Meet Sara: Software Development & Oral Bible Translation
Meet Sara!
Sara Hentzel grew up attending church, but it wasn’t until she was around 30 that Christ transformed her life through a relationship with Him. As she grew in commitment to Him, her pastor shared about short-term missions opportunities. Feeling that it was a next step to becoming more like Christ, Sara and her family signed up for a trip.
Sara said, “It just really rocked our world. And so we decided to let God interrupt our lives and just offered our lives to God.” They decided to move to Jamaica and serve as missionaries with another organization. They started a Bible training center for pastors and lay leaders. After her husband’s passing in 2016, Sara moved back to Iowa and returned to a job in software development in the agricultural industry.
Sara’s Journey to Serving With Wycliffe
One day, God began prompting Sara to consider using her software development skills in a new way. So she searched on the internet for software developer jobs in missions. “I didn’t know if that was even a thing,” she recalled.
When Wycliffe Bible Translators came up in the search results, Sara learned that software has an important role in Bible translation. She said, “You can’t buy Bible translation software off the shelf, and so you have to write your own.”
In 2018, Sara began serving with Wycliffe! In her role, she focuses on developing Audio Project Manager, a desktop and web application that simplifies how translation teams organize, edit and manage audio files. She said:
A Day in the Life as a Software Developer in Missions
At Wycliffe we collaborate in a global community and develop dynamic comradery with like-minded people. On a typical day, Sara works remotely from her home in Iowa. Each morning she meets with her prayer group for a time of prayer before gathering with her team to plan out their day. Some team members work from offices in Dallas, Asia or Canada, but most work from their homes around the world.
Sara said, “It’s one of the things we were just praising God for today — that you can live anywhere. I love the flexibility.”
Sara also plays a role in spreading awareness of how software is used in Bible translation. She enjoys the opportunity to travel to conferences to teach, share and inspire others about the work!
What Is Oral Bible Translation?
We want the whole world to have access to God’s Word. For a community to engage with Scripture, it needs to be available in a language and format people clearly understand. In some communities, literacy rates are very low, so providing a written translation of Scripture wouldn’t make it accessible to people.
Some communities rely on oral translation and storytelling. In fact, even people who are literate often prefer listening to Scripture rather than reading. Not only does the audio format help during the translation process, but it also allows people to access God’s Word while literacy work is still just developing in their community so they don’t have to wait to be transformed by Scripture.
Sara shared about one app called Akuo, which allows communities to access the Bible through audio and visual aids directly on their phones. The app prioritizes images, with a picture for every section of the Bible.
Sara said, “Other apps might read to you, but they expect you to be able to read to get around and find what you want. So Akuo is an app designed from the beginning to accommodate non-literate navigation, which was different from anything we’ve seen before.”
Using AI Tools in Bible Translation
AI technology has revolutionized the process of Bible translation. We are reaching communities with Scripture faster than ever before, and one factor expediting that is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Here are just a couple of ways we’re seeing it used for God’s glory:
- Jumpstarting Translation Work: In places where there is not yet any Scripture, software can process words from a community’s language and teach itself to develop a draft. In some cases, translators have access to equipment that can help create an alphabet where none exists.
- Saving Time: One tool uses the content of a translated New Testament to produce a first draft of the Old Testament. AI can also help find mistakes or potential problem areas in a manuscript within seconds, saving the translation team countless hours.
Sara shared, “We can use AI to search through the audio to find everywhere a word was used, and update it when a better translation is found.”
In situations where a recording studio isn’t available, oral translation teams may work in a small room or area with pillows and blankets for noise cancellation. But that setup doesn’t fully eliminate all extraneous noises. So Sara also sees AI assisting with tasks like noise removal and voice recognition in oral Bible translation.
While we understand that AI must be stewarded wisely, we’re excited to see how God continues to use technology to further His Kingdom and bring people to Him!
A Trip Overseas to See the Impact
Today local churches are asking for — and sometimes even starting — Bible translation themselves. It’s important to meet communities where they are, especially in oral cultures. Software supports this process!
Sara recently had the chance to travel to Uganda to see software in use and gather feedback from translators. She said, “It was a really special trip for me, because I got to see people using the software that I’ve spent the last six years writing.”
Sara had the chance to attend a workshop with six language teams from across the country. It was a time for the teams to collaborate, focus on the Word and learn from one another. She remembered seeing their excitement and hearing firsthand from the teams about how having Scripture in their own language in an audio format is making a difference.
She said, “It’s just really cool to be able to meet people where they’re at and to give them the Scripture in the language and the method that works best for them.”
Being a Part of God’s Mission
God has invited us to be a part of making His name known among the nations. As He raises up His Church around the globe, He’s encouraging us to join in too!
Sara reminds about the importance of relying on God throughout every experience as He fulfills the mission. She said: “There’s so much work to do. I could work 400 hours a week, and so we really have to trust God that He’s got this. This is His work. He's asked us to join Him, but it’s not our work.”
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