1 June, 9-12 am at Orchard Road Presbyterian Church
Kalaam Media: Jim Moore, Dave Fetrow and Paul Johnson
Who are the Mobile Masses? They are people who have mobile phones – which is most people on the planet these days. In a previous event (https://www.wycliffe.sg/post/kalaam-media-feeding-the-mobile-masses), Jim Moore, the Managing Director of Kalaam Media, shared how they bring Scriptures on mobile phones to speakers of minority languages. At this time, Kalaam has launched over 1,300 websites, developed over 4,100 apps, and trained over 200 web managers. All their apps are uploaded to Google Play Store.
This workshop showed how it is actually done. The 12 participants brought along their own computers and phones (Android only). They installed the Scripture App Builder and some associated software, then were led step-by-step through the process of loading Scriptures into the Scripture App Builder, then compiling it into an APK file that could be uploaded to the Google Play Store.
Although Kalaam’s work is with languages that are not widely spoken, often using non-Roman scripts, they used the World English Bible for demonstration purposes. After installing the text, the audio readings were installed and synchronised. Other media such as the Jesus Film, and background photos for sharing verses as images, can also be installed.
Participants enjoyed creating a real mobile app on their computers, then configuring their phones to receive the upload. There was a moment when, after tapping seven times on an obscure setting, Android informed them, “You are now a developer!”
Once installed, the Scripture app was able to find verses, read verses out loud, show Jesus’ words in red, and share verses. The participants felt a sense of wonder that, with the help of the dedicated people on the Kalaam team, even a small people group can receive their own Scripture app that has all the same bells and whistles that big languages like English and Mandarin enjoy. Nearly half of them expressed interest in helping to keep the Scripture apps updated. Perhaps you would like to join them?
Jim Moore shared two ways that volunteers can be involved in the ministry of Kalaam Media:
1. Join a corps of volunteers, each giving 2–3 hours a week (enough to update a single app) so that apps can continue to be downloadable and usable.
2. Travel to a workshop with a Kalaam team to build websites and mobile apps for a group of language projects. These workshops are held near the language projects and usually last 8–10 working days.
If you are interested to help in these ways, please select “Send us a message” via this page on our website: https://www.wycliffe.sg/connect-with-us. Submit your details and state that you wish to serve with Kalaam Media, and we will get back to you.
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