JCBT Fall 2023 Newsletter

BREAKING NEWS

Dear friends, dear prayer partners,
First comes an extensive GENERAL UPDATE of the situation in Israel today, Tuesday, October 10, 2023 – to be followed by a PERSONAL UPDATE

We were just about to send our long overdue newsletter about the events and happenings at JCBT during spring, summer and fall 2023, when suddenly on the last day of the Biblical weeklong Feast of Tabernacles, on October 7, a horrible tragedy started unfolding. It was a quiet Shabbat morning, 6.30 am, when Hamas terrorists using bulldozers broke, in more than 10 places, into Israel, right through the Israeli fortified border fences and poured into the communities close to the border with Gaza. They also went over the strong fences using hang gliders or came with rubber speed boats by the sea. They overran the Israeli guards, and even broke through the main gate of the main border crossing between Israel and Gaza. They raced to spread out into the many Israeli kibbutzim near the Gaza border, but started with the city of Sderot. They had one purpose, to murder, wound and terrorize as many Israelis as possible. It was a complete surprise; Israel was completely unprepared. The consequences were devastating for the peaceful civilian population which were mostly still sleeping and were totally unsuspecting and unprepared.

At the same time as the break-through, Hamas started a massive continuous barrage of thousands of rockets sent from Gaza to the nearby communities, as well as to big cities like Beer Sheba or cities further north like Ashdod, Ashkelon, and even as far as Tel Aviv. Some rockets reached close to the hills near Jerusalem, where we live, but thankfully there was no damage in our area, since the “iron dome” counter missiles neutralized most of them. Each rocket launch is detected by Israel and automatically preceded by a warning siren sounded at the location where the rocket is heading; this gives a person 3- 10 minutes to get into a concrete safety room to wait until the missile is countered by iron dome or it explodes on the ground and does its damage of killing or wounding as many victims as possible.
The barrage of the rockets was continuous in the area near Gaza, only a few reached this area near Jerusalem. In the meantime, the terrorists managed to conquer many of the communities closest to Gaza. The guards were overrun, and it took hours to get any efficient help for the citizens, who closed themselves in their safety rooms or were taken hostages in numerous places.

Even though it was the fastest massive call up of tens of thousands of reservists ever accomplished, it still took the army many hours to get organized. By the evening Israel realized the enemy had successfully invaded the land and saw no other option than officially to declare war against Hamas. Iran is the government that has mastermind and funded and equipped the Hamas terror organization which has ruled Gaza since 2007 – but only after a civil war against Arafat’s Palestine Authority, whose soldiers fled to Israel for refuge (?). By now the majority of the population of
Gaza realize that the extremism of Hamas brings destruction also to them.

Declaration of war meant that all soldiers and reserve soldiers had to leave for war. They had to leave their work, their families and responsibilities. Many believing Messianic soldiers were called up, some 14 from the the Yad HaShemonah village where the JCBT log-home dormitory is located.
As the soldiers got involved in conquering back the communities where the terrorists were raging, they have had to go street by street in community after community. Meanwhile the Israeli Airforce started bombing Gaza with the aim of destroying the rocket launchers and destroying the Hamas infrastructure in order to make it incapable of functioning any longer.
This is a complicated work because the Hamas leaders build their offices and bunkers under apartment buildings and among regular residential areas. Such areas then become the focus of the Israeli bombing. The Israeli army sends severe warnings to the civilian population to leave such areas before the upcoming bombings, but there are yet many victims among the population in Gaza. Now, toward the end of the third day of the war, the army has finally gained control of the communities which were overrun by the terrorists.
The statistics on the human suffering are overwhelming and heart heart-breaking:  some 900 Israeli dead, some 2600 wounded, some 130 Israelis kidnapped into Gaza, soldiers, young and old, men and women, mothers and even children. There is no contact with them and therefore no knowledge of their fate. The nation is in deep pain and agony about the dead, the many wounded, and in absolute agony about the kidnapped.
Much soul-searching is happening in Israel already. How could this happen? Too much confidence, too much pride, too much complacency, too much focus on politically issues to pay attention. The same intelligence failure, based on overconfidence 50 years ago, caused the catastrophies of the Yom Kippur war, which started on October 6,1973.

