Friday, August 20, 2010
Update from Doug Wright on his August Congo trip
Dear Praying Team,
Thank you for praying for Doug's July translation consultant trip to work with the Logo team. We are so grateful to God for his enabling this trip. Thought you'd like to read about how God answered each of the prayers:
• No one was ill during this entire checking session: what a blessing after the March session when each translator and Doug were ill during the month.
• The box with 6 computers DID arrive, a day late but untouched. The computers are now being used by Congolese translation students at Shalom University, Bunia DRC.
• Doug, Aguma, Adara and Madrakele completed the consultant checks of 2 Peter and 2 Corinthians - 16 chapters of fairly difficult epistles genre.
• We updated the Logo translation plan. The team has now drafted 80% of the NT and we've consultant checked about 77%. We're still on schedule to finish translation at the end of FY2012 with technical checks, supplementary materials, and manuscript layout remaining after that. PRAISE GOD.
• Continued our Bible study on what it means to "live in Christ". Shared at a very deep and open level and it was very encouraging and challenging to all of us. Also resulted in some deeper insights on how to handle translation of expressions like "in Christ" in different contexts.
• Did some discourse-level studies (mostly confirming past studies) - pronominal and demonstrative systems, participant reference and clause chaining - in preparation for the Central Sudanic Discourse Workshop in October (I'll be presenting all of these topics).
• Agreed on Logo expressions for a number of frequently occurring biblical notions (e.g. "to warn somebody" is "to pull their ear" or "to poke a finger in their eye". The Logo document of Key Bibilical Terms and other frequently occurring expressions now has almost 200 entries (including first and second choices in Logo and some cultural notes).
• Had discussions with Pastor Lalima, Abbé Malitano, Debbie Hatfield, Brigitte Nédellec on progress of the Logo Project, past challenges, current obstacles and the plan.
Looking ahead... Please would you cover these in prayer?
Regarding the translation process, two of the biggest challenges are getting feedback from the Reviewers' Committee in Todro (they're now five books behind the translation team), and finding good Mother Tongue speakers for the translators to do community testing of complex passages.
My next trip will be 7 October to 7 November, consisting of two weeks of teaching and participating in the Central Sudanic Discourse Workshop in Bunia, DRC, followed by two weeks of checking with the Logo team in Isiro (first part of Romans).
And personally, please would you pray that Beth be completely healed of the recurrent sinus infections (about every 7 weeks for the last 2 years) that she has had due to allergies and upper respiratory infections. These (and really any) infections cause moderate-severe pain and they are taking longer to heal. Please pray about God's leading regarding allergy testing and desensitization injections.
Finally, we start the l-o-n-g road trip to take our daughter, Sarah, back to Wheaton/Chicago Fri to get settled for the start of her junior year. The May trip to pick her up was "eventful" with 2 mattresses flying off of an open pick-up truck on I-65, one of which bounced into the car in front of us and then into our car. God graciously protected all of the people involved, but not the mattresses! It was a harrowing experience which we'd like to never repeat again!
Thank you for continuing to pray.
Blessings in Christ,
Doug, Beth and Sarah Wright
Thank you for praying for Doug's July translation consultant trip to work with the Logo team. We are so grateful to God for his enabling this trip. Thought you'd like to read about how God answered each of the prayers:
• No one was ill during this entire checking session: what a blessing after the March session when each translator and Doug were ill during the month.
• The box with 6 computers DID arrive, a day late but untouched. The computers are now being used by Congolese translation students at Shalom University, Bunia DRC.
• Doug, Aguma, Adara and Madrakele completed the consultant checks of 2 Peter and 2 Corinthians - 16 chapters of fairly difficult epistles genre.
• We updated the Logo translation plan. The team has now drafted 80% of the NT and we've consultant checked about 77%. We're still on schedule to finish translation at the end of FY2012 with technical checks, supplementary materials, and manuscript layout remaining after that. PRAISE GOD.
• Continued our Bible study on what it means to "live in Christ". Shared at a very deep and open level and it was very encouraging and challenging to all of us. Also resulted in some deeper insights on how to handle translation of expressions like "in Christ" in different contexts.
