Laughter is a basic and universal human vocalisation to express positive emotions. It usually sounds something like hahaha or hohoho . In English, haha and lol (laughing out loud) are the most common ways to laugh online. But do people from other languages and cultures laugh online in the same way? Apparently, no! Since the sound of laughter is pretty much the same in any language, some different expressions of online laughter are just due to orthography. For example: Spanish – jajaja (in Spanish, j sounds like the English h ) Greek/Russion – xaxaxa (their x sounds like the English h ) And in languages which do not use a Roman script: Arabic – the equivalent of hhhhh (because they do not write short vowels) Korean – the equivalent of kk or hhh (the sound transcribed as k is highly aspirated) Mandarin – the equivalent of hahaha or hehehe Then there are others which use Roman letters to stand for something in their own language: Japanese – www ( warai is Japanese for laugh ) Indonesian – wkwkwk ( w stands for gue which means I ; k stands for ketawa which means laugh ) But the most unusual one, in my opinion, is this one: Thai – 55555 (in Thai, the number 5 is pronounced – you guessed it – ha !) Hahaha is not a term required in Bible translation, but this does provide a light-hearted illustration of how terms may not translate easily from language to language!

by Wycliffe US How could God use a trombone player in missions? Chris Gassler wondered the same thing. As a child, Chris had always wanted to play the trombone professionally, but after years of playing and teaching trombone at the university level, he was starting to feel a bit bored. After talking to his pastor, Chris took a couple of short-term trips overseas with his church and was hooked. “I was ready to do just about anything!” Chris laughed. “But my wife said no. She told me I needed to consider how I might use my skills and education [in missions].” A few months later, Chris was researching different missions organizations and came across Wycliffe’s website. “I clicked on personnel needs, and the first one that that came up was for ethnomusicology and EthnoArts [which] intrigued me because I was actually teaching a class at the time called ‘World Music and Culture.’ Seeing that job was the first revelation that people use world music as a platform for cross-cultural missions. I called the director of [Wycliffe’s] EthnoArts program out of the blue, and we talked for a few hours on the phone.” When Chris told his wife about the possibility, she was immediately on board. “It's pretty easy to understand [why] translating [the Bible] into a person’s language is important,” Chris said. “Arts is another form of communication. When I saw that connection, it suddenly made sense. … And that’s how I made my career change.” Now Chris is an EthnoArts consultant and has spent the last 10 years with his wife, Lori, and their three kids coordinating EthnoArts initiatives across several African countries. ROLE OF ETHNOARTS “In order to ... make a difference and spark that lightbulb moment, you need to touch people in their heart. That’s what EthnoArts does,” Chris said. The goal of EthnoArts is to empower local language communities to use their cultural artistic values to develop biblical-based content. EthnoArts is driven by three core values: be with the community, learn from the community and work together toward Kingdom goals. Those first two steps are hard since each culture has their own artistic values and those values may not be easily understood across other cultures. “For example, when one of my Cameroonian colleagues rides in my vehicle and hears jazz, she doesn’t understand it,” Chris said. “She doesn’t think music without words makes any sense.” Chris knows that the same is true for him. He might see a piece of art or listen to a musical style from another culture that doesn’t make sense to him. “I have to understand where beauty lies in that particular culture and respect their values,” he said. EthnoArts specialists work with the local community to help them identify their Kingdom goals. Community ownership of the arts projects is crucial in order for the local community to be able to reproduce it after the EthnoArts consultant has left. “We want the community at the forefront [of the project], making decisions and owning it,” Chris explained. Once the goals are determined, the EthnoArts