Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Critical Need: Chief Financial Officer in Papua New Guinea

Would you consider using your training and experience to support the Bible translation effort in Papua New Guinea? 

The SIL-PNG Finance Office located at Ukarumpa, the linguistic center, is facing a critical need for a Chief Financial Officer in the next year.  



Faces of  Translation: Finance

There is an urgent need for a financial manager to oversee SIL-PNG’s entire finance operations. Not only does this organization oversee Bible translation, it also runs a support center, Ukarumpa, which is a community of about 1000 people. The center activities include managing a school, auto shop, store, air travel, print shop, construction, and municipal services.

Position Responsibilities:

  •  Preparation of annual budget.
  • Financial advisor to the SIL-PNG directorate.
  •  Preparation of year-end financial statements and notes.
  •  Oversight of monthly and annual closing of the accounting records.
  • Monthly analysis of operations compared to budget.
  •  Review and modification of policies related to financial issues.
  •  Assist auditors.
  • Oversight of inventory verifications.
  • Oversees all accounting system components including the chart of accounts, internal controls, transaction recording procedures and reporting (both internal and external)
  • Supervise staff to accomplish assigned activities.

Position Qualifications

  • Committed to the general goals and objectives of SIL
  • Proven skills in accounting applications
  • Strong management and leadership skills
  • High degree of computer literacy and fluency in spoken/written English required
  • Tactful, flexible, and work well with others in a cross-cultural setting
  • Organized, methodical and responsible work habit
  •  Works well independently and under direction.
  • Team player.
  • Good communication skills.
  •  Able to meet deadlines and work under pressure.
  • Two years minimum commitment.

Education and Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in one of these areas: Accounting, Finance, Auditing, Economics or Business field or equivalent experience
  • CPA 
  • Three or more years of experience as an accounting manager
  • Knowledgeable in the use of computers including the Microsoft Suite, (good knowledge of Excel) and standard finance software systems.

To learn more about the Finance Office in PNG, click here.

 Please consider how the Lord could use you in this vital role.

For more information, contact pacific_bible@hotmail.com 



Thursday, February 7, 2019

Educators Needed in Papua New Guinea


Ukarumpa International School in Papua New Guinea 
is facing a teacher shortage in the next few years! 
Ukarumpa International school is located in the beautiful  Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea and it’s part of the Ukarumpa Linguistic Center  UIS supports the work of Bible translation by providing Christ-centered education using American curriculum and is well supported by the parents and community members. 
Please consider being a part of Bible translation in Papua New Guinea by using your skills to bless our kids and parents!
The top needs right now are elementary teachers and school administrators but if you’re a teacher and are interested in serving, let’s talk!
Teachers - Elementary School

-Art Teacher
-Early Elementary Teacher
-Elementary Teacher (Grades 3-5)
-ESL Teacher
-LAD Teacher
Teachers - Secondary School

-Computer/Technology Teacher
-English Teacher (Grade 6&7)
-Math Teacher (Grade 6, 7, Geometry, Algebra II) 
-Music Teacher - (Choir and Band) 
-Music Teacher R3526 (part time)
-Physical Education/Health Teacher 
-Science Teacher (Grade 6, Biology, Environmental Science) 
-Social Studies Teacher (World Geography, World History)
-Spanish Language Teacher (Spanish III) 
-Vocational Arts Teacher (Art, Wood, Metals, Drivers Ed, Auto Basics) 
Administrators

-Children (Boarding) Home Parents (x4) 
-Curriculum Coordinator 
-School Administrator
-School Counselor/Psychologist 
Teach for a year or two or a lifetime!  Retired teachers are welcome!
For more information, contact:
Chuck Micheals – Education Recruitment Director at teach@wycliffe.org
or 321-278-2225
Most teachers apply through Wycliffe Bible Translators.   UIS teachers do not receive a salary in the traditional sense of the word, but are supported financially by a team of churches and individuals in their home countries.  Help is given in building these partnerships.

Watch these one minute videos to learn more about what it's like to teach at UIS.

Teaching is a Calling



After the Bill Rings



A Fun Place to Teach



Other short videos:


Is It Worth It?



