HAINAUT, Jackie

Jacqueline Hainaut, better known as Jackie, was born of missionary parents in the Belgian Congo (now DRC) and her parents immigrated to Quebec in 1968. It was while Jackie was at Bethel Bible Institute in Sherbrooke, Que., that she heard a presentation on Wycliffe and Bible translation, and was totally fascinated by it. She joined Wycliffe in 1987 and has been serving in Chad, Africa, since May 1989. 

Jackie served the Kera people in Southern Chad during the first 13 years of her time there. She helped develop a Kera orthography (writing system) and set up a literacy program. She served as an exegete for the Kera New Testament translation, which was completed in June 2002. The literacy program and translation of the Old Testament are in the hands of the Kera people, and both are thriving. Jackie continues to serve them in an advisory capacity, and does some checking of their translations. The Kera New Testament is widely used and is impacting the growth of the Kera Church, both spiritually and numerically.

Since 2003, Jackie has been serving as the translation co-ordinator and consultant for the Chad branch of SIL, Wycliffe’s key partner organization. She ensures that both nationals and expatriates have the needed training and resources for translation and exegesis. She also checks translated Scriptures for accuracy before they are published. Jackie has contributed to the nine New Testaments completed by the Chad branch, with another three nearing completion in the next two years. She also mentors six translation consultants-in-training; in 2018, one of them will become the first Chadian translation consultant.

The Chad branch is presently involved in 18 translation projects, and with only two entity consultants, there is a great need to have more consultants, and to have the means to invite external ones to help in the interim. 

Jackie considers it a great privilege to have a part in bringing the transforming Word of God to a few of the peoples of Chad, and in serving the Chad branch of SIL, as well as local partners and other missions, in this crucial task.
“…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).