Christi is an alum of CanIL and has been working in recruitment and administration with a translation and literacy organization since 2013. She loves walking alongside people as they explore how to use their gifts and passions. Previously, Christi also worked as the coordinator for an Adult Education and Literacy program in central Missouri and an English as a Second Language instructor. Christi has a BA in Intercultural Studies from Crossroads College in Rochester, Minnesota, and a Masters in Applied Linguistics & Exegesis through Trinity Western University.
Christi, her husband Craig, and their two children split time between the US and Eurasia. They enjoy travel, hiking, and board games.
Joost moved between Europe, the Caribbean and North America for the first two decades of his life. He met his wife in graduate school in the U.S. and together they have two children. Over the years Joost has worked as a translator in Tidier, Indonesia as well as consulted in the development of multilingual education in over 35 different languages. When not active in the field of multilingual education and translation, Joost served as Academic Dean at Taylor University College and Seminary as well as a consultant to the Asia Development Bank. Joost enjoys teaching at all levels, whether this is among preliterate peoples in the most remote parts of Indonesia or as an associate professor in North America. Joost gets bored easily and has bounced around different academic fields, publishing articles in the field of agricultural education, ethnography, linguistics, missions and multilingual education. His latest interest is competency-based education and understanding the theology of the love of God.
Interesting facts: Joost enjoys scuba diving, has worked with a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was nominated for Indonesia’s top anthropology award, and his research motivated Papua, Indonesia to change its language policy.
Ph.D., Education, University of Nebraska – Lincoln (1990)
M.A., Wheaton Graduate School, Illinois, 1987
B.Th. Prairie Bible College, Alberta, 1984
Indonesian Language – Universitas Indonesia, 1992-93
Graduate Linguistic Study – University of North Dakota, 1991
Audited applied linguistic classes at Center for Applied Linguistics/University of Texas at Arlington 1992
Certified English as a Second Language Instructor, 1990
Certified English Tutor Trainer 1989
Developing Christian Social Ministries Introduction to Anthropology
Monotheistic Religions Introduction to Chrstian Missions
Eastern Religions Research Methods
Applied Anthropology New Religious Movements
Applied Linguistic I: Morphology and Phonology Current Issues and Trends in Literacy
Culture and Language Learning The Urban Church
Understanding Islam Intercultural Communication
History of Mission Intercultural Adjustments
Mission Study Tour to Israel Intercultural Internship
Introduction to Sociolinguistics Principles of Literacy
Intercultural Competence for Ministry Introduction to TESL
Teaching English Phonology and Intonation Program Development
2014-2019. Multilingual Education Consultant to the Asia Development Bank and the Indonesian Department of Education and Culture
2002-2014. Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies, Taylor University College and Seminary
1996-2002. SIL International: Indonesia Literacy Coordinator
1995-1996. Associate Professor Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada
1993-1995. Lecturer and Researcher, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Central Java, Indonesia
1991-1993. SIL International Literacy Consultant Indonesia
1988-1991: Research Assistant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1986-1988: Associate Pastor for Youth and Singles, Bethany Baptist Church, Lincoln, NE
International Honor Society (Phi Beta Delta – charter member)
Adult Education Honor Society (Omega Tau Theta)
Nominated by the Province of Papua for Indonesia’s annual Anthropologist Award (2016)
