WHO AM I
Hello! My name is Amy Formella, and I am on currently working as a translation advisor for the Revised New Bible translation project and the Full Themne Bible translation project. I arrived in Sierra Leone nearing the end of May 2017. My first year mostly consisted of orientation and language learning, as well as occasionally observing the translation work and helping with small things here and there. Around May 2018 I began working in the translation office full time.
When I was a senior in high school, I met with an admissions counselor at Concordia University Wisconsin to choose my schedule, which had to change since I no longer wanted to be a doctor. I told him that the missions and Biblical languages majors looked rather interesting. With this information, he introduced me to my future advisor and missions professor, Dr. Feiertag. He told me about Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT), and the work they do all over the world. Once I learned about Bible translation, I was sold, knowing what God was leading me to do.
​
As I continued in my education I learned more about missions, Bible translation, and LBT. I went on service and vision trips to New Orleans, Peru, Botswana, and Slovakia. I fell in love with the mission of working with people to translate the Bible into people's heart language. At linguistics school, I learned even more about the challenges of translating a text from one culture and language to another. Fortunately, my Mende colleagues are the ones responsible for translating the text into Mende. I assist the process by training, proofreading, and assisting with difficult passages that need additional help from Hebrew Bibles and commentaries.
