When you think of Orlando, what do you imagine? Disney world, Sea world, Kennedy Space Centre, Universal Studios, hurricanes, palm shaded beaches with tourists lounging about? Just down the road from all these wonderful attractions is the main Wycliffe centre for the USA.

It is a wonderful place and it has the Wordspring Discovery Centre where you can easily spend half a day interacting with the exhibitions. Experience an African mud hut, check out the audio visuals on particular Bible translations, browse in the shop, eat in the café and join the excited school and tour groups passing through. However, if you don’t have the big bucks to get over to the Orlando base, you can experience some of it through use of the internet.

This is where Cathy Lai from Christchurch, (originally from Taiwan) provided a great service for all of us. She spent one year at Orlando, designing the new Wycliffe USA website – one of the largest sites in the Wycliffe world. Her work there meant she had a hand in helping to mobilize and interest people in the task of Bible Translation. The website is full of stories, general information, videos, catalogues of books and magazines as well as important contact details. Because of her work on the website, she got to visit all the different departments in Wycliffe Orlando, meeting fascinating people and glimpsing how they all worked together.

She was delighted that her years of “secular” computing work gave her the experience and knowledge she needed for her work. She realised that she could apply these skills directly to help in mission work. She could not have asked for a better short term opportunity and really enjoyed her work there. By the way, how did Cathy enjoy all the other attractions in Orlando? She tells me she didn’t see any of them! Maybe next time! You can visit the website at:www.wycliffe.org