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Missions for Everyone, 7 Sep 2024 Speakers: David & Sharon Learning a language can be a difficult process. There is a whole new set of grammar rules and vocabulary to learn, not to mention the confidence required to speak the language. If it is already difficult to pick up a ‘known’ language, how much more difficult it is to learn an ‘unknown’ language! Where does one begin? In this workshop, David and Sharon gave us a sense of how one can grow to learn and understand another language—whether known or unknown. Drawing from their experiences translating an unknown language on the mission field, they went through several language learning principles: Start with your motivation.  Why do you want to learn this language? When will you get to use it, and how will it help yourself or others? Learn like a child. A child is able to learn language intuitively from his or her parents – so pay attention to how he or she does so! Essentially, you should listen a lot first before trying to speak. Focus on meaning association. Rather than thinking of an English word and translating that, connect the object in your mind to the word directly. Learn culture. Learning a language also entails learning more about the culture that uses it. Listen more than you speak.  Don’t jump straight into speaking. Make sure you’re practising the right thing! Do extreme mimicry. Focus on getting the pronunciation, tones (if any) and intonation right! Know your learning style. Make use of your natural learning style, whether visual, auditory, or the like. Practice makes perfect. Learning a language isn’t complicated, but it is hard work and it takes time. So keep at it! Use Google and technology . Hardly any language is totally ‘unknown’ nowadays, and there will usually be information about similar or related languages available. There are also various language learning apps available. We went through some helpful techniques. One thing that struck me was how it should not be dry academic activity, but rather an embodied, contextualised process. We tried Total Physical Response (TPR), in which we acted out the words David spoke in a different language. By the end, we understood what word referred to what action—even without him translating it for us! He also demonstrated how to make use of flashcard and language learning apps such as Vocabulary Manager  to accelerate learning words and utterances. In a similar vein, working with Language Helpers—native speakers who are willing to help you learn their language—should be a highly involved process. Rather than simply sitting down and drilling the information into us, we can learn more effectively by engaging with experiences and real-life scenarios. Or, as he put it, we need to engage both our creative ‘right brains’ as well as our analytical ‘left brains’. In so doing, we got a small taste of language learning, a precursor to translation work—intensified as Sharon shared some of the more technical linguistic elements! One trap new speakers of a language tend to fall into is pronouncing words as they would in their native language. By paying close attention instead to the kind of sounds a language uses, we can more accurately speak another language in that language, and not in our native tongues. At the end, David shared the heart of learning a new language, particularly for Bible translators: that all may hear the good news of Jesus in their heart language. He read from Revelation 7:9–10: After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” May this vision drive us in our endeavours to learn other languages, and may we strive to do so with excellence! About the speakers: David and Sharon started a translation project among an unreached people group. David has a background in Physics and Maths, and Sharon in Law and Librarianship. Neither were linguists before joining Wycliffe! Link to Vocabulary Manager: https://software.sil.org/vocabulary-manager/

By Elder James Wong, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Singapore By God’s grace, the Harum Bible Dedication went well with joyous celebrations and heartfelt testimonies of God’s goodness and love for the Harum people. A total of 80 Harum believers, 20 foreign guests, 50 pastors from the local area and another 50 pastors from churches elsewhere in Indonesia attended the Bible dedication. A few Singaporeans from Wycliffe Singapore and Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC) also attended too. CPC has supported the Harum project since 2018.   H, the translator, testified to God's faithfulness in leading them through challenging times. The Harum Bible Translation Team had begun with 11 team members, but numbers dwindled to 6 over the years due to three deaths, and two more left due to marriage (to spouses from a different faith). However, nothing could stop God’s work on the Bible translation, not even Covid-19! By God’s grace, the team persevered and pressed on, fixing their eyes on Jesus until the translation work was completed.   The Bible dedication began with music, dancing and singing to celebrate this joyous event. A very touching moment during the dedication was when young men and women carrying copies of the translated NT Bible processed into the church. They carried Bibles in rice baskets slung over their shoulders and in their hands symbolising that the Bible is their bread of life. Tears of joy overflowed as the Harum people received the Living Word in the language they understand best!   Elder Ho Chung Tat from CPC was invited to share a reflection at the Bible dedication ceremony. He said: “The completion of NT Bible in Harum is a testament of our Oneness in Christ and the love of God for the Harum community.”   CPC is grateful to God for the opportunity to be involved in giving, praying and going on yearly trips to visit the Harum team. During those trips, they were able to participate in engaging the local churches through organising programmes to reach out to village children, ministering to the local congregations, and conducting workshops for church leaders and pastors. They have seen God’s hand in leading the translation team through the years they have participated in the Harum project. Praise be to God! Photos from the Bible dedication:

