Language Tech Tiles
By Ross Cruickshank
As I was reflecting on the image of the mission mosaic—the diverse people, roles, and contexts that make up God’s global mission—another thought came to mind. The mosaic we see today in 2025 is made up of very different tiles, tiles that didn’t exist 10, 20, 100, or even 1000 years ago. Likewise, only God knows what new tiles will make up his mosaic in the future.
I work in a digital technology role. In 2025, digital tools are integrated into almost every part of daily life—and increasingly so, including economically poor countries. This means there is a wide variety of roles within God’s mission that depend on technology.
At SIL Global, for example, over 100 people serve in the Language Technology Group. Many of the newest roles explore how AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be used to assist in God’s mission.
My own role is as a software developer for a keyboard manager called Keyman. Our team is spread across the globe: Australia, Cambodia, Germany, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
What Is Keyman?
Most of you reading this are English speakers using the standard QWERTY keyboard. But imagine if your language uses a set of beautiful characters that can’t be typed on that keyboard. Suddenly, communicating digitally becomes difficult—you can’t easily write, share, or even read Scripture in your own language.
Keyman solves that problem. It provides a pathway for speakers of these languages to design keyboard layouts to type in their own languages. Enabling a language to thrive in the digital space means that not only can the Bible be entered in the first place—it also enables the language to flourish. It empowers Scripture engagement. Without such tools, minority communities are at a significant disadvantage.
A Typical Day
Each morning, I start by checking instant messages from my teammates to see what has happened while I’ve been asleep. There may be questions to answer, code to review, or user issues to investigate. I then check my emails—some need immediate attention, while others go onto my to-do list.
Next, I visit the community forum we maintain for Keyman and other SIL products. While it is the role of my teammates to focus on responding to forum posts, I keep an eye out for issues that may indicate a bug rather than a user misunderstanding.
We also use a dashboard that allows us to see the state of our coding projects—pull requests and issues (for those familiar with Git). After reviewing any code updates, I move on to the software feature I’m currently developing. This could be a new capability or ensuring Keyman continues to work smoothly with the latest operating systems on laptops and phones.
At the end of my day, I have a video call with my teammates—for some, it’s just the start of their workday. These calls help us share progress, discuss challenges, and stay connected across time zones. We also hold weekly devotion calls where we take turns leading a short reflection from God’s Word.
Joy in Seeing Others Impacted
I’ve had the joy of meeting two people in Brisbane, and others online in Melbourne, who have had to leave their home countries. Together, we designed a keyboard layout for their language. Once it’s published on keyman.com, the keyboard becomes available worldwide and can be downloaded and used in their home country.
Seeing their faces light up when they type in their own language for the first time is a real joy—a humbling experience to have been able to serve God and people in this way.
Keyboards supporting over 2,500 languages are now available. For around 1,000 of these, Keyman is the only way people can type in their language. Our team is one small tile in the mosaic of Bible translation and language development.
Challenges
Many missionaries I know have faced great challenges and can testify to God’s faithfulness throughout. As he promised in Matthew 28:20, he is with us always.
Our team’s challenges are varied—both spiritual and physical. Some team members have moved their whole family to a different country and have all the challenges. We deal with software compatibility issues in an ever-changing digital landscape—updated operating systems, application updates, and limited hardware and personnel to keep up. With recent global economic difficulties, our team has also faced funding shortages, and some members have had to leave the team. A number of team members or their families are also dealing with significant health issues. My wife, Belinda, continues to live with ongoing health effects following her breast cancer treatment.
In our weekly devotions, one of our team members recently shared from Nehemiah 4, especially verse 17, where the builders worked with one hand while holding a weapon in the other. Dangers aside, how inefficient and frustrating would it have been to build the wall this way. Our team does not face the same dangers those builders did, nor the persecution some Christians experience today. Yet, we too have trials, a few of which I just described. As Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Our team member reminded us of Ephesians 6:10-19—putting on the full armour of God.
Unchanging Mission
Although some of the roles in God’s mission mosaic have changed over the centuries, the gospel has not changed. God has not changed, and his mission has not changed. The need for prayer has not changed, nor the need to serve together as the body of Christ. Thank you to all who faithfully pray for God’s kingdom. I hope this glimpse into my work has encouraged you, as we see one of the many ways God is reaching and blessing all nations, just as he promised Abraham all the way back in Genesis 12:3.