Ken’s food table this week.
Our Indian colleagues testing the software.
Ken shares the pros and cons of the different software choices.
A colleague sharing his experience of using the software.
Ken Visiting the Taj Mahal.
Celebrating arrivals, birthdays and another day of Life
George teaching in SE Asia.
Ken has arrived safely in SE Asia. He’s settled in and has been working alongside his team leader, George, introducing new BT software to the group. They get a new group for next week’s classes. Getting information about the class is a bit difficult, but we’d appreciate your prayers that all that God desires would be accomplished these next two weeks. Thank you!
Ken with his brothers and grandson.
The day before Ken departed, we celebrated his birthday with a number of friends and family. He was especially thrilled when three of his brothers surprised him and arrived two days early to spend time with him. What a blessing! Thank you to all who wrote in and sent special messages to Ken via our daughter Christine. He absolutely loves his book!
Like many of you, I can’t help but feel saddened by the early and untimely death of the actor Robin Williams. It reminds me that we don’t know how people are really doing unless we engage with them in a meaningful way. Depression is a rough illness to fight and one in which the majority of the world doesn’t understand. Here’s to having intentional relationships this week and really listening to people.
Thanks again for standing with us in prayer.
Miles to walk for email and no electricity to boot
Can you imagine having to drive to a town miles away every time you needed to send an email? It’s hard to imagine with the wonderful technology choices we have here in the USA. Our computers, tablets and mobile phones can immediately send and receive our emails mostly 24/7. In fact, if you live in a “dead spot” where Internet connectivity is spotty or the local fast food restaurant doesn’t provide free Wi-Fi, we can get a little crabby.
Kathleen Spence (Video via Phillip Harms)
Kathleen Spence is a linguist who works in Central Africa Republic (CAR). She works with the Bhogoto Language Project.
Bhogoto…you’ve heard of it, right? Maybe you studied it in school when your friends were taking Spanish or German courses, no?
Of course not. But for the 200,000 speakers of this language, it’s important to them! While French is spoken in many places across CAR, most people cannot understand it hardly at all.
So having a Bible in French just doesn’t do the job for them. It’s about as helpful as you or I having only a Bhogoto Bible to read.
Click here to watch a very short video on some of the challenges that face translators in this region. I’m so excited that we are part of a group that provided them with Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) as well as a solar set up to help since there is no electricity in the region.
Oh, yeah, there’s that too. No electricity.
Boy, do I have an easy life. Thanks for praying for us and projects like this.
Like Drinking from a Fire Hydrant!
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 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!
Dirty Ankles
When your daughter comes home and tells you she’s met the man she wants to marry, you may ask her, “Does he have a job?”
In Nigeria, the parents would ask the girl, “Does he have dirt on his ankles?”
Uh, why would they ask this? Are they that concerned about his hygiene?
It turns out that the question is a metaphor for “Is he a farmer?” And if he’s a farmer, if he owns land, then he has some money and he is an intelligent man. Because all Nigerians want land. Land can be farmed. Land can be built on. And land can feed you.
Language Farmers Ajinka and Isaac
Two Nigerian men named Isaac and Ajinka are farmers. They have the potential of making two woman happy one day because they have land, but also, because they are cultivating more than the red clay soil that is so prolific in their country.
These men speak the language of Gole*. And they are also Bible translators. They are planting and growing the work of translating God’s words in their own language.
Every morning they get up and go to the farm. Their ankles get dirty as they kick the dirt into piles so that they can plant seeds. Maize, millet, soybeans and rice are grown in its season.
After doing their chores, they go to an office and work on the Gole language project. So far they have translated several chapters of Luke into their mother tongue. When people in their language group hear them reading the Scriptures and even speaking in their first language they say, “Where does this boy learn the language?” When each chapter gets published, the people are proud.
“I understand my own language better now that I am doing the translation. I realize that we have not truly understood certain passages in the Bible until now because we were listening to them in our second language [Hausa].”
Please pray for Ajinka and Isaac. They have a long way to go as they work two jobs each day. They need the encouragement and support of the local churches. I’m excited to see the growth of their work and the people as they embrace truth in their mother tongue.
*Pseudonym
Thank You Church!
Closing day of the Paratext II Class
I usually give mother tongue translators an opportunity for feedback at the end of a one or two-week course. My last time in Nigeria was no different. The only change though, was that I had communicated to them that my role was changing, that I would be providing training in a new software program, and that it was possible my Bible translation software training was coming to an end. I was taken aback by their reaction.
They would not hear of it instead stating that they were planning on writing my supervisor requesting that I am able to continue providing the instruction they had received. Complimentary in and of itself, they then said something that blew me away!
“We also want to tell your supporting churches and friends a THANK YOU for their role in this because we know that, without them, you couldn’t be here teaching us.”
I have to be honest and tell you I was floored! It was the first time I can remember in our 29 years of ministry history that a group specifically asked to express their appreciation to our supporters. But they did.
Please take a moment and watch this very short Vimeo video expressing their heart-felt thank you. (I added text subtitles so that you understand what they are saying.) It’s not professionally done but I think you’ll agree that their enthusiasm comes across loud and clear.
