From Word to Book » Health

Swine Flu Survivor!

Steve — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:21:30 +0000

Steve is relieved to have survived swine flu!

It was a short, sharp episode, and meant that the start of my next typesetting project had to be delayed for a week.

But PTL, I’m now back in harness, and making good progress with Richard Gravina on the Mbuko New Testament (see separate post).

A very heartfelt thank you to everyone who prayed and sent encouraging messages. My apologies that I wasn’t able to reply personally to them all. Since returning to work life has been rather hectic—see other recent posts!

Print or save this post (PDF)

Or, get HP Smart Web Printing (it’s FREE!)

The last lap!

Steve — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:45:32 +0000

Yes, folks, I’m delighted to say that I’m entering the last lap with the Chumburung typesetting. This has been quite a marathon!

My back has been behaving itself, PTL, and I managed to complete the work I needed to do with Keir and Gillian Hansford by the end of July. We finished the last of the pictures on Wednesday 29th, just before Gillian left to return to their home in Southampton. Keir stayed on until Friday 1st, and we did a final complete check of the whole text. With some fear and trembling Keir then officially ‘signed off’: i.e., he signed a declaration that the text was now ready for typesetting and no further changes would be made. Translators never find this easy! It’s like letting go of a child they have brought up over many years, and entrusting it to strangers.

Of whom I am the first! My job in this final stage is to distil the raw text into computer files that will produce an attractive, well-laid out book that people will be proud to own. A book they can read easily, with no errors or blemishes to distract from its life-giving message. After me will come others who will turn my files into a print-ready package, complete with coloured pictures and all the smells and bells; and still others will print and bind the book from those files.

But before any of that can happen, I need to complete the detailed typesetting and layout of the whole Bible — by the end of this month! I’ve done some essential preliminaries this week, but Genesis-to-Revelation plus Glossary, Preface, Table of Contents, Picture List, etc., etc., still need to be done. Please pray for me as I “press on toward the goal” during the next three weeks!

God bless, and thank you your support and prayers through the marathon so far.

Print this post (PDF)
Or, get HP Smart Web Printing (it’s FREE!)

Missing Typesetter found!

Steve — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:30:53 +0000

High Wycombe, Monday 20th July. It was confirmed today that Steve Pillinger, the typesetter who went missing from the UK headquarters of Wycliffe Bible Translators in mid-April, has officially returned to work. After a three-month absence with back problems, he is now sufficiently recovered to work at least half-days. His colleagues Keir and Gillian Hansford, translators of the Chumburung Bible (Ghana), are relieved to have him back.

Dr Pillinger and his colleagues at the translation organisation regard his recovery as an answer to prayer—not only their own, but also those of many Christian supporters and friends.

Be that as it may, there now seems to be a good prospect that the Chumburung Bible will be completed by the end-of-August deadline.

Seriously: A heartfelt thank-you to everyone who has prayed for Steve during this difficult time. It’s a tremendous relief and joy to be back in the office again!

Independence is driving round the block

Steve — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:32:25 +0000

Steve is glad to say his back is going forward!

Not long ago Keir and Gillian Hansford came to our home to have a face-to-face session on the pictures for the Chumburung Bible.

For months now we’ve been working independently, the Hansfords doing a complete proofread of the scripture text while I’ve been working on the pictures, back allowing. The Hansfords have now finished the proofreading, and needed to return home for a while; so we had a get-together to check the pictures as far as I’d gone.

Exodus map, Chumburung style

We also discussed the way forward, and decided that we have to start work on the final checking by Monday 20th July if the typesetting is to be finished by the end of August (which is a deadline for all of us).

This was a step of faith for me at the time, since I was still limited as to how long I could remain sitting (see Praise God for Piano Stools); I couldn’t walk any distance, and I couldn’t drive a car! So getting back to the office seemed a distant dream.

However—God is good. During the past week my back has started improving more rapidly, and last Saturday I was even able to drive the car around the block! (Ah, that heady feeling of independence!) So now the prospect of returning to the office is a lot closer. I even dare to hope that I won’t have to meet with the Hansfords at our home after the 20th, but that I’ll be back in harness, finally working normally.

Thank you so much, all of you who have been praying. Your prayers are being answered! Please hang in there and continue praying with us that I will, in fact, be back in the office by the 20th of this month—and that we’ll get the Chumburung Bible finished by the end of August!

Print this post (PDF)
Or, get HP Smart Web Printing (it’s FREE!)

Praise God for Piano Stools!

Steve — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:25:44 +0000

As many of you know, I (Steve) have been suffering for many weeks now from a severe back problem. I’ve had to stay in bed a lot, and Johanna came up with an ingenious contraption enabling me to work flat on my back with monitor and keyboard poised over me. In this way I was able to continue working on the Chumburung Bible, despite being unable to sit for more than a few minutes.

But last week the situation was completely changed by, of all things, a piano stool! Fed up with seven weeks more or less confined to our bedroom, I went downstairs one day, pulled out the piano stool, and started to play.

Twenty minutes later I realised I had been sitting all that time without any discomfort. In fact, when I stood up my back felt more at ease than it had for a long time!

I saw the chiropractor the next day and told him what had happened. He explained why I had found the piano stool so helpful: there’s no back to lounge against; it’s relatively high, ensuring the knees are lower than the hips (which apparently helps); and it’s narrow, reducing pressure on the underside of the thighs (also good).

So last Saturday Johanna’s wonderful monitor-trolley was taken apart and stored in the garage—where we hope it’ll stay unused for a good long time! And I’m once again able to work in my home office (though with frequent breaks). All thanks to God’s grace and a piano stool!

Print this post (PDF)
Or, get HP Smart Web Printing (it’s FREE!)