PERSONAL UPDATE: We, at JCBT, have been overwhelmed and greatly encouraged by the number of you, our friends, who have been expressing concern and assuring us of your prayers. Your prayers are also important personally since we have three army age grandchildren, Daniel’s children, who are now involved in the war in the south. Jonatan serves in elite forces. In fact we heard just tonight that two messianic Jewish soldiers from elsewhere were killed in the south. There are 14 soldiers or reservist from Yad HaShmonah serving in the army. In the meantime Yad HaShmonah has opened its hotel to members of the southern border communities who need temporary shelter and safety in the Jerusalem hills. They all need our prayers after the trauma they experienced.
Our daughter, Liel, mother of 4, works at the main hospital in Beersheba where hundreds of wounded are being treated. She lives the tension and pressure in the hospital because of the frequent rocket attacks launched from Gaza. Since she lives an hour away, she sometimes stays in hospital overnight to avoid the danger of nighttime rocket prone roads. It is hoped that the missiles will soon be stopped.
In the midst of all this, the staff of this hospital continues as a mixture of Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs including Bedouin nurses and even doctors working side by side with genuine mutual respect and good working relationships. This is true in practically all Israeli hospitals.

As for us, Halvor and Mirja, we live in a quiet village outside Jerusalem, some seven kilometers from Yad HaShemonah. We do not feel the war except for occasional sirens and booms as the “Iron Dome” anti-missile rockets destroy incoming missiles. However, just today, 9^th of October, two nearby towns received hits by a missile. One is the Arab town, Abu Gosh, where a house got a hit and one man was hurt; the other is Har Adar, a more distant village,  where 4 people were wounded.
We have great gratitude for your prayers for us, for Israel and for His plans for the future of JCBT (see the long letter following). We look forward with hope to be of service in the future, so we would appeal to you to contact possible candidates for our programs, esp. the 5 ½ month program of the Spring Semester 2024.

With blessings and prayers,
Halvor and Mirja

Now comes our thorough review of 2023, and our hopes for 2024 – some 12 pages.

Tower of the Rothberg International School of Hebrew University, 1995 – 2023:  study programs for translators, translation consultants and consultants-in-training

Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!  Psalm. 117:1-2

A comprehensive 12-page newsletter report on 2023 & 2024
[see OUTLINE of sections on next page]

Dear friends, alumni and coworkers! 

This beloved Psalm is the slogan Psalm of JCBT. The Psalm expresses what we want to convey in this letter: the hope that JCBT will be a tool for providing the nations with the possibility of praising the Lord, extolling Him by getting to know His Word by means of a faithful translation into every mother tongue.

Let us start this letter with a helpful summary of the overall work of JCBT as illustrated by the picture of the tower of Rothberg International School (RIS), which has cooperated with Home for Bible Translators since 1994. The annual semester long study programs have been conducted under the academic approval and blessing of Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University ever since 1995.  The ‘rays’ which beam outward from the tower represent translators and consultants who have studied here and returned to their home countries with the rich knowledge, understanding and insights that are needed for faithful translation of the source text, the Hebrew Bible, to a new mother tongue.

In its five-month program JCBT has had the privilege serving:  221 translators and consultants, from 57 countries, working with some 129 languages.

In addition, over 700 translators or translation-related persons, from different areas of the world, have participated in the 2-week short-term courses on the land of the Bible; the land is the vivid context of the text.

What a blessing to have been a blessing to so many Bible translation projects through the students who have studied at JCBT. This has been possible by the Grace of God, the faithfulness of the Lord in guiding and directing and providing for so many years. The work has gone on together with talented staff with the needed skills and abilities, as well as by the help of hundreds of volunteers. The work is carried by the prayer support and practical support of scores and scores of devoted friends and coworkers, who shared the vision of Home for Bible Translators.

