This Sunday at our evening service at church, we were singing “How Great is our God”. It has been a long time since I’ve sung that song, and I was thinking about the beauty and the power of those words –
The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty
let all the world rejoice, let all the world rejoice
He wraps himself in light, and darkness tries to hide
it trembles at his voice, it trembles at his voice
How great is our God, sing with me how great is our God
and all will see how great, how great is our God
But, as I was singing this – I looked to my right and a friend of mine was actually signing the words to the song. It was just extraordinary, powerful and beautiful as I watched her visually represent with dynamic movement the words which I could see and hear.
It brought me to thinking and praying for our instiGATE team in Kenya right now- serving a Deaf Bible translation organization – DOOR. I wanted to share this post from one of Wycliffe Canada’s short term instiGATE teams, in Kenya right now, supporting and experiencing Bible translation for Deaf languages around the world. They are blogging from Kenya and you can check out the full blog at http://instigatekenya.wordpress.com/ Emily Ryhno, from Atlantic Canada, a student from Crandall University, is on the team and has had a deep passion for the Deaf and Sign Languages. This is a powerful post about how God is speaking to her while she is in Kenya…
Ephphatha: Be Opened!
by Emily
I am writing this post with extremely mixed emotions. Furthermore, I have been communicating with sign language so much this past week that plain old text on a screen seems incredibly dull and expressionless, so please bear with me as I try to articulate today’s experiences.
This morning I, together with Stephen, Rebecca, Lauren, Christine, and Becky, joined with the Bible translation team here at DOOR to get a taste of signed Bible translation. The six of us were assigned the passage of Mark 7:31-37 to interpret and translate into sign. The process went something like this:
1. We read the entire passage individually to grasp the overall concept of the story.
2. We went through the passage verse by verse, deciding on appropriate signs and figuring out how to use as few signs and as much facial expression and body language as possible to get the point across. (Kenyan Sign Language is short, they told us)
3. Each of us was assigned one verse to sign, and we signed our way through the story, teaching each other as we went.
4. The translator told us to go “practice practice practice” because each of us had to know the entire story by heart in sign language. So we headed outside to sit in the shade and go over the story and the signs again and again until we were confident enough to perform the story.
5. After lunch, we practiced a couple more times, then we headed to the recording room where we were each videoed in front of the green screen. It took some getting used to, especially knowing where to stand how much to move our bodies without having parts of us “cut off” by the camera. We also noticed that the spotlight was very efficient in helping us forget EVERYTHING we had practiced so diligently earlier that day.
6. Finally, the videos were sent to the IT room where the computer guys worked on super cool Macs to edit each video, adding illustrated backgrounds and subtitles (for words like ‘Tyre’ , ‘Jesus’, ‘Decapolis’ and ‘Deaf man’). Personally, I think they added the subtitles so they could understand our hearing “accent”.I am SO thrilled to have been a part of this process today. I am impressed by the professionalism and work ethic of the translating teams here at DOOR. It is exciting to see these talented Deaf individuals striving to empower the Deaf community with the knowledge of the Gospel. Today, I realized just how much I want to be a part of this beautiful community, not only here in Kenya, but in Canada, or anywhere God chooses to send me. I believe that I am falling in love with this thing called Deaf culture.
That being said, I am feeling incredibly burdened. It took six of us an entire morning to interpret, translate, and memorize a simple seven verse story, and most of the afternoon to digitally record the stories. The IT team had barely begun to edit the videos by the time we left for afternoon tea. I realize that we are a bunch of untrained “hearies” and we likely took much longer to complete the process than a skilled Deaf interpreter would, but I am struck by how much work and time is consumed in signed Bible translation. My brain is tired, and my heart is breaking for the thousands of Deaf around the world who have yet to know the word of God in their heart language.
In Mark 7:31-37, Jesus heals a deaf and mute man. While doing this, Jesus looks up to heaven, sighs, and says “Be opened!” Today, I feel as though Jesus has commanded my deaf and mute heart to be opened. To be opened to the Deaf people, both their joys and needs, but also to be open to the power of God’s Holy Word in my life. Now, as I struggle to hold back tears, all I can do is lift my broken heart to the Creator and say “Hear I am God, send me.”
–Emily
Check out the team blog at : http://instigatekenya.wordpress.com/
Tyndale University College, Toronto
I had the privilege of doing Karima Horton’s internship orientation and training recently!
