The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 9-13, 2022

It has been a random week at OMS again. Productive, but random. It's nice to shake things up now and then. Breaks up the routine. But you know I like my routine. I'm totally fine with doing the same stuff all the time. Which is good, because that's most of my job.

I'm still working on booklet 64. I finished the tagging, added images, and now I'm doing another read-through. It is amazing what you can miss. Most of what I'm doing now, though, is trying to get the reading level down to fifth grade level and get rid of some jargon. The booklet is about crafting a personal testimony, and there can be a lot of 'Christianese' in talking about that. 

I got tapped to run A/V for two lunches. The first was for local pastors and mission leaders who were here to learn more about OMS. The second was for volunteers who we brought in to show our appreciation. I don't mind running  stuff, but I do appreciate more than an hour's notice. Just saying. 

(As a side note, we had an OMS Family Fun Night on Tuesday. We had a picnic and then karaoke. I was the Spin Doctor and emcee for that, and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. Unfortunately for you, what happens in the Fellowship Hall, stays in the Fellowship Hall. So no photos or video for you. Sorry.)

We're also still working on safety stuff at OMS. Sarah and I handed out Emergency Response Guides with instructions for various safety issues one might encounter. There are still a few more things we need to do, and obviously, we never want any of these things to happen. But my philosophy is that it is better to be prepared than caught off guard. 

There won't be an update (at least not work-related) for a couple of weeks. I'm headed out of town with family, so try not to miss me too much.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 25 - May 6, 2022

Well, as predicted, there was no post last week. The seminar went very well, and while we had a few hiccups, there were no major catastrophes. For which I am very thankful. 

Most of my week was spent in the tech arena. 

We had two tech positions: the tech booth, which controlled all audio/visual elements, and Zoom host, which let people in and created breakout rooms, etc. The seminar was a hybrid event again, which meant we had people attending in person and online. It takes a lot of work to make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. But, with the incredible leadership of Sarah, we pulled it off. 

Snacks to get us through.

The smiley stickers indicated our level of comfort with personal interaction. I'm a yellow in normal settings, so I figured it was appropriate.

We always have good food.

And, of course, we introduced our new VCP assistant - my mom! Yes, you read that correctly, Donna Hollopeter will be working for OMS part time on Village Church Planting material. And no, I am not her boss. 

Oh well.

So like I said, it was a good week. We had great fellowship and made some solid plans for the future as OMS restructures into more field-centric operations. 

I can't say my weekend was spent recovering from the event as I was dog- and cat-sitting, but I did manage to get some sleep. Regardless, I was read to go Monday morning once again.

This week has been all about booklet 64. 64 is a new booklet called "Tell Your Story." It helps people craft their personal testimony. We've been working on it somewhat passively for a while, but I've been putting in solid work on it this week, tagging text and making sure the layout is as it should be. 

What is tagging?

That's the process. We have text tags so that when we run the script on the translation files, the translated text goes exactly where it is supposed to go. So paragraph 064-072 will always be, "Here are some words to help you think about the benefits you have received in Christ:" (I am also taking the opportunity to fix some grammar and word choice.) It doesn't matter what language, that's the general gist of what it will say. Pretty clever, isn't it?

And that's the gist of my week. It's been cold and rainy, which is always a drag. But I'm spending the weekend with yet another pup, so it should be a break from the norm. Although, pet sitting is becoming the new norm. 

Hmm...

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 18-22, 2022

Hi, hello, hey there.

It's another one of those crazy weeks as we buckled down in preparation for the CMF Seminar next week. Lots of little details, but also still many big details to sort out, and that's all while the building is being painted and cleaned and rearranged. But they assure us it'll be done by Monday. 

Most of my efforts toward the seminar are tech related, though I also did some proofing and re-creating of a few documents. In between those jobs, I was proofing Outreach articles and trying to figure out why my back was giving out on my again. I didn't even do any axe throwing this time. And in between those things, I was working on my prayer letter. It would be really nice to have that out before the end of April. We'll see.

I feel like I haven't done much rumination lately. A quiet moment to just sit with myself and check in on things. I'm sure that opportunity with present itself again sometime. Any day now. 

Pray for safe travels for those traveling to Greenwood. Pray for logistics to be in place. Pray for the facilitators presenting information. Pray for CMFs giving reports. Pray for the tech team and the technology itself. Pray for the food prep. Pray for Sarah - she's the head honcho for this thing. And just pray for all of us in general. This is likely the last CMF Seminar of this kind as we move to regional oversight. 

So yeah, there's a lot happening next week, and I doubt there will be a blog about it until May. Keep those prayers coming, and have a great (warm!) weekend.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 11-15, 2022

It has been a crazy week, my friends. It feels like we had lots of little fires to put out, some turning into a bit of a bonfire before being quenched. I'm sure there's a slow burn still going on, but it will be up to other people to take care of it. I'm pooped. 