We Need Teachers: Invitation from the Principal



For more information, contact Wendy

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Papua New Guinea: Ukarumpa Linguistic Center



Ukarumpa is SIL's main centre for the Bible translation work in Papua New Guinea. Located in the Eastern Highlands, with an elevation of 5000 ft., the temperature is “almost perfect” year round.  


The vision of SIL-PNG is to see “God’s Word in every language, in every life.”


With 840 living languages in PNG, there is lots of work to be done and the facilities at Ukarumpa supports the work and helps both missionaries and nationals accomplish their goals together.  SIL-PNG is currently working in approximately 150 languages and they are estimating that there will be about 300 more that will need SIL’s services in Bible translation, Scripture Engagement, Literacy, etc.  Their desire is to collaborate with local pastors and churches to equip and train their members to meet the needs of Scripture access and understanding for their community members.


Exciting and challenging work is happening all over the country and many staff live and work in villages scattered across the country. Although there are some regional centres located around the country, Ukarumpa is the main base that supports the work country-wide. Most of the those directly involved in translation live and work in Ukarumpa when they are not in the village.  While the linguistic and translation support available at Ukarumpa is helpful and needed, there are valuable support services available that is vital to having “God’s Word in every language, in every life”. This support structure helps the work to move forward, allowing many more Papua New Guineans access to God’s Word in their language. Since 1956, SIL-PNG has been involved in the completion of 210 New Testaments and they are looking forward to dedicating 10 more this next year.  Progress is also being made in Old Testament translation.


One of the busiest places at Ukarumpa is the Ukarumpa Training Centre, located just left of the photo below. The Pacific Institute of Languages, Arts and Translation holds courses there for Papua New Guineans from around the country.

The PNG Experience is the best resource for stories of our work in PNG.

 Here's an aerial tour of Ukarumpa.
To learn about:

Translation click here. 
Literacy, click here. 
Scripture Engagement/Use, click here.  
Language Survey, click here. 
Ethnomusicology, click here.

The Auto Shop  provides fuel and repairs for those living at Ukarumpa and surrounding villages.


Aviation is needed in a country that is mountainous with few roads. Bible translation would be very difficult or next to impossible for many locations in PNG.  Planes not only deliver translators to their allocations but also bring needed supplies, mail and a friendly visit from our skilled pilots!  Click here to see what it's like to land at Ukarumpa.  

Communications and Technical Services

CTS is a vital department as it supports Bible translation around the country as well as the community at Ukarumpa. Those who work in CTS intentionally select, create and maintain technology systems for the purpose of acceleration and accomplishing the translation of the bible into all languages.



The Clinic provides medical services for Ukarumpa and the surrounding villages.

Working together, the clinic staff is a multi-national team consisting of Papua New Guineans and missionaries from around the world.



There are Children's Homes for teens to stay in when their parents are in the village so they can attend Ukaumpa International School. Parents with experience with working with teens are needed to provide love and care to the teens and their family.













The Construction and Maintenance Department is biggest department as it maintains the buildings at Ukarumpa and also often helps build houses and buildings for translation teams in other parts of the country.









The Finance Office handles  the accounting needs for departments and as well as individuals.














Ukarumpa International School is based at  Ukarumpa and has a Primary and Secondary campus.  It's a multi-national school and teachers tend to love teaching there!











Smaller Regional Centres support the work around the country.




The Store is like a country store where you'll find almost anything you "need".  It's also a great place to meet friends and have a quick chat. 


















Household goods, clothing and more!



The open-air market on the center is full of fresh, delicious produce , fruit and hand-made items.  However, you have to get up early since it’s open from 6-8am, Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.










Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Urgent Need in Vanuatu: Office Support Staff and Handyman

Are you retired and interested in being involved in a work that has eternal value?   Are you flexible and have a heart for serving others? Would you be willing to use your skills to support the Bible translation efforts in Vanuatu? With 6 translation teams, 6 Scripture Use teams and 30 ni-Vanuatu involved in the current work and 60 possible Bible translations still needed,  your skills are greatly needed to support the work so that Bible translation and Scripture Use can move forward!

