Moving Past Past Hurts

Reconciliation began this summer between two men who's relationship was broken several years ago. I was both excited and humbled to be a part of bringing this friendship back together. As I thought about how to tell you about what happened I went looking for some images on google, something that I thought would represent what happened between these two men.

http://curtisamongfriends.yolasite.com/blog/reconciliation-in-wordle

Appropriately enough, the majority of the initial images had something to do with God, a cross, and/or the word 'forgiveness'. In this wordle, there are words such as grace, process, confession, towards, and understanding. This summer I was able to help two men begin the process of coming towards each other again in friendship. Confession, grace, and understanding were all apart of the process. God was, and will continue to be, a big part of these two men reconciling and restoring their friendship. The work of Christ is one of reconciling the world to him and it is something his church needs to be engaged in as well; we are reminded of it and commanded to do it in Matthew 5.
One of the challenges I faced in this process of reconciliation is that the process of confession and reconciliation have many cultural components. These two men are from very different cultures. How one would usually approach reconciliation was not at all like the way the other would anticipate the reconciliation process. Another big challenge was the fact that while I was pretty familiar with the culture of one man, I knew next to nothing of the other. I had my own learning to do before I could begin to help them. Three resources were key: a book called The Peacemaker by Ken Sande, two people (Stephen & Dolly), and prayer.
The Peacemaker is a great book for anyone to read. Whether you are hoping to reconcile a relationship or perhaps a friend has asked you to help, this is worth picking up. Stephen & Dolly are a couple from my church who were able to help me with my cultural ignorance! While not exactly from the same culture of which I was ignorant, they have a similar background. I am so grateful for their help and guidance, answering questions and giving insights.
During our time in Thailand (to attend a conference we have attended for several summers and where I have provided member care for the past 4 or 5 years) I met with each man a few times talking about their own expectations, hopes, wishes as well as the necessity of letting go of having everything their own way. This was not only a time to come together personally but also culturally. Let me tell you, in the best of times meeting-in-the-middle with someone from a different culture is not easy, never mind when there is past hurt. Of course we also met together and during that time grace abounded from each man for the other and from God over the whole thing. To let go of cultural expectations of each other, to strive to understand where each man was coming from, to believe the other desired the best for this relationship going forward was a blessing to watch.
This is one of the highlights of working in member care - coming alongside people as they seek to honour God in their work and in their relationships.
Stay tuned for some exciting developments in MK care as well as some of the letdowns in this work.

Love Children? Take a look at this..

MK (missionary kid) care has many facets to it. Over the past year you've learned about MKs and some of their characteristics. Over the many years as you've followed us you've read about our children, their struggles, and the people who have impacted them:

• us (parents)
• grandparents
• surrogate aunts and uncles
• biological aunts and uncles

But there are more:

• visiting teams: small groups who come and offer to teach on a Sunday, run Sunday school, lead worship, hold a VBS (or similar thing) for a week; their presence is not only a break for parents but a delight for the kids
• teachers: we have loved so many of our teachers and they have reached deeply into our children at times and encouraged them
• children's teams: these groups come and run a program for 1-2 weeks, 8 hours a day. If you have followed us for the past many years you know that we loved, loved, the children's team who attended our conferences. 

A children's team can make or break a conference. And we've experienced both (at a different conference). A children's team gets to know those MKs, encourages them, has fun with them, challenges them (especially in the high school group), cries with them (especially those little ones away from their parents). They loved our kids and our kids loved them. A children's team at conference brings the stuff of memories for years to come. Some of our children were baptized by those children's team members. That shows you how important people on a children's team can be in the life of an MK.

We were fortunate to have the same church send a team for every conference we attended with our organization. We loved seeing them year after year. But as you know we frequently attended a second conference. That conference had a different children's team every year. They still brought fun, encouraged our children, and listened to them, and helped them grow in their faith. 

What about you? Do you love children? I learned recently from a colleague about a group called Refuge139. The name is based on Psalm 139:9,10 which says 

“IF I SETTLE ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE SEA, EVEN THERE YOUR HAND WILL GUIDE ME, YOUR RIGHT HAND WILL HOLD ME FAST.”

A children's team member addresses physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs of the children they've come to serve. They stand as a representative of Christ in the lives of those children. There are long days, long flights, challenging cultural and geographical surroundings, and always, always, unexpected situations. But the reward is great. If you might be interested in this kind of service, please visit the Refuge139 website above and read through
it, considering if MK care is something you could be involved in. 

