language learning

Joint Projects

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Enjoying creation… checking out the spring flowers
in the nearby Borrego desert

Here’s a quick update to mention some “joint projects” we’re involved with in our ministry.

Joint Project #1: Reaching the World

Seeing the Unreached People Groups of the world reached for Christ will require a lot of effective missionaries being sent out. So that’s our main focus–developing tools and training missionaries (and training those who train missionaries). We want to multiply ourselves, and see thousands more workers go out into God’s harvest field, well-trained and able to clearly communicate God’s truth effectively cross-culturally and in a previously unknown language.

Here are some things Bill and his team have been doing recently:

  1. We’ve been busying continuing to develop the Stages mobile app that missionaries can use to learn language and culture. We’ve been fixing bugs and adding some requested features. Lord willing, we’re hoping for a new release with wider beta-testing in a month or two.
  2. Bill has been working to finalize the instructional materials for the Engage CLA (culture/language acquisition) program to be used globally by our mission and others.
  3. Bill attended the ICLL (International Congress on Language Learning), collaborating with and learning from others who help missionaries learn language and culture.
  4. At ICLL, several other mission agencies and training centers have expressed great interest in using the tools (Engage and the Stages app) that Bill’s team is developing! Some will even help with beta testing the app.
  5. Bill has recently been part of a discussion group working to better coordinate language learning, linguistics (grammar and discourse analysis), worldview discovery, evangelism, and church planting throughout Ethnos360 and all of its 30+ Global Partners worldwide.

We’re thankful for the chance to keep serving God in this phase of life, and that he’s given us an opportunity to have a part in seeing his kingdom expanded until he is worshipped by people of every tongue, tribe, people and nation!

Joint Project #2: Partnering with YOU

Seeing the Unreached People Groups of the world reached for Christ is a team effort.

We’re thankful for your part in this ministry through prayer, giving, and all kinds of encouragement. We couldn’t do this without you!

Joint Project #3: Keeping these old bodies going

The last “joint” project we wanted to mention is that Bill will be getting a total knee replacement at the end of this week, on Friday March 29.

His right knee has been an issue for years, gradually getting worse. Recently it reached a point where a new MRI confirmed that a knee replacement is the answer. Ministry travel has been on hold while he knee has flared up a few times recently, so we’re working remotely through online collaborative technology. We’re looking forward to being able to go up and down stairs easily and to painlessly walk the length and breadth of international airports soon, once he’s past his recovery period and weeks of physical therapy.

We thankful for excellent health care providers, good insurance, and most of all, an all-powerful, loving God who directs our steps, heals our bodies and encourages our hearts.

Please pray with us that the surgery will go well, that the post-op pain will be minimal, and that Bill will be able to resume full activity quickly.

God Works Long Distance

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Africa (w/out the Trip)

If you’ve been following our recent saga, you know we weren’t able to actually go to Africa as planned. So we can’t call this an Africa Ministry Trip. But Bill was still able to do the ministry part.

He pre-recorded his main introductory two-hour session last Sunday, once his cough was a little better. That way the Africa workshop attendees could watch it first thing Monday morning their time. (To do it live over the internet, Bill would have been teaching it at 1 a.m. San Diego time!)

Throughout the rest of the week, Bill was able to teach several sessions live (see picture below), and to answer their questions which he was getting by email. One of Bill’s teammates covered for him and did another session since Bill’s voice was still tentative all week.

Bill teaching via the Internet

A total of 58 missionaries attended the workshop. These included both Africans and foreigners. Most are on teams working to reach Unreached People Groups, and some of them are also consultants (or “coaches”), who are experienced missionaries who help others learn language and culture in order to succeed in their ministries. Bill and his team were teaching some helpful ways to learn culture and worldview to an even deeper level.

We’re not sure why God chose to change our plans at the last minute. It would have been so nice to be there in person interacting with everyone all throughout the week. But we’re grateful for technology, and the fact that Bill was still able to teach those sessions from a distance. We received some gracious and encouraging positive feedback about the workshop.

