About

Michael A. Colburn

The last 50 years of my adult life have focused on assisting local community project teams working to translate the Holy Scriptures and/or the liturgical texts into their indigenous language.

I did this full-time for 13 years, part-time for 25 years, then again full-time for 12 years.

The Ogea New Testament was published 2013.

I became an Orthodox Christian in 2008.

My last 12 years of full-time work (with my wife Lisa) has focused on East Africa.

Biography

My father was an American and my mother English. I was born in England on an RAF Air Force Based used by the US Air Force, and raised on or near US Air Force Bases thereafter in Texas, Oklahoma, Japan, Missisippi, South Carolina (2x), Tennessee, France, England (2nd time), Colorado, Illnois, and back to Colorado.

By the time I was 16, we had moved 32 times.

As an adult, I have lived in Greece, Papua New Guinea, and the USA.

Education

  • BA, Biblical Studies, Rockmont College (now Colorado Christian University), 1975
  • MA, Linguistics, UT Arlington, 1982
  • MCIS, Software Engineering, University of Denver, 1992
  • Doctor of Computer Science (Interdisciplinary thesis in Applied AI), Colorado Technical University, 2000.
  • PhD, Theology, Aristotle Univeristy of Thessloniki, 2021.

Academic and Research Work

  • Summer Institute of Linguistics 1975-1988, living in Papua New Guinea 1977-1981 and 1982-1986 with the Ogea people.
  • Assistant Professor Computer Information Systems 2000-2001, Colorado Christian University, full-time.
  • Senior Researcher in AI, JD Edwards (now Oracle) the summer and fall of 2001 until soon after the 9/11 attack

Not-For-Profit

  • Founder and President of The Friends of the Ogea
  • Expat part-time member of the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association 1992-2013
  • Pro-bono consultant and mission specialist in linguistics and translation, the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), 2011-2012 part-time, 2013-2025 full-time.

US Government Work (Accounting, Finance, Payroll, HR)

As a civilian federal employee…

  • Air Reserve Personnel Center, Lowry AFB, Aurora, CO, 1988
  • Air Force Accounting and Finance Center, Lowry AFB, Aurora, CO, 1988-1991
  • Defence Finance and Accounting Service, Lowry AFB, Aurora, CO, 1991-1992
  • US Department of the Interior Business Center (formerly called the National Business Center), 1992-2000, 2001-2013.

Retired as a GS-15 Division Chief and Program Manager in 2013.

Publications

Certifications

Awards