Suffering, Compassion, & Carrying On

I was reading a post today called Why Missionaries Need a Theology of Suffering Really, everybody needs to think about this for their own life, that suffering isn't meant to be avoided, rather it needs to be accepted and even embraced as a part of life. I know, I don't like that either. However in my work and life overseas I have learned the truth of that statement.

A simple example is making new friends. After about four years of living in Asia I was tired of making new friends. Not just a whiny tired where I thought about not making anymore new friends but tired enough to come to the point of not inviting new people over, not going out of my way to introduce myself, not really being welcoming. Why? Because it hurt to have to say goodbye 2 or 3 years later. If you keep ripping a scab off a wound, it ends up worse than it started; might as well just chop the whole limb off, seriously! But there is more suffering still.

What about:

• ever prevalent poverty, hopelessness
• abuse of children
• a family disowning a son because he decided to follow Christ
• the lack of regard for a person because he's not important enough, because she's a woman, because those children are just orphans, because they are elderly...
• the husband whose wife is lying in bed knowing the doctors have done their all so now it's wait and see
• natural and man-made disasters
• the knowledge that a friend has deceived you and took advantage of you and your family

It is so easy to close ourselves off to the suffering around us because it is hard, sometimes it is too much. But to do that is to close off our flow of love and compassion to the world around us. Jesus was sent because of God's love for us and showed compassion in so many of his actions towards the people around him. In our suffering we can open ourselves to receive the love and compassion of our Father and this is the source of our compassion to those around us (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

One of the things I do in member care is help people step back and see what situations/events they have gone through and how it has impacted them. How did they walk through it and how are they on the other side? A bit stronger, a deeper sense of God's peace in times of trouble, a shadow that now sits over them, a weariness in their soul, are they still in it, maybe they don't care about anything anymore... I am humbled to sit with the people I oversee. To allow space for questions about suffering and God's goodness, God's love for us and the world, expectations versus hopes versus reality, and to give opportunity to recall God's character and his faithfulness in the past. To pray for them. It is an honour. 

Several years ago, you may recall, I wanted nothing to do with going back to Asia. I wouldn't even talk about it. I felt beyond weary. It took just over a year and the help of some caring and wise people before I was ready and able to return overseas. The suffering experienced and compassion shown, shaped me tremendously. 

I pray, and want you to pray with me, that I can continue to do that for others. 

After a lot of Prayer and Conversation...

For the past year and a half or so we have been up front about our state of finances. I can promise you our financial income is not something we enjoy talking about, especially when they are low. Prior to returning to Canada the amount of financial support we have received from you our supporters has always been sufficient. Even when $1 Cdn went from buying 8 of the local currency in Asia to only buying 6 of it, and even though we started out with one child when we first left and had three children by the time we returned home. Barring exception circumstances our income was sufficient.

We faced challenges though upon returning to Canada. Namely Canada is more expensive than Asia. Also Oshawa is more expensive than Windsor. To stay involved with Wycliffe Bible Translators Canada, which we felt was the right decision upon returning to Canada, we knew we needed to be in the GTA. We have been unable to make up our shortfall in financial support. As we began to realize that our income would not be sufficient we knew we could not continue on as we were, something had to change.

If you have followed us for the past few years you know that one of the greatest needs our family was looking for in returning to Canada was stability. A post I wrote a few months back was entitled "I think we've turned the corner". That had to do with finding our feet, fitting in, feeling stable. I promise you, more change was not high on my list nor was it at the bottom 😔 It wasn't on any list I may have had. But change has come anyway.

Essentially we found we had two options before us: I could return to the health care field or find a way into the counselling field though I am not licensed, or Jeff find a job. The member care adviser role is typically done by someone who raises their own support and I really enjoy what I do. Jeff's education, training, and work experience is in Bible translation, which he also loves. How do we fit into the Canadian workplace?

Now, over and over again we have seen God work in weird ways. Way back in 2007, in Asia, we were given a choice to move to one of two cities. Our personal choice was neither. In the back of our minds we had a plan that seemed to fit our skills, gifts, and the purpose of our being in China. Our leadership stuck with their original options. That is how we ended up in the city we spent most of our time in. What you may not know is that only a few months after we moved to that city, the town we had wanted to move saw all it's foreigners given 24-48 hours to pack up and leave. There were escalating tensions, unrest, self-immolations and the like. It was years before they were allowed back to gather any left over belongings. Various circumstances came together to direct out path different from what we envisioned.

We seem to have walked through a similar situation. Reasons to return to Canada, reasons to move to the GTA, insufficient financial support. A different path than what we envisioned. After much prayer and conversation with family, friends, and supervisors, Jeff has resigned his position with Wycliffe Bible Translators and accepted a job with the Canadian Bible Society (CBS).