And we are so thankful for you and your prayers! Bill’s sickness lingered on, but was never very severe except for fever the ninth and final day.

Please Continue to Pray

Please pray for Bill and his team and they finish the development of the CLA (Culture & Language Acquisition) training materials and the mobile app to go with them and prepare for the global launch of these tools.

Lord willing, there will be more trips to Africa–and elsewhere–throughout the coming year as part of that launch, to get these tools into the hands of missionaries and those who train and coach them.

Pray, too, as they prepare and record training videos using these materials to train missionaries around the globe to communicate the Gospel clearly and effectively.

Need a quick update of what we’ve been up to? Click here to get up-to-date.

If you’re interested in partnering with us in this ministry, click here for more information.

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Africa map photo by James Wiseman on Unsplash, text added

Talk is not Cheap

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Talking is Important.

Missionaries need to talk… fluently! They have an important message to communicate. And it takes years of hard work to gain that fluency.

That’s why Bill and his team are developing the updated Engage culture/language acquisition (CLA) how-to materials, and the Stages CLA app. We want to make the task easier by providing tools for missionary language learners and those who help them.

COVID Hasn’t Stopped the Talking

Recently Bill attended an online conference for those from many mission agencies who train or coach missionaries in the area of language and culture acquisition. ICLL (the International Congress on Language Learning) is usually held face-to-face. But COVID-19 didn’t prevent everyone from coming together virtually to learn from one another!

Over 280 people attended the conference. The attendees from our mission alone represented 8 different nationalities, and they minister in 22 countries. Many of them are training missionaries to reach even more countries where Unreached People Groups are waiting to hear the Gospel.

In a virtual break-out discussion room, Bill was also able to tell several other mission agencies about Engage and Stages, and there was a tremendous amount of interest.

Bill has been Talking (a lot)

In the weeks since ICLL, Bill has interacted with so many people as part of his consultant ministry.

We’d like to tell you about some of those conversations.

Bill has been communicating…

…with a German ministering in South America who helps missionary language learners.

…with an Australian who wants to keep her mission informed about the upcoming release of Engage and Stages.

…with a Brazilian who asked Bill for help and resources so his team can train their Brazilian missionaries to use Engage and Stages to reach the unreached tribes of Brazil.

…with our friends in South Asia, talking about how to help them use the Stages app as they train local workers to reach the unreached there.

…with the American computer programmers who are adding exciting new features to Stages even as you read this update.

…with some Americans in Papua New Guinea who are testing out an early release of the Stages app in order to give our team vital feedback.

…with a South African who is overseeing the training of African missionaries who come from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. He wants to be kept updated and to have Bill’s team provide help so those African missionaries can use Engage and Stages to reach the unreached peoples in Africa.

…with a Canadian in Ontario, and some Americans in Missouri. We’re planning to provide a week of training for them as they prepare to launch teaching Engage and Stages in their respective missionary training programs next semester.

This coming week, Bill will host two online video conferences to debrief our 40+ ICLL attendees to discuss how to apply what they learned in the online sessions.

We’re excited to have a part in providing help and tools for missionaries, for those who train them, and for the language coaches who enable them to succeed.

Jesus Told Us to Talk

All this is to enable more missionaries to…

…talk. To communicate clearly.

To “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.”

Talk isn’t cheap. It can mean a lot of hard work. But when the Gospel is what you want to talk about, it’s worth every effort.

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Fire & Ice

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Tomorrow, Bill is heading to our training center in Missouri where they teach our missionaries how to learn the language and culture of Unreached People Groups. He will take 3 days to update the staff there on the latest version of the CLA (Culture/Language Acquisition) program his team is developing.

He’ll also be meeting with a missionary who will be joining his CLA Development team full-time. We’re thankful for how this will enhance and speed up the project.

Fire

Taal volcano erupting
Taal Volcano

The Taal volcano in the Philippines is erupting. It is near where we studied Tagalog in Lipa City in 1982, so several of our former teachers live still in the area.