Nominated by the Indonesian Government as Indonesia’s candidate for the UNESCO International Reading Award (2001&2002)
Willis Moreland Doctoral Research Fellowship, University of Nebraska, 1990
Eunice-Barney Gyger Doctoral Fellowship, University of Nebraska 1989
Dr. David C. Harding, Basilius Bengoteku, Muhammad Yusuf, Dr. Joost Pikkert, Dr. Susan Malone, Veni Setiawati, Rachfri Kirihio. Komunitas Adat Berbicara (Panduan untuk Fasilitator). Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership, 2016
Dr. David C. Harding, Basilius Bengoteku, Muhammad Yusuf, Dr. Joost Pikkert, Heather Meyers, Jim Meyers, Mariko, Veni Setiawati, Jeremy Fakdawer. Pedoman Pelaksanaan Pembinaan Abjad Bahasa Ibu. Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership, 2016
Dr. David C. Harding, Basilius Bengoteku, Muhammad Yusuf, Dr. Joost Pikkert, Dr. Susan Malone, Veni Setiawati, Rachfri Kirihio, Jeremy Fakdawer. Pengembangan Bahan Bacaaan Bertahap Bagi Program Pendidikan Berbasis Bahasa Ibu. Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership, 2015
Dr. David C. Harding, Basilius Bengoteku, Muhammad Yusuf , Dr. Joost Pikkert, Veni Setiawati, George Sunarjo, Jackqualine Menanti, Augustina Savlince Sawi. Studi Perencanaan Strategis Percepatan Pendidikan Dasar di Pedesaan dan Daerah Terpencil di Tanah Papua, 2014. Program Kemitraan untuk Pengembangan Kapasitas dan Analisis Pendidikan (ACDP). 2014
Joost Pikkert, Educational Planning for Isolated Papuan Language Communities. ACDP & Asian Development Bank 2013, July 2013
Joost Pikkert, Jacqualine Menanti, Novi Matulessy. Kolese Pendidikan Guru Language Curriculum Review, ACDP & Asian Development Bank, 2013
Joost Pikkert, Jacqualine Menanti, Antoma Margaretha Christina Yumbri, Cheryl Pikkert. SWOT Analyses of Papuan Educational NGOs. ACDP & Asian Development Bank 2013
Joost Pikkert, Jacqualine Menanti, Augustina Savlince Sawi. Papuan Languages, Language Vitality and School Mapping, ACDP & Asian Development Bank, 2013
The maps listed below were created by the following team: Joost Pikkert, Jacqualine Menanti, Augustina Savlince Sawi, Novi Matulessy in 2013:
Joost J.J. Pikkert. “Pro-Poor Irrigation Options for Farmers in Eastern Lombok: An Ethnographic Case Study” in Water Management in Lombok, Indonesia: Challenges and Solutions; eds. John Klock and Taslim Sjah, Mataram: Mataram University Press, 2007.
Pikkert, Joost, “Evaluation and Improvement” eds. Richard M. Foster & Dan E. Husmann in Leadership Development Education in Agricultural Education. Department of Agriculture Education Publication through a Nebraska Department of Education funded contract, 1990.
Pikkert Joost, “Developing Action Plans” eds. Richard M. Foster & Dan E. Husmann in Leadership Development Education in Agriculture Education. Department of Education Publication through a Nebraska Department of Education funded contract. 1990.
Pikkert, Joost J.J. and Foster Leslie “Critical Thinking Skills among Indonesian English Students” , Regional English Language Centre Journal. Dec. 1996.
Pikkert Joost, J.J. Penalaran dan Masalah-masalah kebudayaan: Sebuah Studi Kasus Di Indonesia. (Critical Thinking and the Problems of Culture: An Indonesian Case Study) Kritis: no. 2. Okt-Des. 1996.
Pikkert J.J. and Pikkert Cheryl M. “A First Look at Tidore Phonology” NUSA: Linguistic Studies Of Indonesian and Other Languages of Indonesia. Vol. 38, 1995.
Pikkert J. and Foster, M., “Perceptions of Agriculture College Faculty Regarding Integration of Higher level Thinking Skills in the Curriculum” NACTA Summer, 1991
Pikkert J.J. Joost, A Case Study Approach to Adult Learners and Philosophies of Education. Dissertation for Ph.D. degree, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1991
Pikkert Joost “Schema Theory, Reading, Shell Books and Curriculum Development, Notes on Literacy. Vol. 19:3, July 1993.
Pikkert Joost. A Socio-historical Philosophy of Education” In Notes on Literacy, Vol. 18:2 April 1992.