SIL Vanuatu has an urgent need for an Office  
Office Bible study and prayer time.
Support person and a Center Manager/handyman starting in January 2018. The director, Greg Carlson, is  looking for a couple or a family who would be mostly self–funded and willing to serve for a year or longer - but they would consider a lesser time commitment. They have had many retired couples fill the roles. If you are not retired and would like to serve in Vanuatu in 2019 onwards, you can join Wycliffe Bible Translators to serve with SIL.





SIL Vanuatu Director Greg Carlson and his wife, Bethann
From Greg, SIL Vanuatu Director

Great things are happening in Bible Translation and Scripture Use in Vanuatu. Dedicated SIL teams are working hard in the villages of our beautiful islands. God’s word is going out to people in their own languages. But all this comes to a halt without people to work in the office and the buildings in town! We simply cannot operate without someone paying the bills, looking after visas, and having a place ready for our teams to come back to for refreshment and recharging. These roles are truly crucial to the whole process. Language groups are waiting for God’s word. You can help. Please pray about joining our team.

A couple could cover both of these roles, one as the center manager and the other one in the office.  If only one of a couple wanted to fill one of these roles, there are other needs at the office that could be matched to one’s skills or interests that would require 10 to 20 hrs per week.  And, of course, singles are welcome too!

While at times these roles might require a 40 hour work week, most of the time you can get your work completed in 25-30 hrs. and have time to enjoy beautiful Port Vila and/or get involved in a local ministry.

Office Support Staff

Brief Description:

Responsible for handling business affairs of SIL Vanuatu.

Major Job Responsibilities:

  • Pay bills, pay local employees.
  • Data entry for weekly expenditures.
  • Keep financial records and prepare annual financial report. 
  • Audit financial status of entity accounts.
  • Once per year, assist Director in preparing operating budget draft. 
  • Maintain work and residence permits of all entity staff.
  • Liaise with government re: customs/import
  • Assist our SIL teams with financial questions
  • May additionally make purchases for teams in the villages, assist the director with various tasks, liaise with the cleaning staff, and other jobs as needed.
  • It is understood that the specific responsibilities of this position may be adjusted by the entity administration.

Needed skills:

Competent in MS Office, especially Excel, Word, Outlook. Previous accounting experience helpful but not required. Training provided for all tasks.

Understands and respects multicultural issues and demonstrates effective cross-cultural relationships

Center Manager
Serah, Vanuatu Bible Translation and SIL secretary

Brief Description
Responsible for coordinating the maintenance needs for the the SIL center.

Responsibilities

  • Maintain the 12 housing and office units. Bring in experts or request work teams as needed.
  • Ensure maintenance and registration is up-to-date on the 5 group vehicles.  
  • Buy supplies and ship to village teams.
  • Oversee two yard workers and one housekeeper.
  • Other various needs related to member services
Steve, the current office staff and center manager






“I have really enjoyed getting to know many of the locals of Vanuatu and learning Bislama (the trade language of Vanuatu). The team environment of SIL has been great. To be able to encourage the guys on the outer islands and be encouraged by others is such a blessing. The job has been very varied and allowed me to gain new skills and stretch those that I already had. “  Steve







For more information, email pacificbible@hotmail.com





Friday, May 5, 2017

Vanuatu: Overcoming Obstacles by Recording Scriptures

"Ah, but how Satan must be frustrated when the obstacles to understanding the Good News are removed through audio recordings. He must get in a rage when he sees men and women who cannot read listening to a high-quality recording of a Bible translation that speaks God’s message naturally, piercing to the heart of the listener and changing their lives for God’s glory!"
Overcoming Obstacles by Recording Scripture
BY ERIK STAPLETON

I serve at Faith Comes By Hearing as the International Language Recording Coordinator, overseeing Scripture recording projects in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific. Before accepting this position three years ago, I lived with my family in a remote village on Tanna Island in the South Pacific archipelago named Vanuatu. I spent 12 years there and facilitated a New Testament translation of Nafe with a committed group of mother-tongue speakers.