• Did some discourse-level studies (mostly confirming past studies) - pronominal and demonstrative systems, participant reference and clause chaining - in preparation for the Central Sudanic Discourse Workshop in October (I'll be presenting all of these topics).
• Agreed on Logo expressions for a number of frequently occurring biblical notions (e.g. "to warn somebody" is "to pull their ear" or "to poke a finger in their eye". The Logo document of Key Bibilical Terms and other frequently occurring expressions now has almost 200 entries (including first and second choices in Logo and some cultural notes).
• Had discussions with Pastor Lalima, Abbé Malitano, Debbie Hatfield, Brigitte Nédellec on progress of the Logo Project, past challenges, current obstacles and the plan.
Looking ahead... Please would you cover these in prayer?
Regarding the translation process, two of the biggest challenges are getting feedback from the Reviewers' Committee in Todro (they're now five books behind the translation team), and finding good Mother Tongue speakers for the translators to do community testing of complex passages.
My next trip will be 7 October to 7 November, consisting of two weeks of teaching and participating in the Central Sudanic Discourse Workshop in Bunia, DRC, followed by two weeks of checking with the Logo team in Isiro (first part of Romans).
And personally, please would you pray that Beth be completely healed of the recurrent sinus infections (about every 7 weeks for the last 2 years) that she has had due to allergies and upper respiratory infections. These (and really any) infections cause moderate-severe pain and they are taking longer to heal. Please pray about God's leading regarding allergy testing and desensitization injections.
Finally, we start the l-o-n-g road trip to take our daughter, Sarah, back to Wheaton/Chicago Fri to get settled for the start of her junior year. The May trip to pick her up was "eventful" with 2 mattresses flying off of an open pick-up truck on I-65, one of which bounced into the car in front of us and then into our car. God graciously protected all of the people involved, but not the mattresses! It was a harrowing experience which we'd like to never repeat again!
Thank you for continuing to pray.
Blessings in Christ,
Doug, Beth and Sarah Wright
Monday, August 16, 2010
Update from Isaac Anguyo
Thank you for your prayers and all the concern you have shown to us. We work because there is someone standing at the Gap interceding for us.
This year, I went to Germany alone and had some rest in between work. It was wonderful to meet friends and partners who are willing to share their lives with us in the Lord's work.
Sally is coming for a week to be with our son Joel and his wife Jane. It will give her some rest and do some medical check ups. She has not been all that well. She was admitted to hospital for malaria and typhoid.
Thank you for your concern for Elly and Rose. We had a BOD meeting. During this meeting the members appreciated Elly's work and have given him more responsibilities. As I grow older, I shall use him more. He and Rose really need prayers to shoulder more responsibilities.
The Lord called us to start from Jerusalem. Wilmington is your Jerusalem. I shall pray that you will be strengthened and empowered to reach many more for Christ. These too will join the band to reach the world.
This year, I went to Germany alone and had some rest in between work. It was wonderful to meet friends and partners who are willing to share their lives with us in the Lord's work.
Sally is coming for a week to be with our son Joel and his wife Jane. It will give her some rest and do some medical check ups. She has not been all that well. She was admitted to hospital for malaria and typhoid.
Thank you for your concern for Elly and Rose. We had a BOD meeting. During this meeting the members appreciated Elly's work and have given him more responsibilities. As I grow older, I shall use him more. He and Rose really need prayers to shoulder more responsibilities.
The Lord called us to start from Jerusalem. Wilmington is your Jerusalem. I shall pray that you will be strengthened and empowered to reach many more for Christ. These too will join the band to reach the world.
Doug Wright in Congo
Here's Doug's 3rd update from the DR Congo. The final trip report will come out in a few day... (He was due home Sunday night, August 15. They will leave the end of the week to take Sarah back to Wheaton).
I'm gett'n kind'a tired of beans. It's easy to imagine how eating too much of the same thing could lead to poor health. They still taste pretty good, but are kind of hard on the system...if you know what I mean! Really I have nothing to complain about. Joseph, my cook, takes good care of me. Although we only "touchons à la viande" (taste a little meat) about once a week, we still have plenty to eat...especially compared to the extremely poor people I've been meeting in Isiro and the surrounding countryside on my bike outings. But more on that later.