Pikkert Joost. “A case Study Approach to Adult Learners and Philosophy of Education.” Notes on Literacy, Vol. 18:2 April 1992.
Pikkert J “Teaching Students to Think,” Christian Educators Journal. Vol. 31 No. 3 Feb. 1992.
Children’s Multilingual Education Curriculum – Worked in different capacities (author, coauthor, editor, illustrator and compiler) to develop a curriculum of 60 children’s books for Papua’s mother tongue based multilingual education series. Series was developed under the auspices of the Papua Department of Education and Culture and the Asian Development Bank. Materials covered preschool, kindergarten, and first grade with topics in reading, writing, mathematics and Indonesia as A Second Language.
Coauthor of Literacy Primers in Indigenous Languages of Indonesia: 37 titles available upon request
Functional Literacy Curriculum: 14 titles available upon request
Editor: Joost Pikkert. Kunci Kedua: Literasi (Jakarta: Kartidaya, 1994).
Joost Pikkert. Pendidikan Multi-Bahasa Berbasis Bahasa Ibu. Analytical and Capacity Development Program, Jayapura, May, 2017
Joost Pikkert, Rachfri Kirihio, Telma Huka. Pendidikan MultiBahasa Berbasis Bahasa Ibu (A series of presentations across the province of Papua on training government administrators in multilingual education in 2016)
Joost Pikkert. Multilingual Education in Papua: Research for the Analytical and Capacity Development Program, Jakarta, 2015
Joost J.J. Pikkert. Rekomendasi dari Riset di Papua dan Negara-negara di Dunia tentang Pendidikan Daerah Pedesaan dan Terpencil. Lokakarya Perencanaan dan Pelaksanaan Program Pendidikan Multi Bahasa Berbasis Bahasa Ibu. (Presented in Jayapura, Nabire and Wamena), 2015
Joost J.J. Pikkert. Pendidikan di Daerah Pedesaan dan Terpencil di Papua: Menjejaki Tantangan dan Jawaban di Papua Lokakarya Perencanaan dan Pelaksanaan Program Pendidikan Multi Bahasa Berbasis Bahasa Ibu. (Presented in Jayapura, Nabire and Wamena), 2015
Joost Pikkert 2013. A Papuan Educational Portrait. Papuan Educational Working Group, Jayapura , Indonesia
Joost Pikkert 2013. Language Development and Educational Planning in Papua. Persiapan Implementasi Studi Perencanaan Strategis Pembangunan Pendidikan di Wilaya Pedesaan dan Terpencil di Papua. Jayapura, Indonesia
Pikkert Joost J.J. Adult Literacy Development for Minority Languages, Sustainable Development Training Conference, Hyderbad, India Feb. 2005
Pikkert Joost J.J., Major Questions in Education and Training, Indonesian Training Consultation. Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Jan. 2001.
Pikkert Joost J.J. Indonesia: The Land of Limitless Literacy Labor Asia Area Literacy Conference. Chiang Mai, Thailand. May, 2000
Pikkert Joost J.J., User Friendly Baseline Studies, Asia Area Literacy Conference. Chiang Mai, Thailand. May, 2000
Pikkert Joost J.J. Lobbying at the National and Local Level, Asia Area Literacy Conference. Chiang Mai, Thailand. May, 2000
Pikkert Joost J.J. Developing Minority Language Education Programs: An Experimental model from Indonesia. Fourth International Conference on Language and Development, Oct. 14, 1999. Hanoi, Vietnam.
Pikkert Joost J.J. “Critical Thinking and Cultural Concerns: An Indonesian Case Study.” Asian Reading Congress, 1995, Singapore
Pikkert Joost J.J. “Shell Books: Creating Libraries for Minority Languages.” Asian Reading Congress 1995, Singapore.
Pikkert J. & Foster M. and McCaslin M. “A Comparison of International Literacy Among Elementary, Junior High and Senior High Classrooms.” National Agricultural Education Research Meeting, Los Angeles, 1991.