In his job he will continue in Bible translation the difference is that he will be focusing on languages in Canada (and also Alaska). Members of our First Nations, Inuit...are approaching both CBS and Wycliffe for help with translating the Bible into their own languages.

What about me? I will continue as a member care adviser for Wycliffe Bible Translators Canada. I will still need your financial support so that our missionaries can remain on the field. The income I receive from you, our supporters, combined with Jeff's income at CBS will take us back to a sufficient level of income. Thank you for supporting me in this way, you are making a difference.

We are thankful for the 15+ years Jeff has been able to give to Wycliffe, and we are also excited for what the future brings with CBS. If you have known us since we've been married you know that shortly after being married we lived in Attawapiskat, a Cree-speaking First Nations reservation in northern Ontario. At the time we inquired about Bible Translation projects up there but we were told there was no need: they had Bible portions they were happy with. We are not entirely surprised to feel like we have come full circle in this, with Jeff being involved with indigenous Canadians again.

Again, we want to express our  thankfulness for your prayers and financial support. If you have any questions, please do get in touch with either of us.
brandie.green@wycliffe.ca
jeffgreen76@gmail.com

Sign Language Translations: What I didn't know

(originally posted on May 24, 2017)
As a member care adviser, one of my newest members is working with multiple sign language translations in Asia. I have to admit that my ignorance of the need for a Bible in Signed Languages was high, as in I really knew nothing. Here's a 6 minute video on why the signed languages of the world need their own Bible translations; and it's why I'm delighted to add this new member to the group of those I supervise.

Altar-ed meaning

(originally posted on 2017-02-14)

I (Jeff) was in Asia consulting for two translation teams last week, and supervising a translation consultant-in-training. We were checking Genesis 10-23 in one language, and 11-17 in a related language.

In Genesis 12:7 we came across the word for 'altar', and one of the things translation consultants check is how teams handle words for items in the Bible that modern cultures don't have. The two people groups we were checking the translations for are Buddhist, and they do have altars. A related-language translation that both teams used as a resource already had a word for altar, and that term seemed to work for one of the two teams we were working with.

The consultant-in-training happened to know that the related-language translation team was reconsidering its word for altar. The word seems to mean a small altar: these altars can go in houses or in temples, and they're used for offering various food offerings or incense to their gods. The altars in the Old Testament, however, were used for offering entire animals on, and there's no way a sheep or an ox could fit on one of the altars this word describes.

As we talked about it with the team that was using that word, they agreed that that kind of altar was small, and typically located inside a room, so it was not an appropriate word to describe the Old Testament altars. They laughed at the idea of putting an animal on that kind of altar. They also have larger, outdoor altars, and they were happy to switch to using the word for those.

Problem solved. Or so we thought, until a couple days later when we brought in someone else from the community to test how well the translation communicated. She suggested another spelling for the term we’d settled on, and as we talked about the term, we realized that it really meant a place where incense or fragrant branches are burned as an offering. It’s big enough to fit an animal on, but this people group doesn’t sacrifice animals; would this word work well enough anyway? She didn't think so.

Sometimes you have to pick a word that doesn’t quite work, and hope the rest of the translation helps readers make sense of it. A few chapters later when Abraham puts Isaac on an altar, and then sacrifices a ram on it, does this word still work? This team doesn't have that chapter ready yet, so we couldn't test it. The team will have to do more testing with people in the community to see if they can use this word, or if they’ll have to coin a new phrase, like “thing for doing sacrifices on”. (Incidentally, that's how the other team we were working with handled 'altar'.)

I wouldn't have checked the word for altar so carefully myself. As far as I knew, the related-language translation team, whose work has been carefully checked and approved by a number of consultants over the years, had settled on a good word, and it was no problem for other translations to use the same word. But when we got the right people together and asked the right questions, we were able to identify this translation problem. If only the solution were as easy to find as the problem was!

This team thanked us at the end of the week with these words: “We had a good time and learned a lot. Our translation has become more idiomatic and accurate because of your help. Your sacrifice and hard work are greatly appreciated.”

We've Turned the Corner, We Think!

(originally posted on 2017-02-01)

We returned to Canada just about 18 months ago. Considering that on average it takes three years to be settled after a move such as we’ve made, then we are at the halfway point. Thank God for that. Seriously. Thank God that we have made it this far without falling apart. Honestly I feel as though we’ve turned a corner. The indicators are lots of small ones more than they are big things.

Friendships:
While Eli and Ana made friends pretty quickly, Sophia has taken longer but I think she has made some connections in the past couple months. It was actually Jeff and I who took the longest to form some friendships. But we feel we are well on our way largely due to being connected with a small group at our new church.