What a great group to teach.
Enjoy them as much as I have. And allow me to take this opportunity to thank you for being a part of our team expediting Bible translation.
Ken
And You Thought your Traffic was Bad???
Source: danielaglass.com
Ah, traffic lights are so overrated (tongue-in cheek)!
Check out how drivers in Ethiopia cope without them at a busy intersection. (Click Here) This is the norm for many of the countries that we serve in.
Buckle up! Look straight ahead! And pray!
Unseen things
Image Credit: http://www.increaseyoursalesin30days.com
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!
He said “Yes”!
Iliya
Iliya was born in the state of Kaduna, Nigeria, a 2 hour drive from Jos. He was the 9th of 10 children. His father was a tailor as well as a farmer.
One day, the elders of the local church approached Iliya’s father and mother. They asked if they would donate their house and land to the church. After praying and talking about it, they said “yes”, the church could have their property. In exchange, they were given a smaller place to live with a smaller piece of land.
Imagine that…giving your house and land (as a farmer) over to your local church. I wonder what they were thinking?
The day before moving, Iliya was born, the ninth child in this family. 9 mouths to feed and now they had a smaller patch of land to farm!
But rather than feeling regret, they ask the elders to name this latest child. You should name him “Iliya.” “Iliya” means Elijah in English! “We will ‘pass on the mantel’ to this child and he will one day serve God.”
Iliya grew up knowing the story of his name. He went to school. He did well in his exams. He watched God provide money for his university training. He was the first person in his class to finish his thesis. He was determined to finish quickly and he did.
After graduating in 2011 he got his first job. It didn’t pay a lot, but he always had money left over.
In 2012, a pastor approached him and said that his language group, the Jju language, needed a Bible translated. “Would he like to help?”
And like his father before him, he said, “Yes.” Just like that.
He took several workshops learning Bible Translation principles, software and other needed classes.
Never did he imagine he’d be doing this type of work. But the elders did. His parents did. And God did.
Now, Iliya tells people that his name is “Favor” because he believes that God has favored Him so much! He believes that God has made him “fit” for this job.
What job has God made you “fit” for?
I’m blessed for having met “Elijah” who took up the mantel to continue following God in the way that he was created for!
Gallery
African Images
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- Baptist Guest house our first night.
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- Guesthouse room.
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- First views of Africa.
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- African cows, white with long horns.
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- Ben, Christy and their children. Our driver for the week.
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- Woman cover their heads during church.
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- African Communion
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- An interesting tree!
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- Frangipangi tree.
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- The main worship center at NBTT.
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- Lebanese swarme sandwich.
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- Selfie before church.
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- WA guesthouse. Great accomodations!
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- A participant signs in.
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- Pastors and farmers learn side by side.
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- Ken and Pungs from NetAccess make sure everyone has the the software installed.
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- Sitting in on a translation checking.
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- Jacob has worked on this translation for over 10 years.
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- On our way to Shendam for the day.
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- Uh oh, car trouble. It was still cool and our wait was pleasant.
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- Chief Joseph is the leader of the translation project. He’s a prince in his community.
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- We met him in his greeting room along with some of the translation team.
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- Here is chief Joseph as a young man with the other young princes of the area.
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- Images of the area.
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- Almost every piece of land is readied for crops.
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- The Gamai language project sign.
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- The head chief lives here in this palace.
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- We were introduced to the next chief outside of his house, woman on one side, men on the other.
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- Chief David, is titled the Long Dorok, chief of the Dorok area. He served us a delicious lunch.
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- The entrance to the local priest’s home.
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- Children followed us everywhere.
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- Adorable….
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- We hung out in the green area!
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- Beautiful tree at the local international school.
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- Bats hung in the trees.
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- Bats hang out until the evening.
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- Local home at a nearby museaum.
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- Cactus is a great deterent.
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- One type of local home.
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- Bargaining for gems.
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- Admiring artwork done for a local mission.
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- Ministry for widows-learning to sew.
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- Crafts sold by the woman.
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- The woman stay for a year learning their trade.
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- Beautiful mural in the widows ministry.
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- Anne learning about Tuo and Draw Soup.
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- Take a dap of Tuo, mix it in the soup and eat by hand.
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- Very tasty if you like Okra and spinach.
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- Two young translators Ajinka and Isaac.
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- Ken teaching BT software.
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- Professor Bibiana came to learn and support BT.
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- Pastor Christien came late but was able to catch up in no time.
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- Clementina came to support Prof. Bibiana, but was a whiz with the software.
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- Rev. Muse plans to make BT his primary work.
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- Ken teaches his class and uses lots of time to review.
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- Everyone works side by side for the week.
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- New participant.
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- Some of the participants the last day.
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- They made great strides in learning the tough software.
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- We took a ride in a Keh Keh into town.
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- Local fruit stand.
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- NetAccess building
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- Two of the people who keep the internet access open for us.
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- At the Internet cafe.
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- A Keh Keh. Motorcycles are now banned.
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- Where we stayed and served for the week. James was a huge help for us.
The Haugh Herald 