Written by Paul J Bucknell on April, 02, 2025
Prayer Letter #404

Twinning!

Dear Prayer Partners,

My wife, Linda, wondered what I meant when I said, “I’m twinning.”

“What’s twinning?” I was in the middle of a project to find the script for Hindi and for Bengali using Google Translate. I took a picture of each word and then tried to match them with the correct words in another program. Unfortunately, the AI slide translator index did not always provide English terms! So I needed to match them—I called it “twinning.”

As I struggled to find a simple way to explain twinning to my wife, I suddenly remembered how God prepared me, as a young boy, for this ministry many years ago. I used to collect stamps, both American and foreign. Interestingly, I employed the same matching process when determining the country to which a stamp belonged. I would match the image on the stamp with an identifier in the back of the stamp book (see right of the above diagram). I have stamps from China, Pakistan, Switzerland, and Korea displayed above. And this is how I used the “LOOK ALIKE” page 50 - 60 years ago.

Again, I’m sequencing scripts, but now I need to select the correct language when requesting the AI program to translate a slide. I’m now testing/using AI (artificial intelligence) to translate slides. So far, the accuracy into Spanish has been great. After a real live person checked over the AI-translated Spanish slides, I incorporated them into the video (manually) and produced my first three fully translated videos (sample) of Overcoming Anxiety. I even made a BFF Spanish YouTube channel. It will launch soon.

Some might wonder if BFF is able to get money from this. No. I’ve made a decision, in light of the change in educational models with AI and the web to continue to trust God with the matter. God called and will provide, as He has for these 25 years. 

A new motto for BFF: Edification before monetization

Update on Myanmar’s 7.7 earthquake. In past STM trips, I’ve gone through and near Mandalay several times, traveling to a nearby northern mountain. The city is devastated. Because of civil war, the people were already poor and suffering greatly. If you want to give to BFF Love fund, we will send it directly to the ministry there which I have regular contact; they will deliver food and water to the needy people. Do it soon, however. (Or, let me know.)

Praise

• Praise the Lord! The BFF bookstore is finally stocked with our newest book: An Examination of Our Theological Conclusions.
• Thank the Lord that I could start one of many newly planned BFF YouTube foreign video channels.
• Thank the Lord for assisting me in getting corrected translated slides. 
• Paul and Linda are again enjoying a newly planted garden. 

Pray

• Pray for the many Burmese people who are suffering due to the earthquake. May God powerfully bring a revival during this time, as He did in Nepal.
• Pray as the last three videos of The Making of a Godly Leader are released over this pre-Easter season as well as the release of many other series.
• We need a worldwide revival where God breaks the church’s self-sufficiency. 
• I am still seeking an international team to oversee the hoped-for YouTube channels. If you know someone who can check written slides in a language where you want biblical Christian resources, please connect us!
• Pray for my brother in the hospital.