Pikkert Joost J.J. and Foster Richard, “Critical Thinking and Decision Making,” NuPage Teaching Effectiveness Symposium, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 1990.
Ruth became a member of Wycliffe in 1974 (former name: Ruth Spielmann), and starting in 1979 lived with her family for 11 years in the Algonquin village of Pikogan in north-west Quebec. She worked with Algonquin translators there, coordinating a translation of the New Testament into the Algonquin language. The Algonquin New Testament was published by the Canadian Bible Society in 1998. In 2000 she was invited to work part-time in the Translations Department of the Canadian Bible Society, while continuing responsibilities part-time with SIL. From 2007-2016, she worked full time for the Canadian Bible Society, consulting with Bible translation teams working in Canadian First Nations languages, and editing text for publication.
Bruce Wiebe began in computing science and math but came to realize there was a place for academic skills in language development and Bible translation work. After volunteering at CanIL in various roles, he (and his wife Raewyn) joined Wycliffe Bible Translators. He has taught courses in alphabet-making and dictionary making and worked on developing writing systems for languages in Nigeria, Cameroon, and most recently in Mexico.
As Research Officer for CanIL, Bruce's professional goal is to encourage best practices and quality assurance in language development projects with a particular interest in projects with Bible translation.
Education
Professional experience
2019-present. Research Officer, Canada Institute of Linguistics
2019(-2021). Linguistics Consultant (in training), SIL Mexico.
2012-2017. Linguistics Consultant (in training), SIL Nigeria.
2012-2015. Linguistics Specialist, SIL Cameroon.
1998-2010. Instructor (phonology, lexicography), Canada Institute of Linguistics.
Matthew recently graduated from CanIL with a Masters of Arts in Linguistics and Translation, and now has the privilege of working in recruitment, sharing with others about the Bible Translation movement and talking about how cool linguistics is. His wife Kylie also works at CanIL (in Admissions), and the two of them plan to head overseas in a couple of years to serve in the Bible Translation movement.
In his spare time, Matthew enjoys reading fiction (favorite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and G.K. Chesterton), playing strategy games, and going for walks.
Want to find out how to get Matthew to YOUR school or venue? Contact him at connect@canil.ca.
Carol is a lifelong lover of language and languages. She loves to reach across the barriers of language and culture to connect with people, and that has served her well in her many years working with Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL International. Early on in her career, she did linguistic field work in rural Mexico and in Cameroon, but most of Carol's career has been as a consultant and trainer in the area of Language and Culture Learning. Carol has taught in SIL training programs in the US, the UK, in Canada and in Thailand and has facilitated workshops in Thailand, Indonesia, Mozambique, Hungary and Albania, among other places. She also teaches online courses for language coaches from many different mission organizations through Wheaton College’s Institute for Cross-cultural training. Along with teaching LACA (Language and Culture Acquisition) at CanIL, Carol also regularly assists teaching similar courses at the Graduate Institute for Applied Linguistics, now part of Dallas International University, in Dallas Texas, USA.
Carol's interests include making quilts, knitting socks, gardening, reading mysteries, singing in the church choir, cooking interesting food from different countries and, especially, sharing it with friends.
Language and Culture Acquisition (LING 470, LING 570, LIN 570)
Lezlie and her husband Sean have been members of Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL since 1995. They are involved in a Bible translation project in Africa to an unreached people group and have four children. They love being part of the CanIL community and having the opportunity to work with eager young people as they prepare for the roles God may have for them in Bible translation and minority language development.
Lezlie and Sean’s passion is to see God’s Word available to every people group in an understandable and accessible form. Lezlie says, “I am thankful for this opportunity to serve at CanIL where I can help prepare future cross cultural workers for their roles in the wonderful work of Bible translation around the world.”
Interesting fact: Both Lezlie’s husband Sean and his twin sister Bonnie married Parisians, but neither of the twin’s spouses grew up speaking French or even living in Europe. Lezlie grew up in Paris, Texas (second largest Paris in the world…and yes, it too has an Eiffel Tower…google it!) and Bonnie’s husband is from Paris, Ontario.