There have been so many miracles that a book has been written already in 2016 (in Finnish) about God’s amazing leading. It started from a vision of providing West African translators a home in Israel with a study program in Biblical Hebrew and the land of the Bible. But how did the university get involved? How was the apartment found, which fit the work so perfectly? What about the needed staff and volunteers? And what about the amazing project of building a Finnish log home in Judean hills in 2.5 years by 40 Finnish professional volunteers? Grace upon grace upon grace!
(An English book is in planning, time and health allowing).

Happy to finally send the newsletter about the work and happenings of JCBT during the last 6 months since the last newsletter in April. This letter was written during the month of September, on the Bible Translation Month and finalized near Sept 30^th, Bible Translation Day. It is too long for comfort, so we decided to provide an outline of the topics starting with the new setup of JCBT with the choice of Bob Carter as the Executive Director, in place of Halvor Ronning, now Emeritus, who retired from his position as Co-director with Mirja – who has not retired but continues working overtime.

OUTLINE of the NEWSLETTER:
2023 spring/summer/fall & 2024 spring

A. New Setup at JCBT
B. Spring: 2023 Semester Program
C. Summer: August course for NT Consultants (NT2OT)
D. Fall: November: Proverbs – “one book at the time”, by zoom (Applicants with medium level of Biblical Hebrew). Apply now
E. Upcoming 2024 study program – for consultants and consultants-in-
training

1. Description of the study program by Dr. Reinier de Blois, Academic Director of JCBT
2. Free tutoring in Biblical Hebrew by Luka Manevitch for applicants – prior to the semester (Online Learner for Bible Translators). Apply now

F. Praise and prayers

A. The new setup at JCBT

On January 5^th, 2023, the board of JCBT selected Bob Carter as the Executive Director of JCBT starting on April 1^st.  The Seed Company had graciously agreed to the bold experiment of outsourcing Bob five months to JCBT, while still keeping his responsibilities as consultant in Nepal and elsewhere for seven months of the year. We had recommended Bob to the board as an experienced consultant of OT in many areas of the world. The focus of the study programs at JCBT for the last 3 years has been to train high level national consultants of OT for checking the many OT translations that are waiting to be checked and approved for printing.
Halvor Ronning turned over his responsibilities as director to Bob Carter to maintain contact with the Bible translation world, represent JCBT in conferences, recruit new candidates for the study program for consultants and work on fund raising for JCBT.       However, Halvor is yet available and is helping in issues requiring his past experience and knowhow, like in relationship to the university and to the Ministry of Interior (visas), banking, advice in historical geography, welcoming the short-term groups during Bob’s absence, and helping with many local practical issues. The Academic Director of JCBT is Dr. Reinier de Blois of the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship of the American Bible Society of the United Bible Societies. His role is essential for maintaining the high-level reputation of JCBT at the Hebrew University and in Bible translation circles.
Mirja Ronning continues her years of responsibilities and experience in maintaining the care of the HOME in its various facilities: the Log home, Forest home and the Mevasseret office apartment. This is only possible with the essential help of non-salaried personnel from Finland and elsewhere. These volunteer teams are organized by Maarit Kattilakoski, the secretary of the “The Friends of the Jerusalem Home for Bible Translators” in Finland.

