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Knightlife

An update from T.R. and Angie Knight
Serving with SIL International - Language Technology

October 2023 - T.R. feels like he is back in university again. The month started with the biennial Bible Translation Conference, a unique event of presentations, training, discussion tables, and academic lectures. With Angie having some MS related challenges recently, we decided to limit our traveling this fall to last month’s Paratext Summit. T.R. attended the BT Conference online, with Angie attending many of the sessions as well. Both of us learned quite a bit from the sessions and had a lot to ponder. Some of the sessions are heavily focused on linguistics and translation and felt like we were back in college courses again. We learned about topics including AI in translation, sign language translation, translation challenges in the field, translating with the local church, and the history of Bible translations. Overall, the event was amazing and we hope we can make it in person in 2025.

Next up was a trip back to Taylor University for Homecoming and the Internship and Career Fair. Saturday was spent celebrating Homecoming and T.R.’s 30th reunion (see the snapshot area at the end of the newsletter for a glimpse of that day). Monday and Tuesday were full days of meeting with Taylor University faculty and students.  

The Taylor University Computer Science & Engineering department invited T.R. and Robert to spend Monday in the CSE area with our table display and guest speaking in various classes. We also are rebuilding a relationship between SIL Language Technology and Taylor CSE that used to be very active. We are hopeful for short term trips, student projects, and ongoing engagement with the students.

T.R. had the wonderful opportunity to speak and do a Q&A in four classes and step into two others for short intros. Robert stepped into three classes for short intros. SIL then hosted a pizza party and Q&A time Monday evening that 27 students attended. During the party we shared videos from two recent Taylor graduates who joined Language Technology last year.

On Tuesday, T.R. Knight, Doug Higby, PJ Higby, and Robert Clementz manned the display at the Taylor University Internship and Career Fair. Doug and PJ were driving back from the BT Conference to their home and passed through Upland so they could join us for the recruiting event. It was wonderful to have them there as the table was busy the entire time with so many passionate and interested students. We have quite a few seriously considering 2024 summer internships, many interested in paid positions as they become available, and a couple we will be connecting with Wycliffe about membership.

God at Work

“God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” - Hudson Taylor

Here are some things He has done recently:

• Unofficial attendance estimates were 500 in-person and over 800 online participants at the 2023 Bible Translation Conference. The theme this year was Quality in Translation which resulted in some amazing and challenging presentations and conversations. Angie and T.R. attended it virtually this year and both of us learned a lot. The conference has grown so much that they had to split the in-person attendees across two rooms for the main sessions and they are looking for a new location or perhaps regional conferences for the next event in 2025 (it is an every other year conference currently).

• Robert and his Talent Acquisition Team have begun their first school year of university visits to great success. First up was Cedarville which had 15 students submit information online and over 40 submitted resumes. Second was Taylor University where 25 submitted info online and over a dozen submitted resumes. Even more students took away business cards with personal notes on them to reach back out to the teams. T.R. really enjoyed being back at Taylor for recruiting right after Homecoming. If you know of university students interested in working with SIL Language Technology, you can point them to our new brochure.

I hope this small glimpse encourages you to see what God is doing through all of us serving at SIL International.

Prayer and Praise

• Please pray for the upcoming holidays. The majority of the Language Technology staff will be traveling all over the US and the world during the various holidays. Also pray for those that cannot travel to be with family.  

• Please pray as we await responses on our 2024 ETEN funding proposals.

• Please continue to pray for an unspoken request that Angie and T.R. are working through.

• Praising God for a great Bible Translation Conference.

• Praising God for a great Homecoming and time of recruiting at Taylor University.

• Praising God for Autumn in Indiana. Our garden is now largely dormant and T.R. has begun to clean it up for the Winter.

• Please let us know how we can be praying for you!

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

In Him,
T.R. and Angie Knight

TU Homecoming Snapshots

T.R. and Angie attended the State of the University presentation at Taylor University Homecoming. So much has changed at Taylor since T.R. transitioned to SIL just over two years ago.

Lunch with a few of T.R.’s 30th Reunion classmates.

How can you support the work we are doing with SIL International?

Glad you asked! T.R. is currently in a fully funded position in his role as Director of Bible Translation Software. The finances come from a funding organization devoted to innovation in Bible Translation. Because T.R.’s position is fully funded, we are not currently requesting you to partner with us financially. What we could use the most are your prayers and encouragement. If you would like to financially support the work that SIL does, you can give online or via check. If you give online, you can designate Language Technology or any of our specific projects that interest you. If you give via check, you can include in the note field a designation of Bible Translation Software - KBTD16. Thank you for your prayers and support.