Education
1995. M.A., Linguistics, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas.
1992. B.A., Anthropology and Sociology, Davidson College, North Carolina.
Teaches
LING 4/581 Anthropological Linguistics: Ethnography
James and his wife, Lois, joined Wycliffe and began a New Testament translation in 1995 among the Wuvulu people of Papua New Guinea (PNG). In parallel with the translation work, James started vernacular schools, and conducted workshops on orthography, grammar, lexicography, and literacy. The translation team dedicated the Wuvulu New Testament in 2005, with Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare in attendance as the emcee! After completing the New Testament, James taught linguistics at the University of Hawai‘i (Mānoa) while working on his Ph.D. James and Lois are presently mentoring Wuvulu Old Testament translators remotely, utilizing a broadband global access satellite system and Paratext software.
James also serves as a linguistics consultant and has worked at SIL PNG with translation teams from a variety of Austronesian and Papuan languages, including Barai, Buhutu, Koluwawa, Mekeo, Miniafia, Siar-Lak, and Ubir.
2015. Ph.D. in Linguistics, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
1999. M.A. in Linguistics, University of Texas, at Arlington.
1983. B.A. in Computer Science, Pacific Lutheran University.
LING 360 Morphosyntax I
LING 555 Historical & Comparative Linguistics
fluent: English, Tok Pisin, Wuvulu; studied: German, Greek, Hebrew.
2015. Wuvulu grammar and vocabulary. Ph.D. dissertation U. of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
2012. The Wuvulu velar obstruent puzzle solved. Working Papers in Linguistics: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Vol. 43(2).
2008. Pidgins and Creoles. Chapter in linguistics reader, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
2005. Wuvulu New Testament, Wycliffe Bible Translators.
2005. Organized phonology data supplement: Wuvulu language. Data papers on PNG Languages (47) 95-108.
1999. Elements of Wuvulu grammar. University of Texas at Arlington, M.A. thesis.
Alistair came to Canada, from Scotland, at age 10. After high school, he attended Bible school and became a missionary in France, thereby realizing an unfulfilled dream of his grandmother. Living in France yielded a deep interest in worldview and linguistics, and eventually a passion for teaching French in Canada. Alistair went on to graduate studies in educational leadership, particularly servant leadership, which he applied to his role as a Christian school teacher and principal.
After 20 years in education, Alistair moved to a business career. During that 15-year period, he developed considerable expertise in U.S. health care reform, and co-authored a book on the topic, for eye doctors. As business development gave way to business consulting, Alistair eventually founded a writing business. It was this business - in fact, a blog post about missions and worldview - that brought Alistair in contact with CanIL. Having, in addition, a passion for road cycling, and charitable sector experience with CanadaHelps, Alistair’s interest in serving as CanIL’s Vice President of Development was a natural fit. Soon after joining our staff at CanIL, with the shared vision and support of our President, Alistair founded what we now know as CanIL Launch.
Alistair married Ruth in 1984.
Ruth works in special education, in the Abbotsford School District, and is also a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor.
Alistair and Ruth have two sons. Alexander is married to Alison. Andrew is married to Victoria.
Alistair’s very first teaching job was at Trinity Western, in 1983, when he taught French Conversation.
Alistair and Ruth currently attend St. Dunstan’s Anglican Church.
1993. Master of Education, (Leadership & Administration), University of Victoria
1983. Bachelor of Education (French Linguistics), Simon Fraser University
1980. International Teams School of Bible & World Missions, Prospect Heights, IL
1976. California Center for Biblical Studies, Culver City, CA
2016-2018. Charity Engagement, CanadaHelps
2013-2016. Consulting & Writing
2001-2013. Sales, Marketing & Business Development
1993-1997. K-8 School Administration & Leadership
1982-2000. K-12 Teaching
1980-1982. Missions, International Teams, Grenoble, France