The Lord has really been answering your prayers for us! Aguma, Adara, Madrakele and I have really sensed his protection in the spritual battle. Not to mention the great fellowship, unity, encouragement and inspiration we've all experienced during the translation checking sesssions. We've almost checked 12 chapters of 2 Corinthians, and I expect we'll finish the last chapter tomorrow. Pastor Lalima gave us the ultimate compliment the other day after joining us for a checking session. He says, "Now this is really how the Logos speak, and it's powerful!" Of course, that implies that we need to bring the whole New Testament up to that standard. Next week, we'll print out 20-25 copies of 2 Peter and 2 Corinthians in Logoti for the Reviewers' Committee to check back in Todro. Then hope to finish some consistency checks and update the translation plan before I leave on Friday.
Had an unexpected surprise at church today where I met up with five Logo friends I hadn't seen for years. They'd traveled nearly 350 miles by bicycle on muddy rain-forest roads for some church meetings/training in Isiro (and a couple of them are my age!). After the service, we had quite a chat in Logoti about the progress of the translation project and how the Logo churches are praying for the team and our family. It's really encouraging to hear that the Logos themselves, like many other Christians around the world, are engaging in the battle to see God's Word translated into Logoti. And they were excited to hear that we hope to make it to Todro for the dedication in about 3 years.
I can't seem to shake a growing burden for the poorest Congolese I've been meeting here. It just doesn't seem like enough any more to just greet them and then walk (or ride) on by. And no coincidence that I've been reading a book Peggy Laney gave me on how to help the poor without hurting them (and yourself). So God sends a very special Congolese lady named Kabibi into my life. I first met her last March when she literally came crashing into one of our checking sessions. Some Congolese friends had tried to restrain her, but she was very determined to see me, the visiting "mundele" (white person). It only took me a few seconds to realize that she had more than just a mild mental and physical handicap, affecting the way she walked and causing very slurred speech. I soon found out that she had been abandoned by her parents as a child, was now about 28 or 30, a widow, and had four little kids (three out of wedlock by guys who took advantage of her frail mental condition and then split). I tried not to seem too bothered by the "interruption" of our translation work. Gave her a meager handout which seemed to console her for the moment, and she left. But I couldn't get her off my mind, and knew that I hadn't even asked the Lord how he wanted me to respond.
So guess who shows up again this time. Right! Kabibi - and even more determined than before! She somehow sidesteps Joseph's protesting gestures (he tries to protect me from the many vendors that come to the door), barges through the front door and comes hobbling right up to the translation table. Then she launches into what seemed like a 5-minute supplication for help with food for her kids, begging for mercy, stumbling over words, arms flailing, spit flying. By the end, she was actually trembling - thought she might break down sobbing right then and there. I was struck with pity for her, and even anger that any human being should have to abandon all dignity and beg like that in order to get through to hard calloused hearts like mine. Went over to her and said softly, "You don't have to ask anymore, Kabibi. I'm going to help you!" She was suddenly quiet and a big smile came over her face. I gave her a more meaningful gift, and she was off. But I still had this nagging burden that my gift wouldn't have any lasting effect, and that I hadn't really listened to the Lord.
Well, you wouldn't believe it. I just sat down to write this letter, when someone starts pounding on the front gate. As soon as I opened the gate, Kabibi comes barreling right into me with a baby in her arms and a little girl in tow. "Ok, Lord," I thought, "I'm going to try to listen to you this time." I almost had them sit on the porch, but then thought better of it and had them come in and sit on the couch. Tried to listen patiently as Kabibi stumbles through her plea - this time for help with her daughter, Ndisi's school fees. After repeating herself several times, she says, "I really can't explain what I want to say, so I brought Ndisi to explain to you."
