I've been asked 'why is support staff required, why can't the translator do all the work?'
Here's a good example why:
Currently the guys who really know the software well for Bible translation are gone and so this morning we had a translator who had a problem and I got the call.
I went over to help them.
They had spent three days and three nights working on a booklet in two different languages and were unable to print it.
So I installed printer drivers and got the printers working.
She was very emotional and obviously exhausted and at her wits end and it was difficult for me to get an answer from her regarding certain things. She kept repeating 'I don't know'.
Typically before she got to that point, a member of the team who knows the software would have helped her.
I was unable to because I simply didn't know all the required formatting, the page size, the fonts for her language, etc... for making a booklet. I could have gotten her stuff successfully on paper, but not into the booklet form she wanted.
It turns out, the harsh reality of the fact was that all her time and effort formatting and including pictures, was wasted, because she didn't start out with the proper template, and therefore everything was on A5 paper instead of the smaller booklet size.
She would have to reformat it all, twice.
It was a sad moment for me. Not unlike when I used to have to tell students in college that they accidentally deleted their term paper.
There are times when I get to be the hero, and there are times when I have to be the bearer of bad news.
The bad news was that were a vital team member present then they could have told her how to do it right from the beginning. Instead she plugged along with her best guess and spent days doing the wrong thing.
So, can a translator do it all on their own?
You tell me. Having the proper support would have saved her days of wasted work and hours of emotional anguish. It would have brought the pamphlet to print much faster, and enabled her to do work where her strengths lie, instead of spinning wheels in areas where she is weaker.
Support staff is the coming together of the body with their different talents and giftings to help others who need it.
My job is to enable her, and today I had to help and watch as she realized that there was a gap between what I knew and what she knew, and there was no one around to fill the gap.
It was a sad moment for both of us, but even sadder for the Nankina and Ngain people who won't be getting a pamphlet in their heart language today.
They will eventually get it, but it will be late.
This scenario is also a good example of how sometimes, two people can't fill the shoes of 1 person with very specific knowledge. This is why we are constantly praying for God to be moving more people to come here. We need people to fill the holes that are left when people leave.