The board, which chose Bob Carter as the new director of JCBT, has also assigned Mrs. Or (= light) Nakirekanti, who lives in Israel, to be the Director of Operations of JCBT. She bears the main responsibility for the ongoing daily operations in Israel. Or, is an Israeli citizen, a mother of three, and is gifted in multitasking; she is a most responsible and reliable worker. She has familiarity with local rules and regulations in the administrative and financial matters. She has experience in serving abroad in several countries. She can handle correspondence in Hebrew, English and French. Or and her husband, Sri Nakirekanti from India, love the Hebrew Bible and identify with the long term vision of JCBT to help provide faithful translations of the Bible for new nations by the high level training provided by JCBT for qualified translators and consultants.
Her duties also include being the Semester Coordinator and Office Manager. She maintains the correspondence with the students from the application stage to JCBT and on through the many different stages of the application process for the Hebrew University. She keeps the contact with the Rothberg School and makes the visa applications for the students at the Interior Ministry of the Israeli government. Or has worked with JCBT since January 2023, but has worked with us also previously, before the birth of her third child.
Sirpa Nykanen, is the responsible and reliable bookkeeper and financial secretary of JCBT. She shares responsibility with Or. She has been with JCBT for the last 6 years. She maintains regular contact and reporting to the CPA of our new Israeli non-profit (Amuta) organization, Nir Samuel. It is his office that keeps all financial records in a Hebrew software program that facilitates Nir’s annual report to the Israeli tax authorities.
Wilma Boseman-Levy has worked for many years with JCBT as the responsible co-planner and coordinator for the two-week land of the Bible short term programs. Wilma organizes the course bookings of buses and hostels, the visits to archeological sites and museums etc. Just yesterday Halvor presented the Hebrew University certificates to a group of 19 translators from Brazil, a Portuguese speaking tour. It was guided by a known Portuguese speaking guide.

B. SPRING SEMESTER 2023

– the focus, the program and the graduation.

1. FOCUS

As of 2021 JCBT is filling a special role in the Bible translation world. It focuses on teaching and enriching CONSULTANTS and consultants-in-training in a relatively short five and half month intensive, high level study program at the Rothberg School of the Hebrew University. The program emphasizes medium to high level of Biblical Hebrew grammar in order to be able to tackle issues related to the text itself, to its semantic, discourse and poetic features. Special emphasis is put on understanding the essential contribution of context of the land to accurate understanding of the text. The program also includes an extensive Living Biblical Hebrew course.

It bears repetition to emphasize the great need for OT consultants who have medium to high level knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and have also studied and experienced the land as a source for vivid insights into the text. They are needed to check the OT books which are waiting for approval of a consultant who can responsibly evaluate the accuracy of the translation before printing. Accordingly, the focus of this JCBT study program is creating a niche of highly specialized service in the BT world.

The background for this development comes from Dr. Reinier de Blois, from the ABS Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship, who joined JCBT in January 2021 as the Academic Director of JCBT. This was approved by Nida Institute in the fall of 2020. Reinier de Blois is the one who built our present semester program and invited the needed expert lecturers. The program then must get the approval by the Rothberg School leadership and their academic director, who have been greatly supportive of JCBT.  The graduates of this program go out well prepared to consult and check OT translations in order to grant the approval needed for the translation to be published.

Spring Semester 2023 was the most intensive semester ever, and probably the most advanced one academically. One proof is the fact that in the course on Biblical Hebrew Poetry, taught by Dr. Ernst Wendland and Dr. Sameh Hanna, seven out of eleven students were able to write Hebrew University tough graduate-level papers (25 pages plus bibliography) which can be published with some editing as research articles.
Important note: The students of 2023 were better prepared in Biblical Hebrew than in previous years, even before the semester studies began. This came about because JCBT supported each applicant with a free online personal tutor in Biblical Hebrew Grammar. The tutoring was provided by JCBT Biblical Hebrew lecturer, Luka Manevich; he used the Bible Mesh Biblical Hebrew online program. Another online self-study program was also offered free, the creative Biblical Hebrew immersive-style study program of Biblingo developed by Kevin Grasso and his staff. It aims toward speaking and writing Hebrew as well as reading and understanding the Biblical text. These courses were offered in order to ensure that the student will be prepared to benefit as much as ever possible from the high-level courses of the semester program.

