Technology And Translation
TNT is a two day detailed conference looking at the tools, programs and skills that we are using to advance Bible Translation presented by members of Wycliffe IT departments.
Brian Curnutt
Brian serves as the Wycliffe USA Director of IT Recruiting Ministries in Orlando, FL and works remotely from home in Everett, WA with his wife Heidi, daughter Monet (14) and son Jack (10). Brian ran an insurance agency for 11 years and provided leadership, sales and IT for it and for many of his district agencies. He also ran a small consulting business for about four years, doing programming, testing, hardware, software integration, training and worked as a support technician for three years supporting Peachtree accounting software and testing hacks. Brian feels the best technology in the last five years has been WiFi. In his spare time he and his family are Civil War Reenactors.
Jim Leamer
Jim joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1977 after working several years in industry as an electrical engineer. He was involved in the design of the first notebook computers to be used in the field by Bible translators. Other projects included being part of the team that designed Wycliffe's network, installation of business software, and project manager for Wycliffe's first interactive Explorer CD.
He is currently involved in speaking at colleges and conferences about the use and need of technology in missions. He and his wife Jeanne served for a short time in East Africa. They now live in Atlanta and from there they keep sending money to their two college daughters.
If you would like more information on Jim's presentations, visit our IT Speakers' page.
Dan Neville
Dan and Mary joined Wycliffe in 1993. Though trained as a pilot/mechanic, their first assignment was to fill a critical need for maintenance supervisor at a Wycliffe center in the Philippines. After serving overseas in both maintenance and administrative roles, they moved back to the states in 2003. Working from Pennsylvania, Dan began a job as the IT support technician for a regional Wycliffe office. In addition to supporting the local office, Dan also covered the Wycliffe USA computer helpdesk one day a week. When the regional offices closed, Dan began working as an IT Recruiter for Wycliffe USA. They have five children, two boys and three girls. The last two were born in Manila. Dan thinks that one of the best technologies developed is the ability to remotely control a clients computer.
Chris Sheeran
After graduating from college with a degree in geological engineering, Chris moved to Spokane, WA where he met his future wife, Jeanette, and worked as a geologist and mining engineer. Though he enjoyed the work, God planted a desire within him to do something more significant with his life, and this led him to initially make a short-term "go and see" commitment with Wycliffe to help with computers. This led him to Central America where he served for 7 years as the computer department manager and much enjoyed using his computer skills to help in the Bible translation effort. While in Central America, Chris and Jeanette found the significance they had been lacking in their lives prior to Wycliffe and there made the decision to continue to serve in missions. After their time in Central America, Chris and Jeanette relocated to the JAARS Center in North Carolina where Chris became the International Email manager and he and a team of fellow IT missionaries put together Wycliffe's International Email hub. After serving there for 12 years, they moved back to their home area to help with recruiting others to come use what God has given them to serve Him in missions. Chris and Jeanette have 2 children who are now 20-something. They grew up on the mission field, and loved it!