Stories from the Field, 3 Sep 2024 Speaker: Roce Madinger Roce began by explaining the term “ethnoarts” in the context of missions – a way of empowering local language communities to create art forms which help them connect with scripture in a culturally relevant way. This could be through expressions such as music, dance, visual arts and more. She commented that many people from minority groups have low self-esteem because these groups are often looked down on. When they discover that they can communicate with God through their own culture and arts, and they realise that their language, musical instruments, baskets, bracelets, songs and dances matter to God, His love becomes more real to them and they experience joy and hope. Referring to the vision of John in Revelation 7:9, a believer from the Matigsalug tribe in the Philippines said: “The tribes in heaven who are praising God will not be complete if we, the Matigsalug, are not there.” Roce gave examples from the Bible to illustrate how art forms are gifts from God, providing avenues to dialogue with God, to express what everyday language finds difficult to articulate, and helping to make sense of emotions too deep to comprehend. Bazalel in Exodus 31 was given “all kinds of skills” for decorating the tabernacle; in Deuteronomy 31, Moses was instructed to write a song to teach the Israelites what God had done for them; Jesus crafted and told stories; and the Psalms are a collection of songs, laments, and worship. All through the Bible there are accounts of God’s people being encouraged to reflect the Creator’s creativity through art forms. She encouraged those wishing to reach out cross-culturally to engage with the arts of the people group as it is a good way to learn language, build relationships and understand the worldview. She acknowledged that there are certainly challenges in using the arts in missions: some art forms or instruments may have negative spiritual associations and might need to be avoided to prevent confusing new believers. She explained the approach known as “critical contextualisation”, a term used by Paul Hiebert, a Christian anthropologist. This requires that the believers themselves, as cultural insiders, should make the decisions about how elements of their culture can be used in their new faith. This often takes time and scriptural study. In response to a question, Roce described the process of helping the first believers of an unreached group to develop worship songs. This is a common challenge, and missionaries usually begin by translating existing hymns and songs from another language, even though they are not of the people’s cultural style. As the believers grow in number and maturity, they are then encouraged to use their own musical styles, perhaps beginning with translated psalms. Gradually the people group will develop their own worship songs with their own styles and sound. She ended with a story about B, a Matigsalug believer who had attended an ethnoarts workshop. After that workshop, he was inspired to explore his own culture in depth and use his skill in playing the kuglung  (a kind of lute) for God’s glory. His greatest challenge now is to convince his father, also a believer, that his skill in playing the kuglung  does not come from an indigenous spirit in him but from the Holy Spirit! He is now encouraging tree-planting projects so that more kuglung  can be made, and the Matigsalug believers can use them to worship God. For a thousand kuglung and a thousand gongs, a thousand colors and a thousand tongues cannot begin to declare the goodness and the greatness of God! About the speaker: Roce Anog-Madinger was a music teacher for 15 years, then trained in Ethnomusicology and the Arts at Payap University, Thailand. Since then, she has served many minority communities in Asia. She is currently pursuing a PhD in indigenous studies with arts as the methodology so that she can be herself a supervisor of PhD students who wish to serve in this area.

Stories from the Field, 6 Aug 2024 Speaker: Michael Wan Michael has served in Wycliffe-related organisations for three decades, 15 years in the Philippines, and 15 years (to date) in Malaysia. One of his current roles is Field Security Officer (FSO) for his organisation. Wycliffe missionaries often serve in remote areas, or countries where there are different kinds of risks, such as kidnapping, political instability, dangers to health, etc. The FSO’s role is to monitor the situation in the country and region to ensure that the members serving in that area are aware of the dangers and receive advice on how to stay safe. Of course, every organisation has a policy document that members are made aware of before going to the field. This will spell out the responsibilities of the organisation as well as the individual member in the event of dangers and emergencies such kidnapping, illness or death. However, up-to-date advice on current and rapidly changing situations is still vital. One of his early experiences was a two-week visit to an island in the Philippines with an American colleague. The locals on the island were hostile to Christians, and the area was also a hotbed of insurgents. They knew that they were under scrutiny and also heard rumours that a group was planning to kidnap them. At the end of the two weeks, Michael left but his colleague chose to stay behind. Two days later, Michael heard news that his colleague had been kidnapped by the insurgents! Thankfully, after intervention by the local government, his colleague was released. That was 30 years ago, but many missionaries are still working in places where there are risks of kidnapping! As the FSO, Michael requires all members to have taken contingency training before leaving their home country, and also provides orientation when they arrive on the field. He also has the responsibility to advise people what they should watch out for and what they should and should not do. He tries to get as much information as he can about the area and the situation where they are, and advises the members accordingly. However, decisions are still ultimately the responsibility of each member. Finally, some important pieces of advice from Michael: ·       Never put yourself in a position where you can be a victim ·       Find out about the local situation ·       Listen to advice ·       Take precautions It is not possible to guarantee safety, but following this advice will reduce the risks!