2. 2023 STUDY PROGRAM

Study by Zoom

JCBT had 11 students from 9 countries: Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Germany, and Haiti. Most had MA degrees and a few had Ph.Ds as well. The 5 month-long course was taught in two sections: Three courses were taught during February and March by zoom to the home countries of the students and three further courses were taught after arriving in Israel.
The courses by zoom were Advanced Reading of Hebrew Texts by Luka Manevich and Itai Kagan; Biblical Texts and Semantics by Dr. Reinier de Blois; Living Biblical Hebrew by Eyal Nahum.

Study in Israel

During April, May and June the students were settled into to a lovely log home setting to provide a home away from home that was provided by dedicated volunteers from Finland. Soon the students from 9 different countries and very different cultural backgrounds became a true “family” as they were studying for the same purpose and serving the same Father.

• In April, the students had a comprehensive course on the Historical Geography and Cultural Settings of the land of the Bible. It was very intensive course as it had 18 study tours throughout the land, led by number of guides. The study program had been planned and coordinated by Halvor Ronning and Ronit Maoz, an expert in Biblical agriculture including the nature of the land and its seasons and the development of Biblical feasts as related to the seasons. A whole set of lectures was taught in preparation for the tours, and visiting lecturers gave additional presentations on specialized topics.
• In May, Dr. Lenart de Regt of UBS, a known expert in Discourse Analysis of Biblical Hebrew, flew to Israel to give the course to an eager group of students, some of whom had not studied the subject before.
• In June, Dr. Ernst Wendland, assisted by Dr. Sameh Hanna, taught the challenging course on Biblical Hebrew Poetry. He and Dr. Hanna, a graduate of our semester program, both also came from abroad to offer the course.

3. GRADUATION CEREMONY

The graduation ceremony on June 27 was conducted at the faculty lounge building of the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus. It was a joyous and meaningful event for all. In addition to the students, those in attendance were: Executive Director Bob Carter with his wife Amy; Halvor, as the previous director of JCBT, with Mirja; Reinier de Blois, the Academic Director with his wife Willemijn; Or Nakirekanti as the Director of Operations; Luka Manevitch, the Biblical Hebrew tutor and lecturer; Sirpa Nykanen, the financial secretary and book keeper, as well as the 3 Finnish volunteers – Vuokko, Satu and Tia.
Speeches were given by Halvor, Reinier, guest Yoel Nesson and several students as well. A video was shown by one of the students about the life at the log home and also about the travels in the land. The Director of Special Programs of Rothberg School, Sheli Amir, gave the certificates to the students, while both Bob and Halvor congratulated them.
It was very meaningful event for us as well. These students were the ones whom we and the JCBT staff had followed from the fall of 2022 onwards. We and the office staff got to know the students from reading their applications, then by following their progress in Hebrew, their passing the qualifying Hebrew test, their acceptance to the university, their taking the zoom courses in February and in March, their surviving the visa related problems following the tensions related to traveling – right up to the moment of arrival in Israel in April. We met finally met the students in person at the entry hall of the log home after their arrival from the airport. Now we were witnessing these precious consultants and consultants-in-training as they were graduating from this special JCBT course at the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus. Our hearts were full of joy and gratitude to the Lord and a deep sense of fulfillment. One more group of consultants had graduated from JCBT to serve OT translation projects in different areas of the world.

The students of 2023 at the gate of the Hebrew University with the Bob Carter, the new Executive Director (right) & the new Director of Operations, Or Nakirekanti (left).

C. SUMMER: AUGUST 2023 – from NT to OT consultants (NT2OT)

In August, the Seed Company and JCBT offered the seventh annual NT2OT course for NT consultants. The purpose is to enable NT consultants to become OT consultants. The consultants started studying Living Biblical Hebrew by zoom already in October 2022. They came in August for a full study program of the Land of the Bible along with intensive Living Biblical Hebrew studies by Eyal Nahum. The program is planned, coordinated and taught by Bob Carter and others. The study program had 12 students. Bob and Amy were involved in teaching, leading and participating in the program. The loving home atmosphere was provided by the devoted volunteers from Finland: Vuokko, Satu and Tia.
Now all of the 23 students, from both courses of Spring and Summer, have returned to their home countries. They carry with them a great amount of information and experiences about the land of the Bible and deeper knowledge of Hebrew, which are so important to understand the source language of the OT.

