Full Circle

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Another Palawano Translation?

Yes. Did you know there are THREE Palawano people groups on Palawan? Three related-but-distinct Palawano languages? It’s true. For security reasons, let’s call them Palawano 1, Palawano 2, and Palawano 3.

We did the translation for Palawano 1. Some friends with Wycliffe Bible Translators did a translation for Palawano 2. But Palawano 3 needs a New Testament translation. Actually, they have one–it’s 50 years old and no one can understand it, which is sad.

Another Palawano Translation!

Yes! We’re not going to do this translation. But we’ll be helping those who will.

Some missionaries have moved in among that third Palawano group. Graeme and Rachel are learning the language, and they plan to organize a translation team of native speakers and missionaries. The plan is to adapt our Palawano 1 translation into Palawano 3, and then check it and revise it so that it communicates really well.

We’re excited about this for two reasons: First and foremost, those Palawanos will finally have God’s Word in an understandable form. But secondly, we’re very happy to see all the effort that went into our translation have a wider impact.

Helping Translators Learn Language

In a recent post Then and Now, we talked about how our ministry has shifted to an international focus, and we explained how we are no longer involved full-time with the Palawano work. But we know we’ll never be 100% done with the Palawanos. Lord willing, we plan to return from time to time to do teaching from our translation as we did last February. In the past year we put the New Testament into a mobile phone app, and we are developing Bible teaching materials for the youth.

But… we’re “all about language learning” now, right?

True. And now our new ministry of helping missionaries with language learning has circled right back to Palawan. Bill is helping Graeme and Rachel as they study that Palawano 3. “Our” Palawano 1 is similar enough that Bill can explain things to them about the grammar and vocabulary, and it is helpful. Bill is pretty familiar with Palawano 3, as well. And this is Graeme and Rachel’s third Philippine language, so they are making fast progress.

Once translation begins, the plan is that Bill will help as a translation consultant.

Pray with us that language learning would progress well, and that the new translation team will be able to start soon. Pray for Bill as he helps Graeme and Rachel with the Palawano 3 language.

And for all who had a part in seeing our translation completed for Palawano 1, rejoice with us about the added fruit of seeing God’s Word more easily put into another Palawano language.

God’s Word is life. It’s eternal. Nothing matters more than getting his Word into people’s Heart Languages.

Partnering together, we can get this done for his Glory!

 

 

Image credit: Palawan mother and child. Photo by Norm Rice, former missionary to the Palawanos.

A 40-Year Adventure Continues

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Wedding Invitation crop moreThis isn’t a ministry update… then again, it is. Read on…

 

Bill writes: About 41 years ago, this kid (me) asked his best friend, who also happened to be the most beautiful girl he’d ever met (Donna), to marry him and she said yes. A year later we got married and started the most amazing adventure together: 40 years and counting.

40 years. We can hardly believe it, yet looking back we see the evidence that we’ve done four decades worth of living…

Two beautiful daughters, a couple of awesome sons-in-law, and the world’s cutest grandchildren.

A life full of memories and joy.

And the Word of God in the Palawano language.

We started out with two things we were not going to let go of: God, and each other. And while it’s not always been easy or even fun (life never is), it has been awesome, and worth it all. And mostly fun! We called everything we went through “adventures.” And like hobbits, we knew that adventures can sometimes be uncomfortable–and sometimes they were. They might even make us late for dinner–and they often did. But they were also delightful.

The photo is our wedding invitation photo taken in San Clemente Canyon January 2, 1976. And even that was an adventure. I was home on an all-too-short Christmas break, we were planning a wedding, and we each had one parent in the hospital. We were late for dinner a few times.

40 years. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I can’t, of course, but I will sign up for another 40.

I thank God every day for this beautiful woman and the life God has given us… now, looking back… and looking ahead. I am blessed.

Happy Anniversary, Donna! It’s been a wonderful life and there’s much more to come.

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Missionary Language Nerds, Unite!