specialist uses activities and tools such as recordings, workshops and research to help the community learn how to incorporate Scripture into their artistic traditions. SONGWRITING WORKSHOPS One of Chris’ most common tasks is facilitating songwriting workshops. In these workshops, participants learn how to merge their own artistic values with biblical concepts and Scripture. “We aren’t changing their culture,” Chris explained. “We’re bringing biblical content to their culture so they are still singing the same styles of songs.” After assuring the community that they are the experts in their own artistic style, Chris and his colleagues lead them through a short study of a piece of Scripture. “We digest the Scripture together,” Chris said, “and then encourage them to write songs, using styles or genres that appropriately fit the message of the Scripture.” One time, Chris held a songwriting workshop with the Baca people of Cameroon on Philippians 2:4-11. During the workshop, the participants developed several songs about Jesus being a leader who came as a servant. As some local leaders listened to the songs, they were struck deeply by the message. “Do you think we could [become servants like Jesus] in our own community?” they asked each other. In their culture, it was not considered appropriate for a leader to humbly serve others, but Jesus’ example finally made sense to them through the song! Since then, a local women’s Bible study began adding further verses to the song, and it became a staple in the community’s churches. RESEARCH IS LOVE Another aspect of Chris’ job is showing love and value to local communities by researching their artistic styles. One time Chris visited the Niku*, minority people group living in a major city, to hold a songwriting workshop. But the workshop was a disaster. The Niku were oppressed by a majority people group in the city, and wouldn’t speak their own language or teach it to their children for fear of retribution. The community leaders told Chris it was a bad idea for them to write songs in their own language; it would only stir up trouble. At the end of the long day, only one song was written and most of the workshop attendees had left after lunch. Another aspect of Chris’ job is showing love and value to local communities by researching their artistic styles. Chris felt disheartened, but the trip wasn’t finished. Chris was also supposed to visit a remote Niku village, far away from the influence of the oppressive majority group. In that village, the Niku were proud of their language and still taught it to their children. “One of my colleagues [told people] that I was coming, and people traveled for days to meet us, Chris said. “We just wanted to learn their music, so we filmed and recorded as much music as people wanted to play and that was it.” Chris and his team spent the night there recording and left the next day. A few months later, Chris got a phone call from a friend who worked with the Niku. “You’ll never guess what happened,” he said. “The Niku in the city who had rejected their language got wind that we had gone to the [village] to record their music. They decided since we did that, we must actually be serious about their language. They’ve started meeting on Thursday nights for a Bible study to write songs, and they now have four songs they want you to record!” Since that day, the Niku community has been spending focused time in Scripture, discovering the value of their language and culture. EMBEDDING GOD’S WORD As Chris looks back on his life, he can see how God has worked so many things together to prepare him for a ministry in EthnoArts, including his classical trombone career. “I love the EthnoArts colleagues I work with around the globe,” Chris said. “I’ve never been with a group that has more respect for each other and genuine love and concern. They are the best people in the world to work with!” Through EthnoArts, God’s Word can embed deeply in a community and culture, bringing transformation. “We take for granted the forms of expression that we use and how much they draw our hearts [to God] in the moment of worship,” Chris reflected. “When you see communities accessing [God’s] throne room of grace with their local language and art forms, you begin to realize how deeply these features are rooted in us. It is beautiful.” * Name changed. Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe US