Now Ndisi is a lovely young girl, about 10 or 12 years old, and well-spoken - no sign of any handicap - in fact, obviously quite bright, but with a look of desperation in her eyes. As I listened to her, it suddenly occurred to me, this is the answer! Ndisi is the way the Lord will provide long term for Kabibi and the other kids. She just needs a good education. I asked what she needed for school - a uniform (what a shame she hadn't had one up to then), notebooks and pens, for starters. For a relatively meager sum by Western standards, I was able to meet the need. You should've seen her eyes light up when I gave her a fistful of decent Bic pens! Then I felt led to say to Ndisi, "You should never feel ashamed because of your Mom. She loves you and your siblings so much, she never gives up looking for ways to meet your needs." Ndisi lowered her eyes as my words obviously hit home, then looked up at me through her tears and nodded in agreement.
Well the climax was Kabibi's prayer. In broken Lingala (which, by then, I was following pretty well), she thanks God for his great love for her and her children, only lamenting that she didn't have anything to offer him in return. "Oh Lord, you see us when we don't have food to eat, or enough clothes to wear, or even a roof over our heads at night, and you hear our cries for help!" Then she thanks the Lord for leading them to this fellow believer, who gave them a cup of water in Jesus' name, and then listened to them and met their need. Well by then, it was all I could do to keep from really losing it. Kabibi had finished praying, but I couldn't look up with my eyes filled with tears. When I did, both Kabibi and Ndisi seemed fixated on my tears, perhaps surprised that the Lord could break into even a mundele's heart. As I walked them out to the gate, I found myself thanking them even more than they were thanking me. I was pretty sure that I had received much more through them, than they had through me!
I'm gett'n kind'a tired of beans. It's easy to imagine how eating too much of the same thing could lead to poor health. They still taste pretty good, but are kind of hard on the system...if you know what I mean! Really I have nothing to complain about. Joseph, my cook, takes good care of me. Although we only "touchons à la viande" (taste a little meat) about once a week, we still have plenty to eat...especially compared to the extremely poor people I've been meeting in Isiro and the surrounding countryside on my bike outings. But more on that later.
The Lord has really been answering your prayers for us! Aguma, Adara, Madrakele and I have really sensed his protection in the spritual battle. Not to mention the great fellowship, unity, encouragement and inspiration we've all experienced during the translation checking sesssions. We've almost checked 12 chapters of 2 Corinthians, and I expect we'll finish the last chapter tomorrow. Pastor Lalima gave us the ultimate compliment the other day after joining us for a checking session. He says, "Now this is really how the Logos speak, and it's powerful!" Of course, that implies that we need to bring the whole New Testament up to that standard. Next week, we'll print out 20-25 copies of 2 Peter and 2 Corinthians in Logoti for the Reviewers' Committee to check back in Todro. Then hope to finish some consistency checks and update the translation plan before I leave on Friday.
Had an unexpected surprise at church today where I met up with five Logo friends I hadn't seen for years. They'd traveled nearly 350 miles by bicycle on muddy rain-forest roads for some church meetings/training in Isiro (and a couple of them are my age!). After the service, we had quite a chat in Logoti about the progress of the translation project and how the Logo churches are praying for the team and our family. It's really encouraging to hear that the Logos themselves, like many other Christians around the world, are engaging in the battle to see God's Word translated into Logoti. And they were excited to hear that we hope to make it to Todro for the dedication in about 3 years.
I can't seem to shake a growing burden for the poorest Congolese I've been meeting here. It just doesn't seem like enough any more to just greet them and then walk (or ride) on by. And no coincidence that I've been reading a book Peggy Laney gave me on how to help the poor without hurting them (and yourself). So God sends a very special Congolese lady named Kabibi into my life. I first met her last March when she literally came crashing into one of our checking sessions. Some Congolese friends had tried to restrain her, but she was very determined to see me, the visiting "mundele" (white person). It only took me a few seconds to realize that she had more than just a mild mental and physical handicap, affecting the way she walked and causing very slurred speech. I soon found out that she had been abandoned by her parents as a child, was now about 28 or 30, a widow, and had four little kids (three out of wedlock by guys who took advantage of her frail mental condition and then split). I tried not to seem too bothered by the "interruption" of our translation work. Gave her a meager handout which seemed to console her for the moment, and she left. But I couldn't get her off my mind, and knew that I hadn't even asked the Lord how he wanted me to respond.