I believe in Bible translation. I’m also passionate about working hard to see those translations recorded because recording Scripture is powerful. It is able to overcome the obstacles that often hinder the effectiveness of God’s Word in print alone.
The first obstacle that recording the Scripture overcomes is illiteracy. According to recent statistics provided by UNESCO, 758 million adults remain illiterate in the world today.1 These people live in developing nations where minority languages are spoken. When given a printed Bible, they smile and look at the pictures; but they are not able to comprehend the life-giving message by reading the words.
What can be done? Can they be taught to understand the writing on the page? Yes, and in most Bible translation projects around the world, literacy is part of the program plan.
For whatever reason, however, many do not learn, and indeed many will not learn, how to read fluently in their mother tongue. This struggle with illiteracy can be overcome quickly by providing oral people with an audio recording of God’s Word.
The second obstacle that recording the Scripture overcomes is unnatural renderings. Unnatural renderings creep into Bible translations primarily by: (1) non-native speakers who are heavily involved in the drafting process, and (2) native speakers who draft while trying to make the translation follow source language structures that might not match the regular patterns of their mother-tongue speech. Ideally, all these unwanted, odd-sounding expressions will be discovered before the text is printed.
And recording the Scriptures before typesetting and printing them is a very helpful way to facilitate this discovery process.
On Tanna Island, every time the translation committee completed a portion of Scripture in Nafe, we would record it before printing it. The books of Mark, Luke, Acts, James, and others, were released both in print and audio well before the entire New Testament was completed. In all cases, it did not matter how many times the printed drafts had gone through community checking and public readings, the recording process always revealed barriers to understanding created by odd-sounding expressions. These unnatural renderings uncovered through the recording process were corrected before the text was typeset for printing the final version.
In partnership with Seed Company and Pioneer Bible Translators, we have created an oral Bible translation software called Render so that the need for literacy in the Bible translation process can be removed.
The third obstacle that recording the Scripture overcomes is Scripture-use norms that militate against using vernacular Scripture. In many places where Bible translation is taking place today, there are already Scripture-use norms that have been established.
These norms include, for example, reading the Bible in the national language during church services, or perhaps a foreign-language Bible that is considered more prestigious (e.g., English, Spanish, or French translations). It is often normal for churches to appoint pastors who do not speak the vernacular language. This requires that he speaks the national language. The church members will often do likewise as a courtesy when the pastor is present.
Often times these norms do not leave much room for vernacular Scripture initiatives. It is not that the speakers of the language are not interested in mother-tongue Scripture.
They are!
It’s not that they do not need the vernacular Scriptures to understand more clearly God’s message.
They do!
The problem is they are not accustomed to using mother-tongue Scripture in church, or during other events when interacting with Scripture is appropriate. However, recording the Scriptures removes the obstruction of what is normal Scripture use and opens the door for new patterns to be established. These new patterns might include listening while cooking, while gardening, while walking through the forest, while lying on one’s bed at night, or at specified times in Faith Comes By Hearing listening groups.
We watched these new norms develop overnight on Tanna, and it was a joy to see!
Finally, recording the Scripture overcomes the devil and brings glory to God. The Scriptures teach us that deception is the work of Satan. He is a liar and the father or lies (John 8:44). For this reason, he rejoices when the inability to read keeps God’s message from being comprehended. He likes it when people are unable to understand the Word because the translation is full of unnatural renderings. He probably chuckles when for practical reasons, or perhaps for prestige, foreign and/or second language translations are read to people and they have no heartfelt response.
Ah, but how Satan must be frustrated when the obstacles to understanding the Good News are removed through audio recordings. He must get in a rage when he sees men and women who cannot read listening to a high-quality recording of a Bible translation that speaks God’s message naturally, piercing to the heart of the listener and changing their lives for God’s glory!
This is the goal.
And this is why I serve at Faith Comes By Hearing.
Sources cited
1 “Overview of Literacy,” UNESCO eAtlas of Literacy, accessed April 10, 2017, http://www.uis.unesco.org/data/atlas-literacy/en.