Karima has recently finished her first year of linguistics at Tyndale and is heading to work with the Cameroon Association of Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL) for June and July. She will be serving in Scripture Use activities in the Lamnso’ language project in the Northwest Province. The New Testament has been completed and local translators are finishing the Old Testament . Much of her desire to do an internship with Wycliffe comes from a desire to discover what global ministry is like overseas and how she can apply her love for linguistics. She writes:
“ I have always had a knack for languages and I always really loved studying them, and now, with just two semesters of studying, I know even more about languages than ever before and am capable of breaking down a language into it’s basic structure with just a few short sentences. How cool is that? So cool. So cool.And now I get to go to Africa and put all my studies to the test outside of the classroom!!”
Karima also shares how passionate she is for Bible translation and her strong belief in the potential that exists among minority language communities. She writes:
“As English speakers, we often forget what it is like to not be able to have access to information. If someone asks if we’ve read something, we haven’t not because it isn’t available to us in English but because we’re not interested (or we’re too lazy to go get the book). The Lamnso’ did not even have a written language until someone cared enough to help them analyze their language and showed them the Bible. This is a life-changing event!! The translators have done even more than bring the Bible! The Lamnso’ people now have a way of writing down their thoughts, writing down their history. They now have a place in the world which will never be forgotten. They don’t feel like just a small language group anymore, but as a people with things to say and ideas they can write down. The next Shakespeare may very well come from this community, and it will be with only a small amount of outside help. Don’t you want to be a part of that?”
Please keep Karima in your prayers! You can follow her blog at karimahorton.blogspot.com
I recently saw this video created for Mother Language Day, Feb 21. Save the Children is a not for profit oganization that focuses on creating LASTING change for children in need all over the world. One area of lasting change is in the area of education. This short, animated video was created to help people understand some of the economic aspects of mother-tongue education and why certain kinds of education can actually be a hindrence to economic growth for minority language communities. It’s an awesome video that I hope you like – Wycliffe’s main focus is serving alongside language groups that this video highlights – in advocating for mother tongue literacy and doing training in mother tongue literacy! Check it out!
Are you a budding Christian filmmaker?? Check out Studio Wycliffe’s trip this summer!
Guys! Gals! Filmmakers and creatives….. CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!!!
Check out this video a Wycliffe intern created last summer …
Why Translate the Bible?
I recently read this article from a few years ago, and thought I’d share it! It’s written by Eddie Arthur, the Executive Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators UK. Previously he has worked as part of the translation team for the Kouya New Testament in Ivory Coast and as the National Director for a Wycliffe partner organisation in Ivory Coast and Mali. You can read more of Eddie’s thoughts on Bible translation and life, on his website kouya.net, or follow him on Twitter – @kouya
Take the time to read this article – What is God’s voice? Why do we translate the Bible? Why shouldn’t we just teach people to read English? What is our response?!
This article is taken from Christianity Today’s Opinion section:
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… (Hebrews 1:1,2a)
Two amazing words; “God spoke”. Once we grasp the simple fact that God has communicated with us, nothing can ever be the same. We haven’t been left on our own to muddle through life, trying to work out what it is all about until we shuffle off this mortal coil and into oblivion. God has spoken to us and given us the answer to life, the universe and everything.
Not only has God spoken, but he has spoken in various ways: dreams, a burning bush, a donkey, writing on the wall and prophetic speech all come into the picture. God did whatever was needed to get His message across, because He wants us to understand what He is saying. And then He spoke through His Son. God, Himself, took on human form, lived on the earth and showed us in the clearest way possible what God is like and how He acts.
But God went a step further than this. He made sure that hundreds of years later and in a different part of the world we would have a reliable account of all that He did and said. Without a written record, the amazing things in the Bible would have been lost in the mists of history. But God wants us to hear and understand when He speaks, so He gave us the Bible.
The Bible is a remarkable book. It tells a story that explains why we were created, what has gone wrong with the world and what God is doing to restore things. It is a story which covers absolutely everything; a story that everybody needs. But God’s story is a story unlike any other; it makes a claim on our lives and calls us to align ourselves with what God is doing in the world through His Son. It calls us to make the story our own, to live the story. As we align our lives to God’s story, we discover that the things which were true for Moses,
David and Paul become true for us: their God becomes our God and He speaks to us.