How did the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, indirectly help Paul in his missionary journeys? Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor, established a time of peace and order which extended from Syria in the east to Spain in the west. A network of Roman roads had been gradually built over the years, and he had these improved, extended and maintained to make travel across the empire safer and faster. Major Roman roads were about 6 m wide, level and straight, with mile markers to indicate the distance to the next city. The roads were underlaid with layers of gravel and small stones, with a top layer of large flat stones, cambered for good drainage. Paul, walking long distances on his missionary journeys, would have made use of some of these Roman roads: Via Sebaste: from Perga, through Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, to Lystra (1st missionary journey – Acts 13:13-14:20). Via Egnatia: from Philippi to Thessalonica (2nd missionary journey – Acts 16:12-17:9). Via Appia: from Puteoli to Rome (3rd missionary journey – Acts 28:11-16).

A few of us from the dialect storying team attended an online webinar, “How to Lead an Oral Bible Story Group Session” conducted by members of Cru . They demonstrated ways of running an oral Bible story group session with about 5-6 participants. The participants would learn and craft Bible stories, and practise telling them so they can share the stories in their communities. Telling Bible stories has been shown to be an effective way to share the gospel in the listeners’ heart language. They explained the steps to help participants learn a Bible story orally: Telling and re-telling the story. Inviting participants to tell the story in parts. Employing methods for remembering the story, such as drama, actions, story boards, and a method known as “right-or-wrong” (more on this below!). Inviting participants to engage with the story by reflecting on what they liked or disliked about the story, and what they learnt about God and/or Jesus through the story. The story told during the webinar was quite a long portion of the book of Acts. It covered Peter’s healing of a lame beggar (Acts 3:1-10), the Peter’s sermon (Acts 3:11-26), Peter and John’s arrest, and the increase in the number of believers (Acts 4:1-4). We noticed that the story had included more details on the healing of the beggar, but summarised Peter’s sermon to a few key points which kept the story to under 3.5 minutes. We thought that picking out key points was a technique worth learning to keep the length of the story manageable. It also made the long discourse more understandable and accessible to listeners. I enjoyed the “right-or-wrong” method for remembering details in the story. This method involves the storyteller intentionally telling parts of the story wrongly, so that participants can call him/her out on the wrong details and correct the story. I found it to be an engaging and safe way for participants to think through the details of the story without the pressure of having to retell the whole story. This is a method I am keen to try in future storying events run by Wycliffe Singapore. Read more about Cru’s programme Storyrunners . There are other courses held on the platform EMDC .

One of the multiple spin-offs of the daily word game, Wordle , is the Singlish version, Word-leh . Created by Singaporean Sha-Mayn Teh who is based in New York, Word-leh was first shared with friends on 1 Feb 2022, then released to the public on 8 Feb. After just one day, nearly 10,000 people were playing it! She says that its popularity has surprised her. It really isn’t surprising, really. Singlish, the variety of English widely spoken in Singapore, is integral to the Singaporean identity. Especially when overseas, it’s one of the first ways Singaporeans identify one another, and speaking Singlish immediately builds a bond between Singaporeans. As Sha-Mayn Teh says, “For me, Singlish is about community and culture, and it's a way of keeping a connection to Singapore wherever I go.” Singlish is a unique hybrid of English with words and grammar borrowed from the languages of the ethnic groups who have made Singapore their home. Word-leh ’s appeal combines the attractive simplicity of Wordle with the unique vocabulary of Singlish, incorporating words and grammar from languages such as Malay, Hokkien and English. Which other word game would have answers like dowan , bojio , sibeh and boleh ? Some comments from a small sample of Singaporeans who play Word-leh : “I have a sense of satisfaction that I am Singaporean”, “I have special access to/knowledge of a list of words that other English speakers don't know”, “it’s close to home and relatable”. Although all these people would declare that standard English is their first and strongest language, Singlish touches their hearts in a special way. With this understanding of the unique role the “heart language” plays in reaching every people group, Wycliffe Bible Translators and partner organisations continue to press on to translate God’s Word for every nation, tribe, people and language.

What was the ‘purple cloth’ that Lydia of Thyatira dealt in? "One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth." - Acts 16:14 From as early as 1500 BCE, Phoenicians had started using the reddish-purple dye made from the secretions of several species of sea snails. Extracting the dye involved large quantities of snails and was labour-intensive. The dye did not easily fade but actually brightened with weathering and sunlight. Hence, the dye, and the dyed cloth, was highly valued. During the 1st century CE, Thyatira, in present-day Turkey, was a famous centre for dyeing and trading in purple cloth. It had a Christian church, one of the recipients of the Seven Letters to the Churches in Revelation 2-3. Paul met Lydia in Philippi in Greece, very soon after he had crossed over to Europe. She was probably an agent for a firm in Thyatira which traded in the purple dye or and dyed fabric. She is considered the first documented Christian convert in Europe. After her conversion, she offered hospitality to Paul and his companions while they remained in Philippi.

