From Our Missionaries

by Bryan and Joan Wussow

One of the software projects that Bryan manages is the development of the Story Producer app. This app runs on Android smartphones (which are now in wide use even in remote areas all around the world.) This app enables a group of local language speakers to orally translate a Bible story into their language.

The local team can view the slide's image and narration text in the national language, listen to the narration audio in the national language, and then record their oral translation in their local language.

When all slides are recorded, the app can (with one tap on a button) produce a nicely illustrated Bible story video with "pan & zoom", background music, and of course the story narration in the local language.

Story Producer app is a tool for Scripture engagement. The local-language Bible story videos can easily be shared phone-to-phone throughout the community. People in the community are excited to watch videos in their own language, and the local church uses that excitement to engage people in spiritual growth and in reading the Scriptures.

Through much of 2021, God had provided a volunteer who did great work on the code for Story Producer app, but that help ended this past Spring. So, Bryan needed to take more on himself by diving deeper into the Kotlin programming language and the Android development systems. Praise God that in August we published version 3.1 of Story Producer! It includes several new features that make it more capable and easier to use.

Joan helps with various creative projects around the JAARS campus. Her recent focus has been the displays of newly published Bibles and New Testaments for our September 15 Scripture Celebration. In October she will create commemorative displays and table decor for the JAARS Board banquet.

Adjustments in life -

So far, we have 33 years of service with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and we have both now reached age 65. After a lot of prayer over the past several months, we feel we should continue working, but the organization will allow us to slow our work pace. We have requested that Bryan's work assignment be reduced from 40 hrs/wk to 24 hrs/wk starting September 30. This will enable us to continue contributing to Bible translation, but also let us better balance needs for rest and home maintenance. If you have any questions about this, please give us a call. We will continue to need your prayer and financial partnership.

Please pray with us...

Thank God for an effective SIL Language Technology Conference in Dallas, TX. It was good for Bryan's department to gather face-to-face. Joan traveled with Bryan and volunteered her help in the sewing ministry on the Dallas campus.
Praise God for a successful release of Story Producer app version 3.1. Pray for the challenging work on version 3.2, with which we hope to provide automated downloading of Bible story templates for users who are online. Pray that Bryan and new volunteer Peter can make effective progress on this by September 23.
Pray for God to be at work through the English as a Second Language (ESL) program that we work with at our church in Waxhaw. Pray that we will effectively minister to our students.
Pray that we walk faithfully with God, through the challenges and options before us.
Thank you so much for partnering with us so that people can have God's Word in the language they understand best.