NOTE: very recently, September 1st – 13th

Bob and Amy visited 7 different cities and communities in their demanding tour in Finland. There was also a whole day of sessions in the Wycliffe center, where personnel from Bible translation circles could discuss common issues. There were also presentations in 2 Bible schools. Bob’s Power Point presentation in the congregations was on the importance of the Old Testament for Christians. It emphasized the essential connection between the two testaments as is evident from the hundreds of references from the OT (Hebrew Bible), which are found in the NT. The faithful Finnish supporters of JCBT welcomed the Carters warmly and it was great encouragement for the Carters to get to know the great support there is in Finland for JCBT. The Carters returned to Israel on September, but flew home to USA on September 23. They will return to Israel only in April 2024, Lord willing.

NOTE: very soon, October 13th- 17th, 2023

BT2023 is the conference for Bible translators sponsored once every two years by the Wycliffe Bible Translators at their campus in Dallas Texas. It will take place now soon from Oct. 13-17. The very important theme of the conference is:

This is the very calling of JCBT. Bob, our Executive Director will be there. There are 475 attending in person at the conference, a central event in Bible translation circles. If you attend, go and find the JCBT display table and try to meet Bob. Any interested readers can sign up to attend the sessions by zoom. info@btconterence.org

D. FALL: NOVEMBER: PROVERBS – “one book at a time”, by zoom

This three-week course is taught by Murray Salisbury, an expert on the book of Proverbs. The course is offered by zoom. It requires medium level of Hebrew for acceptance.
Cost: only $350. Sign up at www.bibletranslators.org.
Correspond with office@bibletranslators.org. Apply Now

E. 2024 SPRING SEMESTER STUDY PROGRAM

JCBT is again offering the excellent five-month course for consultants and consultants-in-training. There is a real need for qualified consultants who have a high-level of understanding of the Biblical text and its context which JCBT provides. www.bibletranslators.org. Scholarships are available. Apply Now

1. The spring semester program is best described by the Academic Director of JCBT, Dr. Reinier de Blois, of the NIDA Institute for Biblical scholarship.“For almost 30 years the Jerusalem Center for Bible Translators has been providing an excellent training program for translators, consultants and consultants-in-training. This program has, from its inception, received the blessing of the Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University and is fully accredited. The training is provided by renowned scholars and seasoned translation consultants and is therefore guaranteed to provide the students with those competencies that will enable them to bring excellence to Bible translation projects around the globe.Our course is aimed at students who already have an intermediate level of Biblical Hebrew. The course then helps them to reach an advanced level of expertise through training in areas such as the historical geography of Israel, advanced reading, discourse structure, Hebrew poetry, lexical semantics, and textual criticism. In addition, the students will have the opportunity to visit many important Biblical locations, accompanied by knowledgeable guides. We will also invite erudite scholars to deliver lectures on various relevant topics.The first 8-10 weeks of training will take place online. The last three months will take place in the Holy Land, where the students will be made to feel at home in JCBT’s log house. There they will not only find a “home away from home”, but also have access to a spacious classroom and a well-stocked library.In order to ensure that the students have the level of expertise that will be needed to fully benefit from the teaching, they will be tutored by our experts before the course begins, after which they will have to pass an entrance examination.” [end of quote]
2. Special advantage for applicants of 2024 – Dr. Luka ManevichA new feature of the JCBT program is the service of JCBT lecturer, Luka Manevich who was formerly teacher of Biblical Hebrew at Moscow University. He is a new immigrant who now provides free personal tutorials in Biblical Hebrew Grammar to all potential candidates. This service is offered upon acceptance to the program. It is meant to ensure a good level in Biblical Hebrew for the student to be able to benefit fully from the high-level courses that are taught in the five and half month program by experts in their fields. JCBT is offering this private tutorial experience to facilitate the ease and thoroughness of using the Bible Online Learner software program which is being developed and adapted especially for  Bible translators who are learning Biblical Hebrew.