Church:
We had settled for a time at a church nearby but after several months had to admit that while it was a good fit for some of our family, it was not a good fit for all of us. After a recommendation from our neighbour we tried one about 12 minutes away. It is a medium size church with about 300 members. It has mid-week activities for everyone, small groups for Jeff and I, stuff for each of the kids, and opportunities for both Jeff and I to give back to the church in various ways.

Attitudes:
Attitude is really hard to measure. But overall Jeff and I would say that attitudes have improved. Kids attitudes which were quite negative towards church have slowly, slowly, turned around. They are not where we want them to be yet but they are getting there. At this time I think this would be out greatest prayer request for our family. Pray that our children see the reasons to be excited about kids club, about youth group, about Sunday school, about church and community. And pray that Jeff and I respond appropriately when negativity rears its head. Note: while everyone is grumpy sometimes and Sunday mornings are a rush and often chaotic, we are not equating that with a negative attitude.

We know that we will still have rough days, above and beyond the normal rough days that everybody has. Keeping in mind that it takes on average 3 years to be fully settled again, it is exciting to think that we have less time ahead of us than what we’ve already come through. The days where we feel we are slogging through parenthood, settling, work etc. are less and less, and the days of joy in these things are more and more. Thank God.

What do Member Care Advisers Do?

(originally posted on 2017-01-12)

I’ve shared some work with MKs (missionary kids) and that is still something I do within Wycliffe. My main role though is called a Member Care Adviser (MCA). It’s a role that I have been slowly taking on and have recently stepped into more fully. In Wycliffe Bible Translators Canada, a MCA has a wide range of responsibilities.
Some are administrative type things: making sure forms are filed on time in the appropriate place with the appropriate people. For example, your daughter and son-in-law are missionaries. Every time they end a visit in Canada and return overseas we ask for information such as, where is your will located, who are your emergency contacts and what is their contact information, are you financially able to carry on this work. We make sure they have their overseas medical insurance in place and that they have met all the OHIP requirements for continued coverage even if they are out of the country. An avoidable outcome would be to have your daughter and son-in-law lose their OHIP. It is not simple to regain.
Some responsibilities are more person-focused. When your brother has moved around the world, you want to know that he is going to “be okay.” Is he learning the culture and the language? Is he making friendships? How is he growing spiritually? Is he taking care of his health? Is he adapting so that he can live in a new place with the least amount of stress possible? These types of questions are mostly addressed by his supervisor overseas but his MCA here in Canada keeps their eyes open. When something seems potentially questionable in a work-report or in a newsletter, the MCA follows up. And when your brother returns to Canada for a visit you can be sure all of these questions are explored.
Some responsibilities are work-focused. Your parents have worked overseas maybe for 25 years, maybe for 10 years. Are they satisfied with their work? Are they still able to achieve the results they and/or others have set with or for them? Are their supervisors keeping up with their responsibilities for your parents? Are they considering moving back to Canada, or to another country, or just to a different position? There are many factors (health, finance, ability…) to consider in any of those scenarios and your parent’s MCA is one of the people who ensure your parents are not only aware of those factors but also take them into account.
I currently care for 25 families of about 40 adults and several kids who come from Manitoba, Ontario, and the East Coast. I have one family whose parents are aging and need more care. What does it look like to honour parents when your work is overseas? Are there opportunities in Canada if they move back? On the other end of the family spectrum I have a family whose children are considering post-secondary education. Some families return for 6 months, settle their child into university, and then return overseas. Some families return for a full year. Some return and stay until all their children seem to be settled. Some return permanently. What is the right choice for these families and how do they make their decisions?
When you pray for and support me, you are also supporting missionaries in parts of Eastern Europe, Asia, East Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North America! Your reach is far. Not only to these families I care for, but also to the families who have let them go.
Thank you for your ministry to me and to them.

Spreading the Word about Translating the Word

(originally posted on 2016-11-28)

Jeff writes: Do you remember being in your early twenties and trying to figure out what to do with your life? That’s the stage of life that my Linguistics students at Tyndale are in, along with their peers who are studying in other programs. As students at a Christian university, they’re seeking God’s will for their careers, and they’re open to trying new things. Some of them are already committed to missionary work, some specifically to Bible translation. Others have other careers in mind, or perhaps have never seriously considered a career in full-time cross-cultural ministry.