So guess who shows up again this time. Right! Kabibi - and even more determined than before! She somehow sidesteps Joseph's protesting gestures (he tries to protect me from the many vendors that come to the door), barges through the front door and comes hobbling right up to the translation table. Then she launches into what seemed like a 5-minute supplication for help with food for her kids, begging for mercy, stumbling over words, arms flailing, spit flying. By the end, she was actually trembling - thought she might break down sobbing right then and there. I was struck with pity for her, and even anger that any human being should have to abandon all dignity and beg like that in order to get through to hard calloused hearts like mine. Went over to her and said softly, "You don't have to ask anymore, Kabibi. I'm going to help you!" She was suddenly quiet and a big smile came over her face. I gave her a more meaningful gift, and she was off. But I still had this nagging burden that my gift wouldn't have any lasting effect, and that I hadn't really listened to the Lord.
Well, you wouldn't believe it. I just sat down to write this letter, when someone starts pounding on the front gate. As soon as I opened the gate, Kabibi comes barreling right into me with a baby in her arms and a little girl in tow. "Ok, Lord," I thought, "I'm going to try to listen to you this time." I almost had them sit on the porch, but then thought better of it and had them come in and sit on the couch. Tried to listen patiently as Kabibi stumbles through her plea - this time for help with her daughter, Ndisi's school fees. After repeating herself several times, she says, "I really can't explain what I want to say, so I brought Ndisi to explain to you."
Now Ndisi is a lovely young girl, about 10 or 12 years old, and well-spoken - no sign of any handicap - in fact, obviously quite bright, but with a look of desperation in her eyes. As I listened to her, it suddenly occurred to me, this is the answer! Ndisi is the way the Lord will provide long term for Kabibi and the other kids. She just needs a good education. I asked what she needed for school - a uniform (what a shame she hadn't had one up to then), notebooks and pens, for starters. For a relatively meager sum by Western standards, I was able to meet the need. You should've seen her eyes light up when I gave her a fistful of decent Bic pens! Then I felt led to say to Ndisi, "You should never feel ashamed because of your Mom. She loves you and your siblings so much, she never gives up looking for ways to meet your needs." Ndisi lowered her eyes as my words obviously hit home, then looked up at me through her tears and nodded in agreement.
Well the climax was Kabibi's prayer. In broken Lingala (which, by then, I was following pretty well), she thanks God for his great love for her and her children, only lamenting that she didn't have anything to offer him in return. "Oh Lord, you see us when we don't have food to eat, or enough clothes to wear, or even a roof over our heads at night, and you hear our cries for help!" Then she thanks the Lord for leading them to this fellow believer, who gave them a cup of water in Jesus' name, and then listened to them and met their need. Well by then, it was all I could do to keep from really losing it. Kabibi had finished praying, but I couldn't look up with my eyes filled with tears. When I did, both Kabibi and Ndisi seemed fixated on my tears, perhaps surprised that the Lord could break into even a mundele's heart. As I walked them out to the gate, I found myself thanking them even more than they were thanking me. I was pretty sure that I had received much more through them, than they had through me!
New from Jennings & Douglas Boone
Thanks so much for your prayers! The move has gone really smoothly. The worst part was getting everything packed and out of the house in Nairobi! We had a very soft landing in Bunia, staying at a friend’s house that is all set up and comfortable… hot showers, excellent househelp/cook, good electricity (most of the time), etc. We jumped into 2 weeks of group meetings (crisis training, management training) and I’m getting ready for a 3-week workshop with Congolese translation teams starting Tuesday. So we haven’t had the normal “settling in” time of finding out what’s where and how to do things, and we haven’t really been able to look for housing yet, though a friend of Douglas’ showed him a couple of places (one didn’t seem secure enough, the other was too huge). While I’m at the workshop, Douglas will be able to concentrate a bit more on house-hunting.
Everyone here has really welcomed us with open arms. We are grateful for a strong community. There were a few rough days this past week when we didn’t have power for 4 days, and therefore didn’t have internet. That has helped us realize that we need to have ‘back-up plans’ in place when we set up our own house.
Everyone here has really welcomed us with open arms. We are grateful for a strong community. There were a few rough days this past week when we didn’t have power for 4 days, and therefore didn’t have internet. That has helped us realize that we need to have ‘back-up plans’ in place when we set up our own house.
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