Tanyas Times

Newsletter of Tanya Spronk, Serving with Wycliffe Canada

January 2017

Hope
Im writing this newsletter
from in Calgary, Alberta,
where Im back home for
a Christmas break. I plan
on heading back home to
Juba in January (Yes, I
have a few homes! Juba is
truly home now, as I
have celebrated my 10
year anniversary of living
there in November!).
In the past few weeks, as
we celebrated Christs
birth, the word hope
kept popping up. From
the advent readings in
church, to Michelle
Obamas interviews, to
Rogue One, it seems that
hope is everywhere.
After all, the First Lady
even said, What else do
you have, if you dont
have hope?
Unfortunately, hope is in
short supply in South

Sudan these days. While

the situation was calm
enough in Juba for us all
to return and resume our
language development,
literacy and Bible
translation work in
September, the situation in
the country remains
precarious. Fighting has
spread to parts of the
country which, up to now,
had remained peaceful and
calm. This year, there
were more South
Sudanese fleeing violence
than in any other country
in the world (including
Syria). And there seems to
be no end in sight. The
peace deals that were
made after the eruption of
civil war in 2013 have all
but collapsed. The
economy is in shambles,
with a 900% inflation rate
this past year. The South

Sudanese have run out of

hope for peace and
stability. They have run
out hope that they can
return home to live as they
did before.
There has been a twitter
campaign called
#anataban (which means,
Im tired), which is
trying to put an end to the
hate speech and bring
messages of peace and
reconciliation through the
arts. Its just one small
drop in the bucket, trying
to bring a little bit of hope
back to the South
Sudanese.
This is why our work is
even more important now.
During this time
especially, we remember
and celebrate the hope
that we have in Christ
Jesus. He is the only one

who can give any of us a

hope and future.
But this life-saving message
of Hope needs to be
communicated in a way that
people can best understand
it. Thats where the work of
Wycliffe and its field work
partner, SIL, comes in.
Please pray with me as we
move intoa new year that the
South Sudanese, and other
refugees around the world,
will have access to the
message of Hope, so that
regardless of the situation
they find themselves in, they
will have something (and
indeed, Some One) in whom
to find their hope.

Hope is Coming!
When I first moved to
Juba 10 years ago, SIL was
involved with 5 language
communities who were
based in Juba, doing Bible
translation and literacy
projects. Those projects
are now coming to an end,
as the New Testaments in
those languages have
either been completed or
will be completed in the
next few months!
Each of these projects has
seen its share of challenges
- wars, displacements,
deaths, sicknesses,
robberies the list goes
on. But God has been
faithful, and these 5
communities, the Baka,
the Didinga, the Gbaya,
the Keliko and the
Tennet, will soon have the

message of hope available

to them in their own
languages. In fact, the
Baka printed Scriptures
have already arrived in
South Sudan!
But South Sudan has one
of the lowest literacy rates
in the world (only about
20% of the population,
and only 14% of women,
are literate in any
language). So while we are
training teachers and
developing materials to
help people learn to read,
efforts are being made to
help people access the
scriptures in non-print
formats. In each of these
languages, recordings that
can be played on solar
powered player or smartphones and the Jesus Film

are being produced.

These resources will give
access to those who dont
yet have the literacy skills
they will need to read and
study the printed
Sciptures.
The Baka community is
set to welcome their New
Testament in a dedication
service on March 12. We
also hope to have some
literacy materials and other
resources avaialable for
the community during that
celebration!
In the meantime, we are
continuing translation
projects in 4 more
languages, and are
involved in the beginning
of working with at least 6
more languages!

Praise and Prayer:

Pray for peace to come

to South Sudan, and for
hope for the people.
Pray for wisdom for
decisions about
distribution of newly
printed New
Testaments, oral
Scripture products and
literacy materials.

Pray for safety and

protection of all SIL
staff - from violence
and robbery, but also
sickness and disease.

CONTACT ME
Wycliffe Bible
Translators
4316 10th St. NE
Calgary, AB
T2K 6K3
PO Box 628200
Orlando, FL
32862-8200
Home Address:
151 Valley Ridge Green
NW
Calgary, AB
T3B 5L6
tanya_spronk@sil.org

WWW.SIL.ORG
WWW.WYCLIFFE.CA

Below: my office in
Juba, Me in a
traditional Ghanaian
Hat, cold Alberta
forest

JANUARY 2016

Page 2

Returnings
The past months have had a
number of returns - return to
Juba after the temporary
closure of the office, return to
Juba after working on a project
in Ghana, return to Canada for
Christmas, and an impending
return to Juba from Canada.
Thankfully, I didnt have to
return any of the gifts I gave or
received for Christmas!
In February, I plan to return to
Ghana to continue working
with a USAID funded
Learning project. This is a
project, in partnership with the
Ministry of Education, which is
working towards implementing
early grade reading programs
for primary schools in 11
Ghanaian languages. I spent
two weeks in Tamale, Ghana,
in November, working with 6
Dagbani speakers to develop a
Primer and Teachers Guide for
Grade 1. It was great to see a
new part of Africa, and to work
with some really interesting
people! While the town of
Tamale really was hot, I
enjoyed the air conditioning
and constant electricity, as well
as the different food (though

Me with the Dagbani writing team in Tamale, Ghana

most of it was way too spicey

for me!).

funded from other traditional

sources.

In February, Ive been invited

to spend a few weeks in Accra,
Ghana, working on the Scope
and Sequences for 10 more
Ghanaian languages so they can
then develop the textbooks and
Teachers Guides in the coming
months. I love being involved
in these types of programs.
Not only does it give me the
experience I need to move
forward in my work in South
Sudan, but it also helps to fund
some of the literacy and
education work that SIL is
doing, which isnt getting

But first, I will be returning to

Juba, to get back into the swing
of things there. Once there,
Ive got lots of different
projects on the horizon finishing up some 2017
Calendars which didnt get
done before Christmas,
working on some Folk Tales
story books, training some
teachers, and ensuring that we
have the literacy books printed
and available for the upcoming
Baka New Testament
Dedication ceremony!

passport and that my luggage

will arrive in one piece (well,
two pieces of 23 kg each!).
And yes, I did say, tent - the
Juba airport terminal has
moved into tents on the side of
the runway, so departing and
arriving is a bit of a sweaty
ordeal!

available to buy in the local

shops and for what price (with
900% inflation, prices actually
rise on a daily basis). Hopefully
Ill be able to get together with
my Bible Study group on
Saturday afternoon and by
Monday I should be ready to
get back to the office!

Ive already been invited for

dinner by my neighbour when I
arrive, so I wont have to do my
shopping until the following
day. Its always busy when I
arrive back from a long trip greeting everyone (including
Zane, the cat!), cleaning all the
dust and cobwebs in the house,
finding out what things have
broken while Ive been away,
and figuring out whats

Its been a wonderful Christmas

break, despite the frigid
temperatures, and I have
treasured these past weeks in
Alberta to reflect and refresh.

Returning to ?
I tried out a new travel route on
this Christmas trip. On
EgyptAir, I went direct from
Juba to Cairo, then a long flight
to Toronto, where I joined an
Air Canada flight to Calgary.
Im doing the reverse to get
back home to Juba, starting my
journey on the night of January
11. Im looking forward to not
having to spend the night in
Europe and getting home a bit
faster - its still about a 28 hour
journey, but I dont have to stay
overnight anywhere, except on
a plane.
Once I get to Juba, Im praying
the immigration folks will be
friendly in their tent and will
accept my 1 year Residence
Permit thats stamped into my

Thank you so much for all of

your continued support
through your prayers and
financial contributions.
Peace, Tanya