I was in their place once too. I took the summer between my 3rd and 4th years of university to explore Linguistics and Bible translation by taking classes at Canada Institute of Linguistics (CanIL). At the time, I told myself I was “giving God a chance to talk me into missions.” And He did! And He used my teachers, my classmates, and the speakers in chapel services to open my eyes to the need for Bible translation and the gifts He’d given me that could make a difference in this work.

Earlier this month we put on an event for Tyndale students to introduce them to Bible translation. CanIL’s president was visiting for meetings, and he was happy to be our speaker that evening. We bought pizza, pop, and water for the students, and publicized the event around campus by putting up posters inviting anyone who was interested. (And by “we”, I’m including our Linguistics students: they really got behind this event and did a lot of work spreading the word and helping out.)

We set our expectations low; we’d never done something like this here before. We were hoping for 20 students and we bought pizza for 40 (just in case!); about 30 attended. They were really engaged, they asked great questions, and our students told us they were still talking about the event for days afterwards.

That same week was "Missions Week" at Emmanuel Bible College, and I went and spoke to a class there about Wycliffe and Bible translation.

It’s a privilege to be a part of this part of these students’ lives, to help them learn about the need for Bible translation, to help them explore whether they might have a part to play, and to equip them for the work if they choose to go that direction.

MK's are Mobile (MK Characteristics #2)

(originally posted on 2016-11-16)

Our children have asked us, more than once, how many airplanes have we been on? I can’t give an answer to that without a good five minutes of solid mental calculation. Every trip to Canada or back to China is at least 3 planes depending on the route. Once we took something like six planes, it was cheaper that way; we never did it again after that because of the travel disaster it turned out to be. Then we have conferences to attend which were always out of the country. Over 11 years the flights have added up.

They are used to travelling. This does not mean that they like travelling. When we look at our own children we have one who would be happy to never step on an airplane again if at all possible; travelling is okay if it’s done on a train. Home is the ideal place to be. But we also have one who loves the idea of travelling and airplanes, the longer the airplane ride the better. Regardless of their opinions, each of our kids have a preference of where they like to sit on a plane. Given enough time an MK could recite the airplane safety demonstration for you. Some MK’s are more used to trains. They could tell you the pros and cons of the upper berth or the lower berth in a sleeper car. And they probably have an opinion about it. Travelling is normal. Vacations are normal. When we returned to Canada our kids were rather shocked that we would not be travelling to Thailand for a break.

They are used to airports but that familiarity can be expressed differently by each MK. Airports are a great place to play, to people watch, to identify different airline carriers. The arrival/departure screens are fun to scan to see where people are coming from and going to. Moving sidewalks can be boredom busters. Bigger airports often have interesting artwork and sculptures. Those are all ways to experience an airport. Other MKs are not fans of airports. The passport check, the security scan, hallways full of people all mean that making it to the seating area and pulling out headphones and a tablet are the best way to go. Whichever view an MK holds though, they are familiar with airports. They are not caught unaware by the need to unpack their electronics. They know not to bring fluids through security. It always takes longer than expected and don't get why the person 5 spots ahead is angry because they didn’t have that appropriate expectation.

Whatever their opinion on moving around, the fact of it is normal to an MK. Moving, whether they move or others move, is an expectation not a surprise. It becomes routine. For someone not used to all this moving about it may seem inconsequential, but nonetheless it is part of an MK’s identity. As an adult MK, this characteristic can play out in a couple of ways. Settling down in one place feels impossible. The urge to pack up and move hits them every few years. You can imagine the difficulty that poses when it comes to holding down a job. For others they would rather remain in a job they hate than move to another place where something more suitable, interesting, exciting or just better is waiting. It's impact on their relationships is a topic for another time. 

When you ask an MK where they’ve lived, or where their friends live, or even just where they have been in the world, don’t see their answer as something they are boasting about because they can list off more than a handful of places that are not in North America. Understand that it is a unique part of them that happens to be their normal experience. But do ask them about it, it is one way to get to better understand an MK you know.

Laying a foundation

(originally posted on 2016-11-14)

We moved to Oshawa at the end of October, a year ago. It feels like we’ve spent most of the year laying a foundation for our new ministry roles and our lives here. We didn’t know anybody in Oshawa when we moved here; we’re now involved in church and in a small home Bible study group; we all have friends here now. We’re grateful for how God has provided community for us at church, school, work, and in our neighbourhood.

Jeff’s work has involved:

• teaching two linguistics classes at Tyndale for CanIL, Wycliffe’s training partner.
• taking two seminary classes at Tyndale and the first year of his D.Min. program at Gordon-Conwell.
• helping six different Bible translation projects in Asia by checking drafts of Judges, 1-2 Timothy, 2 Kings, Jonah, Mark 1, Genesis 1-6, and Leviticus, and he’s currently half-way through 1 Kings.

