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Category Archives: Ken

Ken’s ministry

Like Drinking from a Fire Hydrant!

Source: crownheights.info

Source: crownheights.info

It’s wonderful when you know your job. You walk into work, confident in your abilities. You’ve already planned out how your day will look, scheduling your meetings, breaks and how to organize your day. If you’re like me, you do the work you dislike first. What is that for you? For me, it’s phone calls. (I’m not sure why, but I hate using the phone.)

But if you have a new job, or new responsibilities in your role, your day doesn’t usually go quite as you planned. In fact, it’s difficult to plan your day because you can feel so uncertain in your work.

This is how Ken’s days are playing out. A month or so ago, Ken’s boss called him. “Ken, I’d like you to consider teaching some different software for our team. With your teaching abilities, we really need you to take on this new role.”

Naturally, Ken was interested because if you know Ken, he loves learning new software, especially software that expedites Bible translation. (For other “Strange, but true” stories click here.) But with one new piece of software came the responsibility to learn two other programs. Each program was needed in order for the next to work.

Ken and George

Ken with George working together.

Earlier this month, Ken (and I) ended up flying to Seattle, Washington so that Ken could have several days to work with his new team lead, George. He got a better idea of his responsibilities and started making plans for his first teaching trip with George.

I asked Ken how his work was going recently.

“I feel like I’m drinking out of a fire hydrant!” It’s a bit overwhelming!

But with perseverance, comes success.

Yesterday, he came in and said, “I got something to work!” Yay! Progress.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. We’ll keep you updated!

 

 

 

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Unseen things

Plan for Day One:

1. Arrive on time in prepared classroom.
2. Teach lessons 1-10 of Paratext (BT software)
3. Get at least 8 hours of sleep at night.
4. Eat healthy food that will give me energy for the day.

What REALLY happened:

1. Had to find a classroom in order to teach. After setting up classroom in dining room with only one electrical outlet, the electricity went off. Had to move to another classroom to re-set up.
2. Only had time to teach lessons 1-7 while students shared two computers.
3. Slept from 11pm-1am. Awake from 1am-3am still suffering from jet lag. Slept until 5:30am when awakened by the predominant religion’s call to prayer.
4. Eating food for breakfast that we usually eat at dinner. Adjusting to all meals being similar to the one before.
5. Coping with 102 degree F weather.

I am struck once again that no matter how much we plan, things do not always go as planned. We are at the mercy of others, a new environment, and all sorts of unseen things.

We have two choices…pout and grouse, or pull ourselves together for another day which could include more of the same.

When tired, hungry and mosquito-bitten, I want to pout and grouse! But then I forget and miss what has already occurred!

  • One student got one-on-one training the day before class so that he could help teach the non-English speakers in the class.
  • All students learned many new skills on this amazing software.
  • The students loved the course including the videos, repetition and even the reading aloud! They are enthusiastic about teaching others tomorrow!
  • Hmm, what other unseen things occurred? Only God knows….

Cultural differences, vastly different food, language barriers, lack of electricity, and weather make for a challenging training environment. Ken has struggled with them, but is attempting to begin each day with the Lord’s presence to not only to persevere, but to thrive in this needy and difficult locale.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us! The course continues for two weeks.

Please pray for skilled minds for each student.

Pray for health and strength for Ken and Jobby, his Indian partner.

Pray concerning the goal of 15 verses being ready to be published at the end of this two weeks! A monumental task!

 

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2014 in Ken, Prayer, Software, Wycliffe Associates

 

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Gallery

African Images

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2014 in Anne, Ken, Wycliffe Associates

 

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Feels like Home

African Communion

African Communion

Our hosts picked us up early to take us to church. The wife handed me a scarf and said, “You may not know this, but woman must cover their heads during church. I brought you a scarf.”

I was grateful for her forethought, since I knew we would be sticking out already in the service. I know that I am probably making lots of cultural mistakes each day, but it’s nice to be ahead of the game occasionally.

We entered the large meeting room to the singing of the praise group. Four or five young people were singing, accompanied by a keyboard, guitar and drums. “Be thou glorified in me,” they sang over and over. Their harmony was beautiful and I found myself immediately glad to be in the House of God worshipping with my brothers and sisters.

