Quick update

We're looking forward to heading out to town tomorrow morning (Wed) for our regional conference in Madang. Once again, we'll be out for an extended period as I'll also be attending a translation workshop the last two weeks of October. And prior to the workshop I'll be having some portions of Acts that I've recently translated get checked by a translation consultant.

 

Some things to pray about:

 

For the logistics of 4 Mibu guys (Sesi, Lookas, Ekim, Kitanoo) getting from Mibu to Goroka to help with the translation check and the translation workshop. If for some reason they can't get out neither of these things can happen! The plan at the moment is to have them flown up to Goroka on the 9th of October.

 

For the translation check (October 10-13). That everyone doing the check is discerning and alert to potential problems with the translation so we can make sure that the very best possible translation has been made for the Mibu people.

 

For the translation workshop (October 14-27). This workshop is specifically to help me learn how to approach translation of the epistles, which are much more difficult than the material I've been translating up till now.

 

For my family during the workshop. I'll be attending the workshop by myself and so Shannon will have the girls on her own while staying at the guesthouse in Lapilo.

 

Other than that, not much else to write at the moment. But I thought I'd include a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure :)

Is this going anywhere?

Sorry! If you get to the end of this email and are left wondering where I'm going with it, well you're probably understanding it correctly then. I've been sitting on this email for 6 days now. I wanted to share this little tidbit about an experience in my work last week, got it started, but blast it all, I couldn't think of what point I wanted to make! Some kind of missionary update writing block, I guess. So while the experience is kind of cool I couldn't make it come to a point. So after sitting on it for a while, I realized that if I don't get this sent out, it will likely be another 2 weeks before I get another update out! So here is a little bit of mostly, but not completely useless rambling for your reading pleasure. Hopefully the next one will be back on track somewhat. Feel free to comment on how to make my writing more worthwhile! By the way, what kinds of things do YOU want to hear about in this ministry? Feel free to ask us questions or let us know what you want to hear about and we'll try to get it covered, 'cause chances are, you're not the only one wondering!

 

This last week I was finishing up the last of my comprehension checks on some Acts portions I've been translating. Comprehension checks are where, after I've translated the passage I'll spend time with different individuals or groups and see how the text is comprehended and fine tune, or re-write the portions that need it. Being a culture that thrives on hearing and passing on information by mouth we know that if the text is good, they'll be able to tell back sometimes huge portions with most of the pertinent details.

 

We strive to have the translation easily understood by both the more educated and by those with less education. So at least one of my comprehension checks is done with someone who may be a little more removed from the type of thinking that school experience provides. There is a marked difference between how easily this type of person will comprehend a text versus someone who's a little more educated and trained to pay attention to details. That means that in my comprehension checks with the more simple minded it's a little tougher to iron out the details if something goes wrong. I just expect a touch more difficulty comprehending when working with such individuals. That was certainly the case this last week.

 

One thing that stuck out to me this week was how some portions of texts just really fly compared with others. I worked with a group of 2 guys during this particular check and there is an amazing transformation at times where, rather than struggling through the text with a lot of difficult concepts, they start telling it as if it's their own story. This was the case with the story of the Jewish exorcists in Acts 19. I read the whole story and when I signaled it was their turn to tell it back to me they just started going. Their faces lit up, their eyes sparkled with excitement as they sat up and really got into it. Bandying the story telling task between the 2 of them of them they cruised through the story without missing a beat and without hesitation. I love seeing that happen! They were so into it that they wanted to talk and laugh about it more; they thought the whole thing of the exorcists using Jesus' name like a magic word and getting their you know what's kicked was pretty funny! The thing is, they could relate to that story. Not so much with the exorcism thing, but with the magic words and even people thinking that Jesus' name is a special magic word and using it in conjunction with their parlor tricks and other social manipulations. They could relate to those things and so it really brings the story home to them. "We know people like that!" they were saying, referring to the many unbelievers on the outskirts of the Mibu language borders who they interact with almost daily.

