultural background, language, biblical insights, team work… there is so much to learn! Often, I feel like someone whose hands are filled by one team in order to give to the next team which then in turn fills my hands again.

What translation resources do you really value? Honestly, it really depends on the book I check; for some books there are very few resources available, while for others there are (almost) way too many. I find that having a consultant notes project in Paratext allows me to keep notes and insights from different projects. That helps in the long run.

How do you share your translation discoveries with others? In the first place, I share with the teams I work with. And also I share at the training sessions in my OU. Now and then I write but I need to have an idea formed in my head.

What are your top tips for someone starting on a career path in Bible translation?  Be a lifelong learner; get a good foundation in your training, invest in language and culture learning, get experience, and don’t be shy to ask as many questions as you need. Don’t set your heart on one particular path… discover your strengths and passion, develop your skills… and be open to the opportunity that God takes you somewhere you have not dreamed about.

Share something that you learned from a mentor or from a mentee? This is maybe not a technical thing but has helped me a lot: confidence paired with humility. As consultants we are highly trained and have experience, that should give us confidence. At the same time we can always learn more from the teams, and through more training. And we can admit when we’re wrong.

What do you see as the place of the church in Bible translation? I think that depends a lot on where one works. I think it is beautiful when the emerging church gets involved in translation in different ways. It is beautiful when churches realize that having the Bible in an LWC is not enough to reach minority people groups and get pro-active. I also believe that the church is often challenged through Bible translation in their tradition(s), their attitude towards the majorities in many countries.

What would you say to young/ aspiring translators? With local colleagues, I tell them: You are the expert in your language. You know your culture. And you are able to learn languages, skills, computers and you will have help. When you start as a translator, you might ask yourself “Who am I?” But you need to realize that you are the person God has prepared for this work.

Any other comments? I have been in many different jobs in my SIL career: language survey, exegetical adviser, language learning coach, LPM, and others and each of those has given me positive and negative experiences, skills, and also persistence which come handy in my role as a translation consultant. Consulting is changing in the digital age, but no matter how convenient and budget-friendly Zoom is, it is still important to meet with the teams, drink a cup of tea together and discuss translation around the table. Because Bible translation is more than producing a product, it is working with God’s precious people.