And that it what we are. Family. There is the unmistakable feeling of belonging when you enter a church. While I may not know when to sit or stand, I could feel the Holy Spirit in that place.

Then the offering took place. You know, it’s the awkward moment when the pastor explains once again that it is our duty to give back to God? Except that didn’t happen here. It was just announced and everyone stood up. The music started and in another language everyone was singing something about rejoicing and praising God.

One by one, everyone, and I mean every person in the room, went to the front of the church. All were singing, some were swaying, others were dancing up to the front. They happily placed their offering envelopes in the bag up front and went back to their seats. There was such joy on their faces!

And then, the pastor let loose. He spontaneously started singing some gospel songs and hymns and got everyone going. Faster and faster they sang the songs! Everyone sang louder and the smiles on their faces were huge! By the time we were done, we were out of breath, clapping and falling into our chairs with laughter! What a service!

The sermon followed and was challenging to me. And then came communion. Communion always humbles me before God. Confession of sin, thankfulness for God sending His Son to die on my behalf and then prayer for our family who doesn’t know Jesus as their Saviour.

It doesn’t matter that I am on a continent nearly 9,000 miles from home. This felt like home today.

 
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Posted by on March 2, 2014 in Anne, Ken

 

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African “Firsts”

Our trip to Africa went well. All of our flights were uneventful which is wonderful.

First views: Dry spiky grass, red soil, large rounded hills sprouting up here and there. (Apparently, they just call them “rocks” around here. Big rocks/small hills)

First impressions: Similarities to Indonesia where we previously lived. Lots of people in the city. Traffic. Large malls and tons of small shops. A variety of clothing from jeans and t-shirts to traditional African fabrics and head coverings.

First job: Getting over jet lag so we can do our jobs this next week. I am impressed with how often my husband makes this trip and manages to put in a full day/week/weeks of teaching just after arriving from so far away.

Tomorrow is Sunday, so we’ll go to a local church to worship and then prepare for the coming week.

Please pray for Ken as he tries to decide how to teach this particular class. Some last-minute changes means that he has a different audience with different needs.

Please pray for me (Anne) that I would make the connections and speak to the right people for some good articles. I’m already planning a village visit and will sit in while a Mother Tongue Translator works with his consultant.

Due to low-bandwidth, I may not be able to upload any photos until I get home. If it’s faster in the morning, I’ll try to put one up if I have time.Thank you for praying us here!

 
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Posted by on March 1, 2014 in Anne, Ken, Wycliffe Associates

 

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Making it Clear

“They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.” Nehemiah 8:8

This verse jumped out at me this week as I read it. Isn’t this what we are doing together? Making God’s Words clear to people. We do this by translating it into their Mother Tongue, the language that speaks to their heart.

This is also being done at the New Testament workshop this week. The Enemy does not want this work done and has been creating havoc with computers all week.

Surrounded by people and computers! Ken's favorite things!

Surrounded by people and computers! Ken’s favorite things!

Thank you for praying! Many of you have reminded us that you are praying, and I know many more do so daily. What an encouragement!

Here is an update from Ken. I’ve pieced together a few of his comments where he responded to some of my questions:

In reference to the computers that crashed…
We weren’t able to recover the totally trashed computer but we were able to recover the data and give him a new loaner laptop. That way, he’ll be able to work through the next two weeks of the workshop. I will probably bring the computer home and attempt to have it fixed at Dallas (SIL‘s headquarters).

Outside where the internet connection is better!

Outside where the internet connection is better!

I was able to configure two more language projects for Paratext Send/Receive. It’s such a wonderful tool when it is configured properly, allowing people separated by distance to share their language project data as long as they can obtain an internet connection. It’s neat to watch their faces when it works. On the other hand, if configured wrong it causes big problems. Correctly configuring the projects that span multiple computers and training are the keys now. 

We, in America, take the Internet connection for granted though. One group I just finished working with doesn’t have the Internet as communication in and out of the State has been suspended.

Responding to the health of the consultant’s daughter…

Heidi’s daughter is in high school. I haven’t heard much from her other than she was able to have some medical tests run in the Chicago area.