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Plow

Why did it take snow plows to get a bunch of missionaries who mostly serve in the tropics all together for a conference? Read on…

Help!

Missionaries who desire to reach an Unreached People Group face a daunting task. Not only must they live in an unfamiliar context and endure an extreme (read: hot!) climate, they must learn an unknown language and culture on their own.

They need help.

Who You Gonna Call?

That’s where guys like Bill come in. We jokingly call them “Missionary Language Nerds.” They are actually a bit strange—they really love languages and language learning (note: many people don’t!) They are the language learning consultants and coaches who help missionaries to succeed.

And this is how God has designed the church. We are a body, each with different gifts. We complement and help one another.

But guess what—even the helpers need help! It’s a huge challenge to help missionaries to learn unknown languages. Each missionary is different; each language is different; and of course, the consultant often does not know the languages the missionaries are trying to learn.

So the helpers need to help each other.

ICLL… Just What The Doctor Ordered

In April, we were able to attend the ICLL (International Congress on Language Learning) in Colorado. Bill was in heaven… not only because we were in the Rocky Mountains in the springtime, but because he got to spend a week with 84 other missionary language nerds who are on the same page as him, who think like he does, who are facing the same challenges.

2016-4-16 RMNP16-Bear Lake

Answer: ICLL was held high the Rockies this time. Pretty, but brrrrr…

Since 2001, we’ve been able to attend ICLL 5 times (it is held every three years.) Networking at these congresses is always encouraging and helpful, and Bill was on the planning committee for over 14 years. The language consultants converge, learn from each other, and are able to borrow ideas and solutions that have worked for others.

Bill presented two talks at the ICLL: How to Help Mixed-Culture Teams, and How to Help Non-Western Language Learners. Both of these were well-received and generated lots of helpful discussion. He learned from other presenters’ sessions dealing with aptitude, coaching methods, and more.

14 attendees at ICLL were from New Tribes Mission, so Bill took the opportunity to get them together a few times to get their input on the international language learning training materials he is developing.

And while we were there, Bill was able to get a committee together to plan the 5th ACLL (Asian Congress on Language Learning) where we will gather language nerds from all over Asia to network and help each other.

Missionary Language Nerds. We help missionaries communicate Christ clearly.

…and we help each other.

And you help us too, through your prayers and partnering with our ministry.

Then… and Now

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Then-Now single

Then (1980s) and now (2016)

 

A LOT HAS CHANGED. (Well, besides the fact that we are a little bit older…)

THEN: For 33 years, it was easy to explain our ministry: Bill and Donna? Oh yeah, PALAWAN. We lived and ministered on Palawan. We worked with the Palawanos (we were palawano.com, for goodness’ sake!) We were translating the Palawano New Testament. It was easy for people to “get” what we were all about. And when people thought of us, they thought of Palawan, Palawanos and translation. Simple.

NOW: We’re all over the place. Lots of different countries. Various projects. We even have to be cryptic about where we are going sometimes for the safety of the missionaries there. Since our ministry is not tied to one location or one people group, it’s harder to get a handle on… especially for many who have had “Bill & Donna = Palawano” in their minds all this time.

Basically, we are helping lots of missionaries to do what we did.

We had to learn Palawano on our own (there’s no Rosetta Stone language course for languages like that.) And other missionaries who want to reach other Unreached People Groups have to do the same kind of language learning. It’s hard! So we’re teaching them how to do it. And many of the missionaries we get to train are non-Western missionaries: Asians from many countries, and (soon) Latin Americans and Africans.

WHAT HAS NOT CHANGED: We’re still with New Tribes Mission, still passionate about seeing Unreached People Groups like the Palawanos reached for Christ. But instead of reaching one people group, now we are a part of reaching many groups as we train others all around the world. It’s a big ministry with many challenges in terms of travel, budget, health and strength, as well as the often daunting task of figuring out how best to train missionaries from such a diverse range of cultures.

