“Empowering others” has become quite a buzzword in missions circles. Missionaries nowadays are trained not to be the solutions to problems but rather to be catalysts for local solutions and local problem solvers. I acceded to this orientation during my training mostly...
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Bible Translation
First Trip to the Zoo
Our West African friends Momodou and Laye are brilliant and fun-loving men. In his late fifties, Momodou has a satirical sense of humor, which reminds me of my brother Steve. Laye is much younger, about 30. He’s a sweet and kind gentleman, like my husband Chocho. Both...
Our Kawah Translation Priorities: Meeting our neighbors on common ground in Scripture
Genesis. Luke. Ruth. Acts. Joshua. James. Exodus. Deuteronomy. 1-3 John. Mark. Numbers. Leviticus. Matthew. This is the order in which the Kawah team progressed through their translation project. I know what you’re thinking. Why don’t you just go ahead and say it?...
Why Can’t You Translate the Bible From Home?
“Can’t you do this from home?” my friend Cindy asked. Cindy was my maid of honor when Malcolm and I got married. She and her husband have faithfully supported our ministry since our beginning with Pioneer Bible Translators some 30 years ago. Her inquiry came from a...
One Little Letter
Baby Steps A Bible translator in Papua New Guinea spends his or her early years becoming a child again. Or so it seems. Most of us arrive here having spent the better part of our lives getting an education. When we move to a rural village, though, we essentially...
Oh, Sorry!
It was Friday afternoon at the end of a long week. The air was deadly calm, so thick you could cut it with a knife, as the seven of us sat in a tiny room in a village house in Papua New Guinea. Every day, from early morning until late afternoon and even some evenings,...
The Palm Sunday Offering That Changed Everything
Our mother tongue is the language we learned as kids from — you guessed it — our mamas. It is the language in which we think and pray and dream, and it is the language that touches our hearts and evokes emotions. It is the language in which the Word of God resonates...
The Problem of Blood
What happens when a person dies? As any Kono person will tell you, when someone dies, there is the problem of blood. Not the blood of the person who passed away, but a blood sacrifice that is needed to ensure that the soul of the deceased will, indeed, make it to God....
Transformed Lives: Fibi’s Faith and Faithfulness
Fibi has had a hard life. As an Apal-speaking woman living in a small village tucked deep inside Papua New Guinea’s tropical rainforest, she is accustomed to the challenges of daily life. Yet it seems that she has experienced more than her share of hardship. Fibi...
Aaron’s Breastpiece Meets My West Africa Village
Kawah men aren’t much for jewelry, aside from traditional amulets for spiritual protection. But my Kawah lady friends love all things shiny. Sequins and metallic embroidery threads are their favorite fashion statements. Cheap costume jewelry abounds in the...
Bookends
It was 1993. I was in junior high at the time, sporting fluffy bangs, big glasses, and braces, and my main worry was navigating the crowded halls of Kirby Junior High so as to ensure a seat in class next to someone I knew. Activities at school and church consumed most...
Icons and Inscriptions
Checks and Balances The air conditioner gently hummed behind me, making a valiant effort to cool the room and remove some of the 95% humidity of Madang, Papua New Guinea. I sat at one corner of a conference table, staring into my laptop screen, comparing what I was...