One of the really amazing things we discover is that God wants us to communicate on His behalf. He could have written the Bible in letters of fire on pages of gold, but instead He chose to work with men and women to get His words written. In the same way, He could speak in a loud voice out of heaven to your neighbours, but He chooses to send you to talk to them; amazing! God wants to talk to people and He wants to be understood, and He chooses to do so through you and me.
One of the ways in which God chooses to use us is by making the Bible available to people. There are still over 300 million people around the world, speaking two thousand different languages that don’t have access to the Bible. God wants the Bible to be made available to these people and so do we.
One question that we are often asked is why we don’t just teach everyone English. It’s a good question. In fact, there are lots of linguistic and technical factors that would make it very difficult to get all of the minority peoples of the world speaking English, but that isn’t the point. The real reason we don’t want to teach everyone English, or Chinese, or Korean, is quite simple. God wouldn’t do it!
The story of the Bible is the story of God breaking down barriers to communicate with us as clearly and understandably as possible. God reaches out and speaks to people where they are and He calls us to do the same. Bible translation is simply a continuation of God’s work in reaching out to speak to men and women in ways that they can understand. The wonderful thing is that He doesn’t do it all Himself, but He gives us the privilege of joining Him in His work. He calls us to live the story and then gives us the amazing honour of working alongside Him to give the story.
Meeting the Prime Minister and building relationships!
So my friends and I had a private dinner with the Prime Minister of Cameroon. In his home. With his wife. SO COOL. Here’s the story and the special things that God did.
For seven weeks in May and June 2011, my teammate Sarah and I led a team of 10 Wycliffe Canada interns to Cameroon, west Africa. The majority of our time was spent in Oku, a remote part of the Northwest Province. We were there to serve the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL), a Cameroonian organization coordinating indigenous Bible translation, language development, scripture use and literacy for over 30 languages in Cameroon (there are about 280 vital languages in Cameroon!). Oku is one of their projects, a language of about 80,000 speakers. The whole New Testament has now been drafted and it is being checked by the translators, exegetes and consultants, set for publication in 2013.
All Oku people speak their mother tongue, Oku, and for many, English is a very secondary language. For the majority of Oku speakers, vocabulary in English is limited what is needed for business or getting by in a major centre. It certainly is not the language used in the home, or for important personal matters. Despite this, primary school is mainly taught in English and by English-speaking teachers. The Oku Language Society, a part of CABTAL’s efforts in this area, is piloting mother-tongue education projects, with results showing stronger comprehension, stronger student retention, and stronger academic success in those who are enrolled in these programs.
In many countries, as it is in Cameroon, those who speak a minority language are often forgotten peoples within their own country, marginalized by their ethnolinguistic minority status. Our team was there to learn about global missions in this context – to live in Oku homes, learn from the Oku people, work in their fields, take local transportation, to serve CABTAL and the Oku Language Society by bringing awareness to the Oku Bible translation project and the impact of Oku literacy.
One of the challenges Sarah and I faced while still in Canada, was that our Cameroonian partners thought it would be too challenging on our interns to live with Oku families. They were worried that the culture shock would be too great, that it was less safe, and it would be difficult enough to adjust to living in a remote area let alone with local families. Sarah and I, however, really advocated for family living because we felt that it would be an invaluable part of cross-cultural learning, whether or not culture shock would be more dramatic. We wanted to foster relationship building, even if the relationships were hard to make and made us feel uncomfortable.
To say that this experience was phenomenal would be a gross understatement. It was the nucleus of our spiritual and personal growth in Cameroon and the beauty we experienced. It certainly was not easy learning living so intimately with another culture and worldview, but each intern learned to love their family and really develop deep relationships over the month. My favorite memory is just sitting each evening for hours with Sarah and our “Mama” (who was three years younger than me!) over the open fire in the mud cookhouse. While I am single and live in high density, fast paced urban Toronto, Mama Isabelle is married with two small children and lives in one of the most mountainous and rural areas of Cameroon. We didn’t even have language in common! We spent our time talking as much as we could, learning about the pace of life, what our favorite things were, what the important things in life were, learning new Oku words, sharing English words – just being together. Sarah and I built a special bond with our Mama that we felt was deeply spiritual, so much so that as I write this my eyes moisten.