The platform has a number of significant advantages. It is offered free for JCBT 2024 applicants.

1. The platform is used by number of European secular universities as well as Christian religious institutions. A large number of exercises, quizzes, tests and exams have been created. It is used in this tutored Hebrew preparatory course.
2. This program allows for dynamic changing of exercises, quizzes, and tests  depending on the level and skills of a specific student. This allows for   individual approach in preparing applicants for the main study program of spring semester JCBT.
3. All examples and exercises taken for the program are from the actual Old Testament texts and are not artificially invented. This is important for training translators and consultants who will be working exclusively with Old Testament texts.
4. The platform allows thorough tracking of personal progress and the dynamics of the academic performance of each individual student.

PART A: BY ZOOM – Mid-January – March

1. Intensive Living Biblical Hebrew January 16-26
2. Advanced Reading of Biblical Hebrew Texts and Textual Criticism (3 cr.)
   January 30 – February 23 (with introductory meeting January 29)
3. Living Biblical Hebrew (6 cr.) January 29 – March 21 concurrently with courses 2 and 4 (and a third month in Israel in April)
4. Semantics of Biblical Hebrew (3 cr.) – February 26 – March 22

PART B: IN ISRAEL – April – June (Arrival on 29 March)

1. Continued – Living Biblical Hebrew (6 cr.) 3 April – 5 May, concurrently with the first month of course 5
2. Historical Geography and Cultural Backgrounds of the Land of the Bible (6 cr.) 30 March – 26 May, concurrently with course 3 in April and course 6 in May. (Classroom lectures + 18 days of field trips)
3. Discourse Analysis of Biblical Hebrew (3 cr.) 4-24 May, weekends concurrently with course 5
4. Biblical Hebrew Poetry (4 cr.) 27 May – 26 June

1. Graduation at Hebrew University of Jerusalem 27 June
   Departure 28-29 June 

F. PRAISES

• We praise the Lord for the 27 years of service in which we had the privilege, by the Grace of God, to establish, develop and build the Home for Bible Translators, now Jerusalem Center for Bible translators, JCBT. It has flourished and developed and gained a name for itself by the coworkers of a dedicated staff combined with expert lecturers along with great number of committed volunteers – all of whom who shared the vision.
  JCBT has been maintained by the prayers of thousands of friends around the world who have understood the vision of JCBT to train translators and consultants to provide faithful translations of the Word of God to new nations.
• We praise the Lord for the study programs of the last three years, 2021, 2022, 2023, during which JCBT has been focusing on training consultants and consultants-in-training in a program tailored for them. The combination of studies of the text, Hebrew, together with its context of the land, Israel, is the key for highest quality of a new translation.
• We praise the Lord for allowing JCBT to provide a home away from home for the over 220 students who have lived and studied at HBT/JCBT. The first home was located in Mevasseret (1995 -2010) and then in the Log home, in Yad HaShmonah (2010-2023). Both of the properties were an amazing gift of love, one from USA, the other by the Finnish friends of the work together with scores of skillful volunteer builders from Finland. The “Home” provides a study environment in the loving fellowship of a family of students, staff and volunteers.

PRAYERS

• Let us pray that the service of JCBT will continue to maintain the excellency of the study program for consultants in co-operation with the Hebrew University.
• Let us pray that JCBT will continue to provide a home-away-from-home for consultants from around the world, as they are served by committed volunteers who identify with the vision of JCBT

– With deepest thanks to the LORD for His faithfulness for years upon years.
– With deep gratitude for you dear friends who have joined the work of JCBT in enabling “His deeds to be known among the peoples … in all the earth!”

Halvor & Mirja Ronning, Co-founders
Halvor.ronning@gmail.com
Mirja.ronning@gmail.com