digital library

In mid-2010, we at MAF-LT began participating in the Open Library for Local Learning Communities (OL3C) project to create an online library website. The primary goal of the OL3C online library is to facilitate the localization of digital resources into the languages of left-out people groups. See this post for more details about the project.

As the OL3C online library project kicked off in August, 2010, the OL3C Consortium asked us to research the feasibility of such a library and determine how it should be implemented. For the next several months, MAF-LT team members Peter Nye and Elliot Dawson pored over the OL3C Consortium’s requirements for the online library. They soon recommended two changes to the Consortium’s plan.

Mike Holman, Manager of our Digital Resource Team, received this message from ministry partner, Michael M., in Zambia, Africa. It reveals how far simple technology's impact reaches when accurately applied.

Mike,

Thank you very much. I received what you sent to me ...

These things are helping our pastors very well. Our digital library has 320 regular ministers who do use the teachings. We have burnt 410 CD's to give to pastors.

Please do pray for me.

I do have four planned activities to get into new places to establish digital facilities.

In March I will go to the Eastern part of Zambia to meet 150 pastors for three days. We shall be talking about how to use MP3's and CD's. They believe that these materials are important for them.

In May I will go to the western part of Zambia for three days to meet 90 pastors. We shall spend time talking about digital library and also I will take moments to burn them CD's and DVD's. I hope to start a library here and so we are also looking for an external disc like you provided to me. One pastor has agreed to donate a laptop computer. We pray that we can also install 4 desk top computers...

In July I have an invitation to go to the Northern side of Zambia to meet 230 pastors and we shall expose them to the digital library. They will be using computers from a church. So we pray that we shall leave them with enough teachings on videos and audio CD's. The distance is far and I will travel with 4 other pastors.

Two hundred African church planting students will gain access to key Christian literature and study materials through a joint project between MAF-Learning Technologies (MAF-LT) and Africa Inland Mission (AIM) called 'Training in Ministry Outreach' (TIMO).   

TIMO’s goal is to establish churches in largely unchurched regions through a two-year missionary training program that will send teams of 10 students to each village. Training materials are key to the organization’s work. However, getting useful materials in hard-copy format into remote regions of central Africa is costly, cumbersome, and can be dangerous.