It is remarkable how God uses relationships to accomplish his larger, grander mission for nations and the world. Two of our interns were placed in the home of a man whose brother was a butler to the Prime Minister of Cameroon. Interestingly, the Prime Minister had served as the Cameroonian Ambassador to Canada for over 20 years! It was a longshot, but we tried to connect with him to bring greetings and meet with him at his office. It turned out that he was interested in what Canadian youth were doing in a minority language group – let alone his language group! The Prime Minister is originally from Oku! Not only did we meet the Prime Minister, but he invited us to his personal home for a private formal dinner with his wife, and we were able to give him the first ever published books in Oku, his own language. We were able to share with him from our personal experience the transformation and the development work that Bible translation and mother-tongue literacy is making in Oku and around the country among minority language communities. Our team was able to bring the directorate team of CABTAL to this dinner, and they’ve been able to maintain a relationship with him since. The Prime Minister is the second to the President as the most powerful voice in the country of Cameroon. God provided for us to have his interested audience and grant CABTAL to grow a relationship with the Prime Minister, we pray and trust, for the good of the ethnolinguistic minority communities in Cameroon and the work of Bible translation.
This happened because a choice was made to live in the Oku community, despite concerns about safety and culture shock. This larger-scale good happened because of valuing relationship, no matter if it was awkward or uncomfortable. God does marvelous things to move forward His mission. We are just blessed to be part of it as we choose to value and love His people.
–If you or anyone you know is interested in a short term trip like the one described above – check out http://www.wycliffe.ca/involved/instigate.html or Google “Wycliffe Canada instiGATE”. Applications for this year are accepted until April.
Wycliffe Canada Intern Wins Scholarship for Research Project
Wycliffe Canada Intern Wins Scholarship for his research project! Yay Stephen! Are you interested in an internship — if not, YOU SHOULD BE! 🙂
http://www.wycliffe.ca/newsroom/news_057_stephenli.html
A University of Calgary (U of C) student serving as a Wycliffe Canada intern has received a $1,000 U of C scholarship for his research into the writing systems used to translate Scripture for Canada’s Cree nation and two languages in Asia.
Stephen Li, a Hong Kong native who moved to Calgary with his family in 2003, utilized biographies, video documentaries and archived materials to research the impact of scripts developed by missionary James Evans and two others, as far back as the 19th century. The project demonstrated how the scripts affected all three language groups by giving them access to Scripture, helping preserve their culture and giving them greater access to national education.
Evans’ script, developed in 1840, drew its characters from a British shorthand system. It was used to establish written languages for the Cree, Ojibwa, Inuktitut and several other First Nations. Li’s project also traced how indigenous groups in Asia adopted two other scripts created by missionaries to develop their written languages.
Now in his fifth year of studies at the U of C, Li completed the research as part of a combined degree program in international indigenous studies and social and cultural anthropology. He was one of 20 students honoured Nov. 25 at the Undergraduate Research Award Reception, for their achievements in a poster competition as well as oral presentations. Li won the Graduate Students Association Award: Excellence in Research.
An article on the university’s website says the reception “showcased the efforts of selected undergraduates and highlighted the value of undergraduate research in a research-intensive university.”
At Wycliffe’s Calgary headquarters, Li has been working with Chinese Ministries to develop a hands-on manual for future administrators of that ministry. The 24-year-old student expects to graduate from the U of C in 2013. After that, he hopes to acquire more skills in project management.
“I see that project management is important… to the fulfilment of Vision 2025,” says Li, referring to Wycliffe’s vision to see Bible translation started, for all languages that still need it, by 2025. “I would like to combine the project management skills I have with linguistic training.”
Wycliffe Canada offers a growing number of internships each year to qualified applicants. For more information about internships and other short-term opportunities with Wycliffe, visit wycliffe.ca/involved/shortterm.html.
The Impact of Literacy – learning circles, vegetable gardening and political rights
HI! This is an excerpt from some partners in Bangladesh which explains so well the impact and influence of literacy and mother tongue education. I’ve had the chance to be in the Mahle community a few times. I’ve posted some of my own pictures from that community.