Brandie’s work has involved:

• preparing resources for MK (missionary kid) care in Wycliffe. She’s been putting together resources for parents to better help their kids with challenges related to being an MK.
• care for Wycliffe members who come from Manitoba. Eventually members from Ontario and the rest of eastern Canada will be her responsibility as well. She is grateful for the chance she has to learn the Member Care Adviser role and to work with Wycliffe members around the world, encouraging them, praying for them, generally looking out for the overall well-being of our colleagues.

The foundation-laying parts of that have involved learning our new roles: curriculum development and lesson planning for Jeff, and getting to know Wycliffe Canada’s member care procedures and our colleagues from various parts of the country for Brandie. We’ve also been learning about the missions community in and near Toronto and opportunities to serve alongside other organizations for the benefit of the Canadian church.

Partners and support

We’ve also spent some time connecting with current ministry partners and sharing with potential new partners. God has provided amazingly through regular monthly donations from some of you, through increases in giving from some of you, and through one-time donations from others of you, to the point that our budget for the past twelve months has been completely covered!

We can’t expect one-time gifts to repeat themselves. We’ve received commitments for 70% of our monthly budget for the coming year, so if you know anybody who might be interested in what we’re doing, please help us connect with them.

Prayer requests

Please pray that we have indeed made a good choice of a church to become part of. Pray that our small group leads to deep friendships; pray that our kids would each make friends in their age groups.

Pray for Jeff’s students. They’re at a time in their life when they’re trying to figure out their future careers. One of his students is heading towards Bible translation; one wants to teach English overseas as a missionary. Among the others, there are some who seem interested in language-related missionary work. Pray that they find their places in God’s work.

Pray that Brandie would be a good learner and a good provider of member care in the different areas and ways that she provides it.

Praise God for the way you His people have supported the work of His that we get to do, specifically, that He provided through you 100% of our budget for this past twelve months. As for the future, please pray for the remaining 30% of our monthly budget to be met soon.

My perspective isn't the only one

(originally posted on 2016-10-18)

The fall semester is well under way. In fact, it’s midterm time already. I’m teaching “Morphology and Syntax 2”, an advanced grammar course, for Linguistics students at Tyndale University College. The program I teach for is a partnership between Tyndale and Wycliffe Canada’s training partner, Canada Institute of Linguistics.

With what time I have left over these days when I’m not teaching or preparing lesson plans, I’m consultant-checking a draft translation of 1 Kings into a minority language of East Asia. I’m glad I can stay involved in Bible translation work overseas alongside my work for Wycliffe in Toronto.

When I came to 1 Kings 5:14, I was reminded of how our perspectives on Scripture depend so much on ourselves and our own situations.

1 Kings 5:13-14 (NET) says “King Solomon conscripted work crews from throughout Israel, 30,000 men in all. He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. ...”

When I read this, I thought about all the negative features of this forced labour. I thought, it’s unfair for the king to tell his people to go do his work. How much did he pay them? I assume he supplied their food and shelter while they worked, but would they have received any salary beyond that? And who would have worked their farmland, tended their animals, or took care of their businesses while they were away? I assume their friends and family would have stepped up and did what they could. But it would have been a difficult situation all around. What a bad king! Surely he could have hired people the way a civilized employer does!

But putting myself in the shoes of this translation’s audience, I realized that my perspective isn’t the only way to think about this situation. It is extremely common in their area for men and women to leave their homes and travel to larger, richer cities in search of work. They often end up working in factories, making goods for us in the West. Their work shifts are long; the working conditions are not as worker-friendly as here. Chances are, they live in small apartments or dormitories provided by their employers, and they probably get all their meals at their factory cafeterias. What salary they do receive, and it wouldn’t be much by our standards, they send back to their family in the village, to pay for relatives’ medical bills, or for their own children’s education. (It’s common for children to be left behind in the village to be raised by grandparents or other relatives.) Husbands and wives might not work in the same factories, or even in the same city as each other. There are three week-long holidays each year when they can travel home, if they can afford to. It’s a difficult life, but they make these choices to give their children a better future than they could provide as subsistence farmers at home.

What would stick out to this audience from this passage? I think they would notice that Solomon’s workers got two months at home after every month away at work. They might think, “What a good king! If only we could see our loved ones that often!”

I don’t know what the original audience of 1 Kings would have thought when they read these words. This is worth thinking carefully about. In any case, I’m glad for this reminder that the passage isn’t necessarily saying what I think it’s saying when I only consider it from my own perspective.

