This is a short description of the YWAM’s Mali Consultancy Track program. Mali CT is a mentored pilot program created by YWAM’s University of the Nations(UofN) in partnership with Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA) and Wycliffe US, with the goal of helping build capacity for YWAM to participate in the OBT movement.

Mali CT was conceived with the goal of rethinking the concept of consultancy in Bible Translation and the search for a model that would reflect the change of paradigms involving the emergence of the Oral Bible Translation (OBT) movement. The program is designed specifically for graduates of Mali BT - UofN’s Master Degree in Applied Linguistics for Bible Translation of the UofN.

Oral Bible Translation (OBT) is a mother-tongue, speaker-centered approach to Bible translation in which both translation and quality-assurance processes are carried out mainly orally, with the end result being an oral Scripture that is trustworthy, appropriate, intelligible and appealing.

We are embracing consulting as an ongoing process, provided by one or more individuals, who will engage with the team from the beginning of the program, providing mentorship, guidance, resources, and feedback. The idea is to move away from a model in which a single person has the responsibility and assignment to approve an entire translation, checking it only at the end of the process. We want to have several people providing consultancy services according to their experience and, at the same time, give more control to the local community in the whole translation process, including approval. The interactive chart below summarizes YWAM’s emerging approach to OBT.