Two Palawano young people, a brother and sister named Risyal (“Resh”) and Melanie, are currently attending a Bible institute just outside the 11 mile “danger zone.” They are close, but safe, although they and their classmates are constantly having to clean up ash and concrete-like wet ash on their campus. Their school is also serving as a relief center, collecting and delivering clothing, water and hygiene kits to those who have been affected by the volcano.

We’re proud of them, and thankful to the Lord that he has them there, and for how he is using them to help others in His Name.

Pray for the safety of Resh, Melanie and their classmates. And pray for the relief efforts of their school.

Ice

Winter Storms

This morning, as the latest winter storm hits the US, American Airlines notified Bill that his flight plans might be “affected” because of ice and wind tomorrow. They are offering free flight rescheduling. That’s nice of them! But changing his arrival date will mess up several of his planned meetings. So we’re going to push ahead and ask the Lord to keep the skies clear in Springfield, MO!

Please pray with us to safe and unhindered travel tomorrow!

Coming Soon!

Be on the lookout for our next update. Bill just received the first trial version of the new CLA App! He’s testing it out and looking forward to giving a report.

Worldview

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What Have Bill and Donna Been Up To?

Here are a few examples of what we’ve been doing recently…

  • Bill has been Skyping and emailing with missionaries in the Middle East, Mexico, Brazil, the USA, and a few countries in Asia, helping them work through their language learning struggles.
  • We spent a week in February and again in May at our mission’s HQ in Florida. Bill and his team made exciting progress in the development of the mobile app which will help missionaries learn language and culture.
  • Bill taught a 20-hour class on language and Bible translation to 37 missionaries at Radius International, and then we attended their graduation in June. Now they are all headed out to take the gospel to Unreached People Groups.
  • Bill attended on 2-week workshop on how to help missionaries better learn the worldview of the people they minister to.

Pray for us as we work to see as many well-trained missionaries as possible get out to the field.

And stay tuned for an update on the mobile app Bill’s team is creating to help missionaries learn both language and worldview!

Because everyone deserves to hear in their Heart Language.

What’s the big deal with worldview? If you want to learn more about that, keep reading…

Worldview

Over 7,000 people groups have never heard of Christ. We need lots of missionaries to go. But how can we train missionaries to be effective at communicating the Gospel and making disciples once they get there? One answer: Worldview.

As you know, a big part of the training Bill is providing for missionaries is “How to learn an unknown language on your own.” We talk about that a lot.

But another important part is “How to learn an Unreached People Group’s Worldview.” Bill just spent 2 weeks at a workshop about how to help missionaries learn the worldview of the Unreached People Groups they ministry to.

What’s Worldview?

A culture’s worldview is, well, how they view the world. It’s their assumptions about reality—what they believe is true about the universe; what they believe about themselves and about God (or the gods)… about morality… about the origin of everything… and about their final destiny.

God’s worldview—his version of reality as revealed in his Word—is the only one that is 100% true. Every human worldview is flawed; some are overflowing with error: evolution, no God, 3 million gods, ancestor worship, reincarnation, animism… these are parts of various major worldviews, but these strongly-held beliefs are not true!

Why is Worldview Important?

If human worldviews are full of wrong beliefs, why bother with them? When we bring God’s message—his truth—to an Unreached People Group, why do we need to learn their misguided worldview first? Why don’t we just give them the simple message of God’s truth?

BECAUSE EVERYTHING THEY HEAR WILL BE INTERPRETED IN LIGHT OF THEIR WORLDVIEW.

It’s like they are wearing glasses that have the wrong prescription, blurring everything they see. If we don’t understand their worldview, we will be unaware of all the ways they will misunderstand our message. We won’t anticipate all the ways they might blend God’s truth with their own beliefs (syncretism). They might reject the Gospel for the wrong reason, simply because they don’t clearly understand it. Or we’ll never know why they might seem to accept it when they really haven’t!

“The Bible tells us that God’s son died for our sins, and if we believe in him, we will go to heaven.”