by Deb Fox, Wycliffe Australia Alan and Lucy Rogers are Wycliffe members and have been serving with AuSIL in Northern Australia since 1986. They initially helped with translation among the Garrwa people then moved into audio and media Scripture engagement across many language groups. For the last three years, Alan has been the interim Director of Australian Society for Indigenous Languages (AuSIL) but passed on his responsibilities to Phillip Townsend this year. Lucy has years of experience in ‘ethnoarts’: ethnic arts that are empowering local language communities to create visual art, music, dance and drama representations of Scripture in a culturally-relevant way. Lucy says that there are positive signs of ethnoarts being recognised as a valuable way of engaging in local culture: There has been a growing interest in ethnoarts in both the secular and Christian worlds. We have found that when Indigenous Australians engage in local art forms within their communities, it speaks to others in their language group who might not otherwise have been interested in hearing about God. Among Indigenous Australians, there is a huge swing towards the use of arts. This has a huge effect on the maintenance of language and culture, allowing for freedom in expression but also for passing on information in a way that is culturally relevant. Lucy explains how early government and missionary efforts among Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities often viewed non-Western cultural practices as ‘evil’: This has had a detrimental effect on how many Indigenous Christians perceive their culture. Just because a person becomes a Christian, it doesn’t mean they have to give up eating with a knife and fork or setting the table a certain way. In the same way, not all Indigenous culture should be discarded. Ethnoarts enable language groups to discover aspects of their culture they can bring to God and use for his glory. As Lucy explains: We need to encourage Indigenous churches to engage in dialogue as they seek direction from God about what is permissible within their culture. Language groups such as the Warlpiri have adapted their iconographs to tell Bible stories. In Arnhem Land, there is a group of ladies exploring ways of using some of their dance forms for God—they feel this is from God but are waiting on their elders to approve this use. Yet other language groups have not done this and may frown upon it. Unfortunately, language usage has changed a great deal since Alan and Lucy first moved to the north of Australia. Many young people no longer speak the language of their parents and grandparents. However, Lucy says that the production of audio Scripture and music in Garrwa and other Indigenous languages is helping to revive language, particularly in church settings. Lucy says that the songwriters workshops she facilitates are always a highlight: We have been involved in many songwriting workshops since 1987. Some are held in our AuSIL centre, others in the community. It is lovely to encourage folk to seek God by writing songs, to base their songs on God’s Word and to see people working together to worship God in their preferred musical style. It is a real joy and privilege to be involved in the whole process, from recording many of the completed songs, to later hearing these songs shared across communities. Now that she and Alan have more time to spend in community, Lucy plans to sit with people and learn more about their arts and the spiritual undertones: I want to encourage and pray for believers as they seek God’s direction for their arts. I also want to document the development of Christian Indigenous dance and variations within language groups. Looking back on the past 35 years, Lucy says she loves the space, freedom and remoteness of being in community: The motto here is ‘go with the flow’. You cannot rush anything. Relationships are more important than time-oriented goals. It took time to develop but it is very special to be part of our Garrwa family and clan system and really feel like we belong. Please pray for Lucy and Alan as they: record and edit teaching on Genesis in 14 different languages for Nungalinya College help create five Kriol rap songs support others in recording teach Nungalinya music students basic audio recording and editing skills. Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia

Why were Barnabas and Paul mistaken for gods in Lystra? "When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker." - Acts 14:11-12 Lystra was a town on the route between Syrian Antioch and Ephesus. Like many cities in that region, Greek influence was strong, and the people worshipped the Greek gods. It seems that those who witnessed the healing by Paul and Barnabas did not grasp that the gospel being preached was of a different religion, perhaps because they could not understand the language used (Greek) well. The Bible records that they spoke in the Lycaonian language. Zeus, king of the Greek gods, was often portrayed as a large bearded man. Hermes, his messenger, usually appeared as younger and smaller-sized. Perhaps the fact that the Lycaonians identified Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes may indicate something about their appearances! Also, as Paul was the main speaker, he was performing Hermes’ role as messenger of Zeus.