Hidden Immigrants

(originally posted on 2016-09-16)

My (Brandie’s) work lately as part of the member care team for Wycliffe Canada has been preparing resources for families with children. I want to take the next several posts I write to tell you about MK’s and some of their characteristics that may be hard to identify. May this information help you as you welcome and spend time with missionary families who are home for visits or are returning permanently.

The first characteristic can be called “Hidden Immigrants”. I’ve picked this one to talk about first because I have the perfect story to share with you that shows this characteristic clearly. You all know what an immigrant is: someone who has moved to Canada, to live, from another country. Typically they look different, they dress different, they think somewhat differently, they approach relationships differently, they may have different beliefs about faith, politics, society, etc. A hidden immigrant is someone who looks like they fit in. They dress ‘normally’, they look like everyone else. Of course, in Canada there isn’t necessarily a ‘normal’ look but we still have ways of categorizing people as either Canadian or not.

Our children are Canadian, they have Canadian passports, two of them were born in Canada, and they were raised in a Canadian household. They wear Old Navy and don’t have an accent. They are not obviously different from the majority of their classmates.

This week at school one of our children was sitting in a social studies lesson. The teacher was explaining various ways Canada was great. An easy way to do this, for the teacher, was to compare Canada to other world regions. Our child related this lesson to us after school and noted that the teacher was bragging about Canada. Our child was quite upset. Why? Internally this child significantly identifies with China. In talking about the good of Canada, the bad of Asia was brought forward. Our child felt that their home was being attacked. I’m sure the teacher never realized that our child would sooner identify with China instead of Canada. This child is a hidden immigrant.

The next time you spend time with an MK, remember that although they may hold a Canadian passport and even though they may have had Canadian schooling by their Canadian parents, much of who they are has been shaped and informed by the culture in which they have grown up. What they believe to be home may not line up with their passport.

Challenges to Bible Translation

(originally posted on 2016-09-06)

We came across this recent article in Evangelical Missions Quarterly that explains why so many languages still need Bible translation: https://emqonline.com/node/3435

Number 3 on the list: lack of training for translators. Jeff teaches Linguistics at Tyndale as part of Wycliffe’s training partner, Canada Institute of Linguistics, to address just this problem.

Number 5 on the list: lack of qualified consultants. Jeff consults for Bible translation projects in Asia to address this problem.

Number 6 on the list: high attrition. Brandie serves in Wycliffe’s Member Care department to address this problem.

We’re directly addressing three of the six challenges identified in the article! It’s nice to know that our roles, and your partnership with us, are making a difference.

Need

We cannot continue to make this difference without more financial support.

Wycliffe members do not receive a set income, but rely on God to provide for us month by month as He prompts people to send in donations to Wycliffe and designate those donations to our ministry. (See the “Donate Now Online” button on the left?) Could He be prompting you to help us continue our necessary roles in the worldwide Bible translation movement?

What does a translation consultant do? (Part 2)

(originally posted on 2016-08-22)

This post is part of a series on Jeff’s work as a translation consultant. Read Part 1 here.

Bible translation is hard work. Before you translate something, you have to understand it, and the Bible can be hard to understand. Even one of its authors says so (2 Peter 3:15-16)!

Translators need to use all the resources they can to understand what they’re translating. Without outside help, it can be easy for any of us to import our own ideas into the Bible and assume it means one thing when it really means another. Translators are trained to interpret the Bible, but some get more training than others. Consultant-checking evens things out by ensuring that someone outside the project, someone with a certain level of ability at interpreting the Bible, evaluates each translated verse.

I was checking a translation of Leviticus into a language of the Asian highlands. Leviticus 12:4 says that after a woman has given birth to a son, "Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days" (NRSV). The Hebrew reads more like the ESV: "Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying", but the verb "continue" means "remain" or even "dwell". In other words, the Hebrew is a little hard to understand here (like the ESV!).

The translation I was checking said, "For a woman, after giving birth to the child, in order that her flow of blood become clean, she has to remain at home for thirty-three days." I made a note to the team about the "flow of blood becom[ing] clean" part, and pointed them to the excellent NET Bible footnote on that issue. (See note #8 in Leviticus 12.) That's not the point of this post.

What I found interesting was the "remain at home" part. Where did that come from?

The Hebrew word can mean "stay" or "live" somewhere, but it wouldn't normally mean something as specific as "stay home" without more help from the context. So, "remain at home" isn't just some other equally-valid way to read the Hebrew; it isn't that at all. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing hard to understand about this part of the verse: the Hebrew says nothing about staying home. This idea must have come into the translation from somewhere else.