 

One thing was for sure, after hearing them go through this story so clearly and easily, we've got a good text here. I'm realizing that while the other texts might be just as good, it's the ones that they can relate to specifically that really are easiest to understand. It's the texts that start getting into the harder concepts where we start to see the separation between the educated and the less educated. Start using terms relating to God's grace and mercy, and start insisting on differentiating between disciples, believers, and the church, or start differentiating between 'teaching the word of God' and 'teaching the kingdom of God' or any other terms that have some major overlap of meaning and the ones with less education start to show that they live in a world of extreme generalization as far as how they interpret the hearing of new information. How do I get the text to speak all those details to them? Since I see quite a number of others who do get the same details with no problem and that those that do are typically more educated, I'm convinced it is a matter of mental discipline and so I become less inclined to try any further to change the text. I think that as their interest in the things of God continues to grow and so therefore their desire to learn of him, so will their ability to learn how to read or listen more meaningfully. Is that really the solution though? Or am I just being naive? Hmmm.

 

Hey, by the way, in case you've forgotten, we post a lot more photos on another blogsite. There are more family photos there as well as photos that are not so much ministry related, but still fun. Check out http://husa-photo.blogspot.com/

Is this going anywhere?

Sorry! If you get to the end of this email and are left wondering where I'm going with it, well you're probably understanding it correctly then. I've been sitting on this email for 6 days now. I wanted to share this little tidbit about an experience in my work last week, got it started, but blast it all, I couldn't think of what point I wanted to make! Some kind of missionary update writing block, I guess. So while the experience is kind of cool I couldn't make it come to a point. So after sitting on it for a while, I realized that if I don't get this sent out, it will likely be another 2 weeks before I get another update out! So here is a little bit of mostly, but not completely useless rambling for your reading pleasure. Hopefully the next one will be back on track somewhat. Feel free to comment on how to make my writing more worthwhile! By the way, what kinds of things do YOU want to hear about in this ministry? Feel free to ask us questions or let us know what you want to hear about and we'll try to get it covered, 'cause chances are, you're not the only one wondering!

 

This last week I was finishing up the last of my comprehension checks on some Acts portions I've been translating. Comprehension checks are where, after I've translated the passage I'll spend time with different individuals or groups and see how the text is comprehended and fine tune, or re-write the portions that need it. Being a culture that thrives on hearing and passing on information by mouth we know that if the text is good, they'll be able to tell back sometimes huge portions with most of the pertinent details.

 

We strive to have the translation easily understood by both the more educated and by those with less education. So at least one of my comprehension checks is done with someone who may be a little more removed from the type of thinking that school experience provides. There is a marked difference between how easily this type of person will comprehend a text versus someone who's a little more educated and trained to pay attention to details. That means that in my comprehension checks with the more simple minded it's a little tougher to iron out the details if something goes wrong. I just expect a touch more difficulty comprehending when working with such individuals. That was certainly the case this last week.

 

One thing that stuck out to me this week was how some portions of texts just really fly compared with others. I worked with a group of 2 guys during this particular check and there is an amazing transformation at times where, rather than struggling through the text with a lot of difficult concepts, they start telling it as if it's their own story. This was the case with the story of the Jewish exorcists in Acts 19. I read the whole story and when I signaled it was their turn to tell it back to me they just started going. Their faces lit up, their eyes sparkled with excitement as they sat up and really got into it. Bandying the story telling task between the 2 of them of them they cruised through the story without missing a beat and without hesitation. I love seeing that happen! They were so into it that they wanted to talk and laugh about it more; they thought the whole thing of the exorcists using Jesus' name like a magic word and getting their you know what's kicked was pretty funny! The thing is, they could relate to that story. Not so much with the exorcism thing, but with the magic words and even people thinking that Jesus' name is a special magic word and using it in conjunction with their parlor tricks and other social manipulations. They could relate to those things and so it really brings the story home to them. "We know people like that!" they were saying, referring to the many unbelievers on the outskirts of the Mibu language borders who they interact with almost daily.

 

One thing was for sure, after hearing them go through this story so clearly and easily, we've got a good text here. I'm realizing that while the other texts might be just as good, it's the ones that they can relate to specifically that really are easiest to understand. It's the texts that start getting into the harder concepts where we start to see the separation between the educated and the less educated. Start using terms relating to God's grace and mercy, and start insisting on differentiating between disciples, believers, and the church, or start differentiating between 'teaching the word of God' and 'teaching the kingdom of God' or any other terms that have some major overlap of meaning and the ones with less education start to show that they live in a world of extreme generalization as far as how they interpret the hearing of new information. How do I get the text to speak all those details to them? Since I see quite a number of others who do get the same details with no problem and that those that do are typically more educated, I'm convinced it is a matter of mental discipline and so I become less inclined to try any further to change the text. I think that as their interest in the things of God continues to grow and so therefore their desire to learn of him, so will their ability to learn how to read or listen more meaningfully. Is that really the solution though? Or am I just being naive? Hmmm.