Okay, if we were to give that version of the “simple Gospel” word-for-word to Palawanos, here are some of the many communication problems that would arise:

  • Bible: The Palawanos know the “truth” based on their ancestor’s stories, and what the spirits tell the shaman; Palawanos cite their ancestors’ legacy and say that those teachings are for them, but they believe that the Bible is the Americans’ ancestors’ stories, and is only for Americans.
  • God: Palawanos believe in many “gods” (rice god, river god…) The supreme creator God is thought to be uninvolved with the world, he’s not really loving, he isn’t the one who provides crops and blessings, he doesn’t really care about sin, and he has nothing to do with death or afterlife.
  • Death: Palawanos don’t believe that death is because of sin or because of a judgement by God. People get sick—and sometimes die—because spirits were offended; not by sin, but by trespassing, cutting down trees, etc. So the idea of a substitutionary death as payment for sin is confusing at best.
  • Sin: Almost everything Palawanos consider to be “sin” they see as offenses against people, not against God. Such “sins” are dealt with by simply avoiding the offended person until emotions calm down in order to avoid shame. Many Biblical sins are not considered by Palawanos to be sin. On the other hand, to become a Christian and therefore to stop offering to your ancestors would make you a bad (sinful) person.
  • Believe: It would be rude to tell you they reject your message, so to be polite, Palawanos will pretend to believe for the sake of their relationship with you.
  • Judgement: Most spirits can be manipulated by rituals and amulets, so Palawanos believe that they could manipulate God and avoid judgement.
  • Destiny: Palawanos’ main concern is health and having enough food in this life; everyone dies, but it’s not because of sin; after death, everyone goes to a backwards-but-nice place called Kelebegang.

Do you see any potential problems if the missionary did not take the time to understand the Palawano worldview?

Why is Worldview Difficult to Discover?

Much of a culture’s worldview is implicitly understood. The missionary cannot simply ask, “What are all your beliefs?” and expect to get a coherent summary. Only after very intentional investigation, and much prayerful reflection, can the missionary understand the worldview and its implications for clear Gospel communication.

It’s worth every effort. People cannot be saved unless the first understand the message.

But missionaries need to be trained to do this, and that’s where we come in. It’s not enough to simply know God’s message. Missionaries need to learn another language to the point of being able to communicate the message at all. And they also need to learn the worldview of their audience in order to communicate effectively.

 

Also posted here

Airborne with Airborne

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Our recent ministry trip to the Asia Pacific region was a great success. And we did not experience any missed flights or delays like we did going to Mexico in November.

Now, our travel companions as we were locked inside a metal tube hurtling through the stratosphere… that’s another story. It is flu season–and it’s a bad one this year. Need we say more? People were coughing and sneezing all around us once we were airborne… so we were chewing Airborne tablets like crazy.

We felt like we were traveling with the germ character in this Moderately Confused comic.

But God graciously kept us healthy, both going and coming.

We went to a country with over 200 Unreached People Groups (UPGs)–whole languages totaling over 160 million people who have never heard of Christ. Getting the gospel to them in their Heart Languages is what we’re all about.

And that means missionaries who can communicate clearly in those languages.

But it’s not easy to help someone learn an unknown, unwritten language on their own. For nearly two weeks straight, Bill met with about twenty consultants/coaches/teachers who help missionaries learn two languages and cultures. First they help them learn the language and culture of the country, and then the languages and cultures of those UPGs. Much of the discussion with Bill centered around ways to help those missionaries learn the deep aspects of culture: worldview, values, concepts of God/gods, etc., in order to clearly contrast that with God’s truth.

With God’s help, Bill was able to help the team there enhance their strategies. And at the same time, they all had great ideas that he was able to bring home for his big project: updating that DIY Language/Culture learning program for the mission worldwide.

The harvest is ripe and we need (well-trained) laborers to go out into the world to reap. They need to be able to communicate clearly.

We were home less than a week before Bill had three other trips scheduled between February and May. Pray with us for health and energy and wisdom as we help to train missionaries and those who help them.

We thank God for you and your part in reaching the unreached!

 

Also posted here.