LEARNING FOR LIFE
Written by: Cornelius Tudu
In November 2011, I had a great experience in Dinajpur (northern Bangladesh) on a visit to six ‘learning circles’. The learning circles are groups of people from the Mahle community who meet once a week to discuss different issues and learn together. The groups started running this year with support from SIL Bangladesh. I went with the mobilization team to listen to the participants’ experiences and hear about the ways that their lives have started to change. We heard some very encouraging stories from the group members.
Over the last four months, the groups have discussed many different issues, including vegetable gardening, the importance of education, how to save money, how to access local facilities and services, and the bad effects of alcohol and drugs. People have experienced the benefits of learning in a group. They realize that education is very important in dealing with government officials, talking about participating in government projects for needy people and their land rights . They also believe that people will respect them and listen to them if they become educated. Thomas Murmu, a learning circle member, said that after attending the learning circle, he decided to check on his son’s school attendance. He realized that his son was not always going to school regularly, so now he sets aside time to take his son to school in the morning and to speak with the teacher. As a result of the learning circles, parents are now more aware of the value of education and are encouraged to take better care of their children.
Group members also shared with us what they have learnt about vegetable gardening. Many of the people are landless and have a very limited income. They used to think that they could not grow vegetables because they do not have any land. But in the learning circle they learnt that they can grow many small crops in a broken pot or a tub. Monika Hembrom, a learning circle member, has planted chilies, spinach and garlic. She is really pleased and is spending less money on vegetables now that she is growing some of her own.
Other group members were struck by the discussions on savings. They learnt how easily they can save a small amount of money by setting aside 5 to 10 taka each day from the money they usually spend on cigarettes or betel leaf. Some have already started to save in a mud pot and are encouraging others to do the same. One man talked about his plans to buy a chicken and maybe, in the future, a goat. He also wants to set aside money for his children’s school fees and for medical emergencies.
In one village we noticed that a learning circle member had started her own group. We asked her why she had decided to do this and she told us that she was really encouraged by the learning circle she attended, and wants to share her knowledge and information with others. She told the supervisor of the learning circles, “I don’t want money for this, because this is my duty for my community.” This is a great sign that community people are taking ownership of their own learning.
Of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 26 million live in sub-Saharan Africa where this disease is the leading cause of death.
Wow. Huge concerns! How is prevention done and awareness created for some of these vulnerable populations?
Flyers, classes, health clinics all in a country’s majority language and in model of Western learning are not reaching the minority language communities in this region, where HIV/AIDS is a serious problem and clouded with myth. It’s EXCITING, that Kande’s Story, a biblically-based story study program translated into minority languages, is being used and an answer to the needs that exist.
When I was in Cameroon this summer, I visited two language communities – both of which had Kande’s Story translated into their languages and were being actively used in the community. Such a priority are health needs that this material becomes some of the first material translated into minority languages in sub-Saharan Africa. Read this link to find out more about the impact of Kande’s Story and how it relates biblically and culturally to ethnic communities.
Techie’s in Bible translation! Computers, Software,
This morning, I had an email from a guy who works at RIM, developing cool stuff for Blackberry and Playbook. One of the neat things he does is write code so that the software works in various (and complex!) languages. He wrote this “The Lord has given me quite a bit experience working with languages, input and writing code which would be cool to use it for bible translation software or some tool you guys might need that I could build.” So cool! and TRUE!
It got me thinking I should post on Computers! I just ripped some of this stuff off Wycliffe.ca , so check it out yourself! Read on — your skills can be used in technology!
Advancements in computer technology have provided this generation of translators with lightweight portable computers and specialized software applications that are speeding translation and enabling teams working in related languages to collaborate more effectively.
SIL, Wycliffe’s main partner organization, is a leader in linguistic computing. They focus on providing tools that help field workers to organize and analyze language data and to prepare the results for publication.
Software developers serving with SIL and JAARS, Wycliffe’s partners, have collaborated to create a variety of translation support software programs. For example, FieldWorks is a suite of programs designed specifically for linguists and Bible translators.
At Wycliffe’s Canadian headquarters in Calgary, a team of software developers works as part of SIL’s global language technology team. They are focusing on solutions for the Linux operating system, including a complete software package that is used by mother-tongue translators in remote locations for drafting Scripture, building dictionaries and preparing literacy materials.
Check out this website for more stories and articles on computers in linguistics! http://www.sil.org/computing/
Jessica's thoughts ... 