 

Hey, by the way, in case you've forgotten, we post a lot more photos on another blogsite. There are more family photos there as well as photos that are not so much ministry related, but still fun. Check out http://husa-photo.blogspot.com/

Devit

Meet Devit. He's been leading the outreach in Yongem for quite a while now and seems to be doing a great job. Very faithful guy who seems to be doing a great job over there. Because of his faithfulness and leadership this new outreach in the next village of Titirapok will be beginning soon (tomorrow Sept 7th). Devit has been discipling a group of those who wish to be involved and it is out of that group that another leader has grown and will be leading this next group to Titirapok to oversee the evangelism teaching there.

 

Please continue to pray for faithfulness to God's word in Devit.

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Mibu MCM evaluation

The last few days (Friday thru Monday) have been jam packed with hanging out with the Mibu people and meeting together with two of our church planting consultants.

 

In case you're wondering what "MCM" means, it's Mature Church Model. We have a model, slash outline, of what we see a mature church looking like. It is what we strive to leave behind here when our work is done here. The purpose of this weekend's visit by our consultants was to measure our efforts against this model and to provide encouragement for the future growth of the church here.

 

So we spent tons of time with the Mibu people just hanging out talking to them, asking questions and listening and discerning their hearts in regard to many things regarding God's work in them as individuals and as a community. It was a fun and encouraging time. We all even stayed the night down in Mibu one night so we could keep on talking.

 

I thought I'd share a couple things that happened that were kind of cool and couldn't have been timed better. These aren't things that the people did to show off, but were just things that came naturally, which is what made the timing so great (with the consultants here to see it) and is what made the incidents stand out as so cool.

 

The first day, we were just sitting around in Keteng's little haus win (an open house with no walls). We were just sitting around talking about the church and sharing stories. A couple of the Mibu guys were asking our consultants about the work in the tribes that they'd done in the past. At one point they asked them about the songs which their people sang to worship God, which they shared. Afterward a couple of the Mibu guys sang some of the songs that they'd made up to worship God. What was really cool is that their wives, and a couple of their daughters, who weren't really involved in the conversation, and who were sitting on the other side of the yard, making their bilums just kind of spontaneously joined in the singing, clapping their hands and singing with the guys. It was just really awesome to see the spontinaeity of the moment that seemed to have not arisen from their desire to look good (I don't think they realized how good it looked, really) but just from their joy and desire to praise God.

 

Sunday morning. We'd just woken up after staying the night in Keteng's house and were sitting around the fire pit talking. There was going to be a church meeting in a few hours so we were all waiting for the start of that. While we were talking one of the teachers who was slated to talk, and who happens to be a fairly new teacher in training (Samson), came in and sat down next to Sesi and it became obvious to me that he was looking for help to understand something about the point in the lesson that he was going to teach on. I watched in silence as he opened up his book on the floor and asked Sesi some things. Sesi took a little bit of time to explain something to him and then about 10 minutes later, he quietly told me that the two of them were going to leave and that he'd see me at the church meeting. When I asked him, he verified my suspicion that they were going to a quieter place where he could work with Samson through his teaching point. Discipleship in action! What was so cool about this is that Samson didn't even seem to give a thought to having me, the resident, all-knowing whiteskin be the one to explain things to him. It was the most natural thing in the world for him to just go straight to Sesi for help. Perfect! This was a perfect sign of a healthy sense of ownership to see that the default, even in the situation where it would seem easier to go to the missionary for answers, was to go to one of their own, more mature brothers for help. Again, this didn't happen so as to show off. I don't think they realized the importance of what they were doing and/or the perfect timing of it. It happened so casually and quietly that I only happened to notice and had to later tell the consultants what had transpired while they were talking to the others in that house.

 

This was an encouraging weekend for us because we're not always walking around with our evaluative senses on alert. This weekend was a good weekend to focus just on that and try to see things as our consultants might be seeing them. Definitely a good exercise!