by David Morgan, Wycliffe UK Travel back in time with me to the early 7th Century. We are on a visit to imperial China and the Tang dynasty is on the rise. Our focus, in this story, is on the second emperor of that dynasty, Emperor Taizong, often regarded as one of the greatest of all Chinese emperors. He was quite a scholar; he established one of the largest libraries in the ancient world and promoted study of the Chinese classics for all who would take on a role in his administration. After a period of struggle, in which he established control, his reign was marked by great prosperity and peace. This was due in part, at least, to his fostering trade and cultural links with places outside China, such as the Sasanian Empire in Persia and beyond. The emperor’s grandmother was of Turkic ethnicity and he seems to have taken particular interest in non-Chinese people. Traders following the ancient Silk Road trade route, from as far away as Damascus, were frequent visitors to the imperial capital, Chang’an, known today as Xi’an. The visit of one such trader to Chang’an is recorded in some detail on a large stone slab that was discovered in the 17th Century. (The Nestorian Stele, as it is known, actually originates from 781AD, but had lain buried underground for over 800 years.) The text on the stele relates how, in the ninth year of Emperor Taizong, the most virtuous Alopen came from Ta Tsin bearing the true Scriptures. To spell this out for a modern reader, a Christian trader, named as Bishop Alopen, came from Damascus, or possibly Antioch, in 635AD. On arrival in the capital, he was invited, with his Bible, into the palace to meet the emperor. The ancient text goes on: the sacred books were translated in the imperial library; the emperor investigated the books in his private apartments; after becoming deeply impressed with the rectitude and truth of the religion, he gave special orders for its dissemination. There is a growing body of evidence that churches sprang up in many parts of the Chinese empire in the years after Alopen’s biblical texts were translated. Now let us not get too carried away. Alopen did not produce a translation of the entire Bible and there was no printing press, not even in China, to enable wide dissemination! On the other hand, consider these amazing facts. Firstly, Emperor Taizong did not ask initially for debate or a lecture; he wanted to examine sacred texts. His interest in literature fits entirely with what we know about him from other sources. He wanted to discover for himself more about this ‘Persian religion’, for this was evidently how he viewed the Christian faith. Christianity had earlier grown very strong around the Persian Gulf; there were vibrant centres of the faith in Seleucia and Baghdad. In point of fact, the Scriptures Alopen carried with him were almost certainly written in Syriac. He wanted to discover for himself more about this ‘Persian religion’. Secondly, translation of these sacred texts was obviously required. Indeed, it was the first task of the followers of Jesus in this new cross-cultural dialogue, as Dr Andrew Walls pointed out in a 2007 lecture to Wycliffe staff. Dr Walls went on: ‘The first Bible translation into Chinese took place in the royal library under the eyes of the official scholars.’ We do not know exactly what was translated, but we have clues. There was one book produced in 638 entitled Discourse of the Universal Lord concerning Almsgiving. It is, in fact, a translation of much of the Sermon on the Mount. There is another book entitled Introduction to the Messiah which presents an overview of the Fall, the law and Gospel extracts. It is a story of the spreading of the faith from Asia to Asia. Challenges in how you translate key terms such as Messiah, how far you employ Confucian concepts, how you convey Paul’s theological ideas are all evident. To this day, they remain issues for the translator to wrestle with. Consider also the impact of these translated Scriptures. The text on the Stele states that Emperor Taizong was impressed with what he read. Furthermore, it states that he issued an edict in the seventh month of the year 638. His Edict of Toleration allowed the spread of the Christian faith in China. There is a growing body of evidence that churches sprang up in many parts of the Chinese empire over the next 200 years. The story of Alopen is remarkable at several levels. It is a story of the spreading of the faith from Asia to Asia. This was not the work of the Roman church but of the Eastern Church, the Nestorian church based in Syria. It is also a story where the text of Scripture is central. Emperor Taizong did what no Sasanid ruler had ever done; he examined the biblical text and, having done so, sanctioned the spreading of the Christian faith. And as for Alopen, we have no idea who he was. Some speculate that Alopen was a Chinese version of his name, and that he was really called Abraham. The title he is given on the stele is obscure. ‘Lofty Virtue’ is the way one translation has it. He may have been a bishop or he may have been given such an honorific title for other reasons. It is a story from a very far off time, but nonetheless remarkable for demonstrating the power of the word and the effectiveness of mission that is both bold and humble. Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe Bible Translators UK

What is ‘the region of the Decapolis’, that was visited by Jesus? "Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis." - Mark 7:31 Most of Jesus’ ministry was spent in Jewish regions, but the Bible records that he also ministered among the Gentiles. The Decapolis was a loose confederation of 10 autonomous Greco-Roman city-states dependent on Rome, mostly to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. The New Testament records 3 events in Jesus’ ministry in the Decapolis area: Jesus heals the Garasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). Jesus healed a deaf-mute man (Mark 7:31-35). Jesus had many followers in that region (Matthew 4:24-25). Only Scythopolis and Hippos are within the borders of present-day Israel. The others are further north and east, in Syria (Damascus) and Jordan (Canatha, Dion, Raphana, Gadara, Pella, Gerasa and Philadephia).