First, I want to give this book as my 60th birthday gift to my Lord Jesus Christ who has made me into what I am this day. He has taken me from the streets of St. Thomas and has firmly planted my feet on The Solid Rock as a servant and disciple of His great love, grace and mercy.
Second, I want to give thanks to a very special man, Rev. Don Fitchett, who took me off the streets and, through the Holy Spirit, breathed hope and encouragement into my heart 43 years ago.
Third, I also want to dedicate this book to two very instrumental people in my life - Dr. Chuck and Sue Nichols - who have been used of the Lord to encourage me to never give up.
Fourthly, there have been many others that have helped in this project and I want to say thanks to them also: To Art and Pam Cooper from the linguistic department at Payap University in Chaing Mai, Thailand. They took this wandering man with a Kachin dictionary off the streets and made it possible through training, to learn one key program known as FLEx. (FLEx is a program used for producing dictionaries in various languages). To Tim Armstrong from SIL in Thailand, where he helped set up and introduced me to two more programs called Paratex and WeSay. With all of their patience and much help, this is now the foundation stone for a mini dictionary, concordance and theological
dictionary, now finished in English; it also will soon become a major Bible tool for the people of
Myanmar when translated into both the Kachin and Burmese languages. Another special thanks need to be given to Hkaw Win’s Mom, Hkawn Lum Maran, and for my wife Hkaw Win, who spent many hours proof-reading the material in the Kachin and Burmese languages. They have all faithfully walked with me and encouraged me to keep moving forward on this project over the last four years.
Fifthly, I want to give special thanks to Pastor Wes McLeod and to Lorn Bergstresser for their many hours of labour over the last year, for their proof-reading and for their many recommendations which assisted in making this a helpful and usable tool for the disciples of Christ Jesus. Finally, to all of my fellow disciples who are serving throughout the world, and especially to my Kachin family, we give you this tool with the hope that it may assist you in helping others to be drawn closer to the heart of our triune God. Thanks for making this dream a reality for the people who serve Christ in Asia.
Fellow servant in Jesus Christ,
Jimmer / Rev. Dr. James Paul Humphries / Sara Kaba Rev. Dr. Lahtaw, Zau Sam
Bridge Builder and Ambassador of Jesus Christ.