I’ve got Good News and more Good News

Happy Monday/pandemic day 398. Curfew extended through May 16 = still counting. 

This post is dedicated to one of my newer projects: Good News magazine, since I've spent more time on it in the past week than I have since agreeing to help before Christmas. Have you heard of or read it? I had seen it around, like back when I lived in El Paso, but never picked up an issue. (This was shocking to my colleagues, given that it's the "most loved Bible tool in LAC," according to our Regional Director.)

It all started with former Lutheran Hour speaker Rev. Wallace Schulz. God had laid an interest in Russia on his heart, and, in 1992, he was sent to Moscow to explore doing radio outreach. He returned a year later, convinced of the need for not only a radio program but a print publication. Rev. Schulz and his wife Kathy, aided by a Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation grant, sacrificially took it upon themselves to launch Good News; the first issue went to press in 1995. As demand for additional languages - first Ukranian, then others - increased, the operation expanded to 19 total. Twenty-six years later, and two hands' worth of staff members fewer, the Schulzes are still going strong. 

Yes, a staff of 12 in the magazine's heyday is down to one, plus two part-timers, so you can see why they needed more hands. If it's not obvious, I'm helping with the Spanish edition. Using the set-up below (I quickly determined a 2nd monitor was 100% necessary), I copy and paste translated text into InDesign, incorporate editorial corrections, and, as a final step before each issue goes to print, validate the line break hyphenation. 

I think I was mostly asked because of my language ability and because I tend to be detail-oriented, not because this has much of anything to do with even an expanded definition of volunteer coordination. It's going...yeah. I can't say I'm over-the-moon excited about this one (yet). The whole process is still somewhat mysterious to me, and InDesign and I do not get along. I wrestle with it for a max of five hours per week, though, and if it really benefits the number of people I'm told it does, well, I guess I'm happy I can play some small role. 

The next issue, "Suffering," is slated to be released Thursday via VDMA.

Until next time, blessings!