In the country where most of the readers of this translation live, there's a custom that a woman stays home and does not even shower, bathe, or wash her hair after childbirth for 30 days. She can't eat raw fruits or vegetables or drink coffee or cold drinks; she has to wear socks all the time (to keep from "catching a cold"!). Nobody in that culture would notice anything unusual about a translation of Leviticus that says women need to stay home after childbirth.

I don't think that the ethnic minority that this translation is for traditionally had this practice, but I wouldn't be surprised if they've picked it up from the majority culture, or even had majority-culture doctors insist on it.

I looked at five Bible translations in the national language of that country. The ones used most by the majority-culture church there, three of the five, all also translated Leviticus 12:4 to say "stay home". The other two, more contemporary translations, interpreted it more like English translations do: she "stays" or "remains" in a certain state for that length of time.

So the translation I was checking had imported the meaning "stay home" from the national-language translations and from the majority culture. How often do we read ideas into the Bible because we expect it to match our way of thinking? Probably more than we realize.

I wrote a note about this for the team, directing them to read the NET footnote to understand the situation, and recommending that they remove the words "at home" and adjust the verb they'd chosen so that it doesn't imply that the woman has to stay home for those thirty-three days.

Checking Leviticus

(originally posted at wycliffe.ca on 2016-08-09)

Jeff writes: I'm checking a translation of Leviticus in an Asian highland language this month. My first observation is that Leviticus is much easier to check than it is to read! I'm finding the content much more engaging than I seem to remember.

Maybe it's that I'm checking it in an Asian highland language, and Asian highland people have a history of sacrifices and offerings on altars. Nowadays they still offer various kinds of grain offerings and they burn incense and light candles. They've got ceremonial trumpets they'll blow in the monasteries too. In the past, at least in some areas, they would sacrifice animals. Sounds a lot like the Old Testament. It's really handy that they've got all these words and ideas already available to be used in translation!

In these ways, their culture is much more like the ancient Hebrews than my culture is. Asian highland people have told me they really enjoy the stories of Abraham and the patriarchs in Genesis, because they can relate to the nomadic lifestyle - living in tents and moving around a lot with their flocks and herds. I can imagine those things; they don't have to imagine, because many of them are still living that lifestyle today. The language used to describe those things in the translation I’m checking just seems so natural. I find it easier to take it all in in their language than in English, I guess because the cultural distance is less. The ideas seem to fit their language better than they fit mine.

What do you think? Do you have any reflections to share on cultural distance related to the Bible?

What does a translation consultant do? (Part 1)

(originally posted at wycliffe.ca on 2016-07-26)

Jeff writes: In this series, I'm going to give you glimpses into my day-to-day work checking Bible translation drafts. You can read Part 2 here.

Yesterday, I was checking Jonah. In the workshop we had in June, one of the issues we talked about was translating references to God in the Old Testament. The issues are a little different compared to the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, God is referred to in a number of ways. Some of the most common are:

• ’elohim, typically translated "God" English when referring to God, and translated "gods" or in other ways when referring to someone or something other than God,
• YHWH, typically translated "LORD" (in small caps) in English, and
• YHWH ’elohim, typically translated something like "LORD GOD" (in small caps) in English.

Some scholars believe that the authors/editors of the Old Testament were doing something deliberate when they chose from among these three options. It's a good idea in translation at least to distinguish between YHWH, which is a name, and ’elohim, which is a common noun. That is, translations should not collapse both into some word that means "God".

The translator I was checking Jonah for had been at the workshop, and he revised his draft of Jonah because of what he'd learned there. His earlier draft had "God" and "Lord God", like the New Testament. (It doesn't work to say "Lord" on its own in this language.) But after the workshop, he decided to translate YHWH as a name (which it is), using something that sounds like "Yahweh" in his language. So now the draft has a word that means "God" for ’elohim, and a word that sounds like "Yahweh" for YHWH. It was my job to check this change for consistency.

I did a search in the Hebrew of Jonah for the word YHWH. It occurs 26 times. I did a search in his draft, and found 21 occurrences of "Yahweh". That could be ok: sometimes in translation, you'll say "he" instead of someone's name, for the sake of naturalness. So I went verse by verse through each occurrence, and found two spots, Jonah 1:4 and 1:17, where "Yahweh" did not occur in the translation. 1:4 just had "God", and 1:17 had "Lord God". These weren't deliberate translation decisions for the sake of naturalness; they were mistakes. He'd simply missed updating these two spots. So I pointed this out to him, and he made the changes.

These are some of the things translation consultants do: we help teams think through their translation decisions, and then we help them be consistent.