We need your prayers more that ever. We need others like you to join our team, as well. So many people groups around the world are waiting to hear the Gospel in their Heart Language. We’re doing all we can to reach those people groups by training missionaries to learn their languages in order to reach them with a clearly-communicated message.

This weekend were asked to shared at the Missions Moment in a church who have been partnering with our ministry for nearly 20 years. So we took the opportunity to make a one-page flyer explaining what we did “back then” and what we are doing now.

We thought you might like to see our cool flyer. You can read it here (or click on it to open it/save it.)

Join our team. Pray for us. Let’s reach the world.

Flyer

There’s an App for That!

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Phone app

From Blow Guns to Smart Phones

The world has changed a lot in the last 33 years, and so have the Palawanos:

1983… When we first moved in among the Palawano people, many of the older men still wore g-strings; few people could read; only two of the women spoke any language but Palawano.

2012… At the dedication of the Palawano New Testament translation, one of our translation helpers was shooting video of us with her smart phone.

The Palawano New Testament is Now an Android app

For years we labored to see the Word of God in the Palawano language… in print. But we could never have foreseen this…

Yes, thanks to the efforts of a tech-savvy missionary in another mission, the Palawanos can Androidnow read their New Testament–and listen to the audio version–on their phones.

Many Palawanos now have very inexpensive Chinese-made Android smart phones. They don’t have internet, and can’t afford to make many phone calls. They mostly use them for texting and taking pictures. But now they can use their phones to grow in their faith.

The app features…

  • SEARCH… so the Palawanos now have the an instant concordance in their pocket.
  • AUDIO… the recorded version of the New Testament can be played from the app.
  • HIGHLIGHTING… each verse is highlighted as the audio plays–this will be a huge help to new readers as they follow along while listening.

BluetoothWe’re very excited as this app gets launched. Palawanos can copy it from phone to phone using bluetooth (yes, they know about “bloo toot”) so the app can spread upriver and downriver, far beyond the reach of any missionary. Even curious unbelievers might get the app and be exposed to the truth of God’s Word.

Join us!

Now we are turning most of our attention to the thousands of yet-unreached people groups around the world, providing training for missionaries from non-Western nations so they can reach others.

Partner with us so that many other peoples can have the Word of God in their hands…

…and on their phones!

♪ ♫ Help! I Need Somebody… ♬♩

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Teamwork

Missionary work is not accomplished by one person working alone. This was very clear on our recent consultant trip to Asia Pacific. Not only do missionaries need help, but those who help them need training…

Let us tell you a little about each person in the photo above:

THE MISSIONARY: Rofi (gray and white shirt) is a missionary, one of a team who are learning the Da’a language so she can share the Gospel and make disciples. Rofi, like many of her teammates, is a believer from the Wana tribe. Not so long ago, the Wana were an unreached people group. Missionaries from NTM took the Gospel to the Wana and now Rofi and many of the other missionaries Bill was helping on this trip are Wanas.

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LEADERSHIP:  It is a big commitment to provide timely help and training for missionaries. Field leader Doug (far left) and the Asia Pacific leadership team took the initiative to bring Bill over to help their missionaries.

THE CONSULTANT: We flew about 9,000 miles so Bill could help missionaries like Rofi make better progress in their language learning. Bill shared what he has learned over the last 35 years to train others to provide that kind of help for missionaries.

THE CONSULTANT TRAINEES: Michael and Elke came along to learn how to do the language assessments Bill was doing and how to help the learners implement some new techniques. In the end, we all learned from one another… and the missionaries received some good help.

THE NATIVE SPEAKERS: Last by definitely not least, Papa Wira and his friend are helping the missionaries learn their Da’a language, and they came to help us assess Rofi and the others’ progress. They were a big help, patient and cheerful.

But That’s Not All!

You are also a vital part of the team. Your prayers, financial support and words of encouragement keep us going!

But… How In The World…?

How can Bill evaluate missionaries’ progress in a language he doesn’t know? And how can we help them learn it faster? Good questions…

…we’ll tell you about that in our next update.