Ken will be home Thursday night. Thanks for praying.

(Today is our 30th Anniversary…I’m proud and happy to be married to such a great guy!)

 
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Posted by on June 18, 2013 in Ken, SIL

 

Step-by-Step

step by stepUpdate from afar…
Ken is spending a lot of time working through the process of “configuring Paratext’s Send and Receive.” He spent hours working on just one language project yesterday. What’s good is that three national translators are sitting next to him, working through each step, and learning in the process.

Teaching takes longer than just doing it yourself, doesn’t it? But in the end, training will bring them to independence.

Do to the huge amount of tech needs, some other people will be coming in to help, as it’s just too much for one person to get done. Yay!

I heard that the consultant, Heidi, was able to get her paperwork secured and has left the country with her daughter in order to get her the medical help she needs. No update yet on how they are doing.

Thank you for praying!

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2013 in Ken, Tech Support

 

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Keeping busy

“Oh, you’re the IT* guy! I need to talk with YOU!”

That is the response Ken has heard each time he has introduced himself in the last 12 hours!

Thank you for praying! Ken has safely arrived in Jos, Nigeria once again. He ate,napped, and is hoping he can sleep through part of the night before starting work tomorrow. His roommate is a pastor from Orlando, Florida who will be participating in the New Testament workshop.

As mentioned in our email update, Ken will be busy doing behind-the-scenes work on the computers of the Nigerian translators.

Please continue to pray for wisdom as he helps each person the next 10 days.

* IT is pronounced “Eye-Tee” as in “Information Technology.” You know…computer geek guy. 🙂

 
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Posted by on June 9, 2013 in Ken, Synchronization, Utilities

 

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Safe with Scorpions

Ken has arrived in Jos, Nigeria once again. I’m always grateful to get a text message or email to let me know he is at his final destination. Today, I got a phone call for Mother’s Day! I love hearing his voice.

Tomorrow Ken and a group of others from Wycliffe Bible Translators partner, Jaars, whose campus is in our town of Waxhaw, NC, will start sharing the duties of teaching and doing tech support for a group of Nigerian Bible Translators. Most will stay for three weeks but Ken’s work will be one week long.

Thanks for praying. He’s doing something new this trip. Although he’s studied the material it’s always nerve-wracking to do work on someone else’s data. He’d hate to lose any of their hard work!

Scorpion!

Scorpion!

P. S. This scorpion was found in the kitchen of the guesthouse he’s staying in. We’re not used to seeing those kinds of insects on the east coast of the USA!

 
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Posted by on May 12, 2013 in JAARS, Ken, Tech Support, Wycliffe

 

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True Heroes

Do you know an unsung hero?

Do you know an unsung hero?

My colleagues and I took a short, two-hour journey to a former Nigerian missionary retreat center established early this century. Don Storteboom, one of my colleagues, had done some history regarding the retreat center.

We toured the center – the pond, the scenic mountain offering a panoramic view of the surrounding valley, and the cemetery. All were enjoyable but the cemetery had the greatest impact.

One cannot walk through a cemetery without reading the headstones. What jumped out at me as I walked up one grave aisle and down the other was the time frame (mid 1900’s) and the ages of the missionaries and children. The deceased missionaries, mostly in their 30’s and 40’s, died overseas serving in the ministry God had called them to. They made a life commitment to serve and died in a foreign land in that service. Chances are, their families grieved not over a coffin, our cultural grieving process, but by a simple memorial service. The children, who died either shortly after birth or within the first 3-4 years, more than likely died from malaria or some other medical malady.

I was awestruck with the commitment, the sacrifice, and the service of those that came before me to Nigeria. To me, they are some of the true heroes of faith.

But I wonder, do I share that same commitment to service? Am I willing to sacrifice? Am I willing to serve knowing that I may not return to “atta boys” and “well dones”? And, am I willing to travel overseas knowing that I might not return?

I haven’t resolved the questions yet. They still linger in the greatest distance in the whole world – the few inches between my head and heart.

How about you?

 
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Posted by on April 24, 2013 in Family, Ken

 

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