I finished proof files for two Hindi booklets, after figuring out why certain glyphs weren't appearing as they should. We're doing a walking contest in the office, and I've been helping with calculations and communicating things for that. There was a 'big announcement' at the staff briefing on Wednesday that was fairly well received, but I don't know that it warranted the build up. We're putting together a team of tour guides for the office, so if you ever want a tour of this place, I'm happy to set you up. We're getting ready for the CMF Seminar the last week of April, and there is plenty to do to prepare. I'll be (wo)manning the tech stuff for a few sessions, and of course, a few of our facilitators don't have their presentations ready yet. 

So yeah. It's been a bit busy around here. 

I am looking forward to this weekend. Not just because I get a day off - but of course because we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior! I hope your celebrations are full of joy and hope for the future. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 28 - April 8, 2022

Yep, we're on another two-weeker here. I had a somewhat last-minute opportunity to spend the weekend with my family, and my friends at OMS were very kind to cover my responsibilities to allow that. The last few years have definitely impressed upon me the importance of spending time with your loved ones when you get the chance. 

But I was still in the office from Monday to Wednesday. I published a group of French and did some file auditing. We had a really nice chapel with representatives from the Korean Evangelical Church of America. 

This week, I've been working on Hindi and Portuguese. I created a status update for our VCP materials and worked on some things for the upcoming CMF Seminar. 

There are a lot of changes happening in the office. I've been dodging paint trays and ladders all week as they paint the walls downstairs. I've mostly been in the office alone since Brian is recovering from his trip to Hungary and Sarah had a prayer retreat. My parents are actually in town this weekend (I might tell you more about that in the future), so we're spending some quality time at a flea market Saturday. 

That's about it for this edition. Stay warm.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 21-25, 2022

Hermanos y hermanas!

(I'm not even working on Spanish. Why.)

Hello from the frozen landscape of Indiana. I'm not enjoying this brief return to Winter. It is Spring. The calendar says so. 

Speaking of calendars, I discovered this week that I have skipped a whole week in my desk calendar. So I'm no longer wondering why I have felt so discombobulated of late. 

This week has been quite full. I had one pup from Sunday to Thursday, and I have another pup Friday to Sunday. Thankfully, these pups are pretty easy to care for. They are both quite sweet. Plus, they allow me to work from the office. 

I've been working on French this week. But with Brian gone, I'm also fielding a lot of questions about things I don't normally deal with. But I think we have a solid team, and I'm happy to keep things going here while Brian works with refugees in Hungary. Speaking of, you can help provide supplies!

Speaking of speaking of! RADIO IS BACK, BABES! Yes, after literal YEARS, we have once again recorded a radio spot! I don't have the final audio yet, but I do have a lovely example of how we work. Way back before the coof, we had an idea for another superhero spoof. (nice!) When the bosses came to us asking about a spot about Ukraine, we harkened back to our original idea and adapted it. Jason wrote it, got it approved, and then we had to refine it some more once we were in the studio. They always take more time than we think. So here's what we ended up with:

I also had a chance to work with some lovely ladies on a project launching in April.

Julie Bishop is the wife of the Executive Director of OMS USA. You should know Sarah by now. And Lydia is our fantastic editor. 

Finally, we had a production meeting this week. My team has been doing a fantastic job with projects. Eliana just published all of Korean, which has been so long in coming, and Lynae has been formatting Hindi booklets, which is another longstanding project. Veronica continues to do battle with Japanese and Arabic. We're doing two versions of Japanese because there are actually four scripts you can use to write the Japanese language. We're trying to reach as many people as possible. And Arabic is hard because it is right to left and it's hard to see what you're typing in Word because Microsoft is sus. But we are prevailing!

That's about it for the week. Drink something warm, find a good book, and enjoy your weekend. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 14-18, 2022

I got to walk outside TWICE this week during the day. I'm not even going to complain that we're going to be cold again because Spring is Springing it up around here, and I am so here for that. 

This was a productive week! I published an Amharic volume and then a group of Indonesian booklets. I was able to resolve an issue with French booklets. I worked on many small projects and attended my usual meetings with aplomb. If I was you, I'd wanna be me, too. 

Name that song reference.

Anyway, yes, it has been a good week. But we always have plenty more to do.

The main thing I want to focus on this week is a trip my boss and his wife are taking. They are going to Hungary for a couple of weeks to help with the refugee crisis there. Our team in Hungary has already been hosting many of the missionaries who had to evacuate Ukraine, and they have also been sending teams to the border with food and other supplies. My boss has a lot of ties to Eastern Europe, and I know this situation has weighed heavily on him. So please be praying for them as they travel and as they do what they can in a very precarious situation. 

Otherwise, have a good one, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and stay in school. 

Bye!