By Sharon Tan Papua New Guinea. Photo: Lisa Vanden Berg, ©Wycliffe Global Alliance From its infancy, the early church faced the issue of contextualisation – how to help new believers apply their Christian faith to their daily lives. Paul’s missionary work among the Gentiles raised the question of whether these non-Jewish believers should be required to conform to Jewish practices and culture. Acts 15 provides an account of how leaders of the New Testament church dealt with this issue. Eventually it was decided that, barring a few issues regarded as crucial, the new believers should not be required keep the Jewish law. Why contextualise? Ultimately, the goal of contextualization is to create indigenous churches which are able to express their worship of God in their own cultures and languages. There has to be an understanding that no culture is either wholly evil or wholly good; every culture will have both positive as well as negative features. The question of how far to contextualise is faced most acutely when Christians seek to communicate the gospel in a culturally relevant way to those from another culture, whether on the mission field or at home. New believers have to be guided in evaluating the customs, rituals and values of their own culture in the light of their new faith. Even those who may have been Christians for years daily face questions of how much of contemporary culture to accept or reject. Like the Pharisees in Acts 15, some missionaries or evangelists choose to import wholesale their own “Christian” culture, replacing much of the new believer’s own culture. This communicates the message to new believers that the only way to be a Christian is to adopt a foreign “Christian” culture. It confuses the outward practices of dress, musical styles, rites of passage, etc. with Christian beliefs and values. Such practices in the past have caused missionaries to be accused of cultural imperialism and destroying ethnic cultures. Failure to contextualise may also drive believers to guiltily practise the old customs and rituals in parallel or in secret. At the other end of the spectrum, simply adding a few “Christian” practices while retaining much of the new believers’ original culture and worldview risks distorting the gospel message by blending it with non-Christian elements, and often results in an unacceptable level of syncretism. So how can Christians communicate the gospel in a culturally sensitive manner, without distorting or undermining the truths of the Christian gospel? Critical contextualisation Paul Hiebert, a missiological anthropologist, recommends the practice of critical contextualization as a way to communicate the gospel message with the minimum of distortion. Under the guidance of the missionary or evangelist, new believers should first seek to understand and analyse both the underlying beliefs of the traditional rituals and customs of their own culture, and also biblical truths. They should then evaluate their cultural practices in the light of Scripture, and decide which may be retained as compatible with their new faith. Other practices may be rejected outright as unbiblical. There will also be some practices that could be adapted or modified. For example, they may decide that most traditional food and clothing are perfectly compatible with their new faith. However, they may conclude that food involved in some rituals should be considered off-limits to Christians, and that they should cease participating in certain practices that have spiritual significance. They may decide that traditional musical styles and instruments can be used in worship, with new lyrics. It may be necessary for the missionary or evangelist to help the new believers devise or adapt new rituals to replace discarded ones, especially those which mark important rites of passage (e.g. marriages or funerals). Hiebert stresses that these decisions should not be simply imposed on new believers by the missionary or evangelist; the new believers should be involved in the process for a number of reasons. First, they are better able than a foreigner to discern the deep and hidden meanings in their cultural practices. On the other hand, an outsider’s perspective can be helpful in highlighting aspects of their own culture they may be blind to. Note that this does require that the missionary spend the time and effort to gain a significant level of understanding of the new believers’ culture. Secondly, it helps new believers grow spiritually and learn discernment as they practise applying Scripture to their own lives. Ideally, this process should be a communal one, so that new Christians can learn to put into practice the priesthood of believers. In any cross-cultural setting, there is always the risk of contextualising too much or too little, or in the wrong way. But by the grace of God and the Spirit’s guidance, these mistakes can be rectified over time. What we must not do is ignore the challenge of contextualization. If we do, the gospel will continue to remain “foreign” to many who are still unreached. Wycliffe Singapore is holding a “Culture Meets Scripture” workshop in March 2020. The workshops will be led by Ms Jo Shetler and Dr Amy West, both of whom have many years of experience in this field. Click here more information about future events.

Date: 23 March 2024 Presenter: Michelle Tan, Member Care and Prayer Coordinator By Grace Tan When someone is going through a tough time, say, a missionary who has recently returned from the field, it really helps for them to be able to share their feelings with a trusted person. Some people who may be called on to do debriefing might be a church leader, a member of the missions committee, or a cell group leader.   In this session, Michelle shared about general debriefing, an important part of missionary care. The debriefer listens to the missionary tell his/her story with a sympathetic ear. This gives the missionary an opportunity for emotional release, promotes connection with others, and helps them to recover. Michelle explained that debriefing is an essential part of “member care” measures that should ideally be in place to help returning missionaries. A good debriefing will help them bring closure to their time overseas, reintegrate into Singaporean society, or retool to go forth again. The main purposes of debriefing are to listen well, understand accurately, and facilitate closure to the person’s experience. The good news is that listening skills can be learned. Much of this workshop was about how to be a good listener. Some characteristics of a good listener: ·       a genuine interest in others ·       a reputation for keeping confidence ·       an accepting, non-judgemental attitude She made it clear that debriefing is not intended to address or deal with deeper or long-standing problems, though these may come to light during the debriefing process. If deeper issues – “bubbles” – surface or are hinted at during a debriefing, the person should be pointed to counsellors and other qualified people for help. Two people shared their stories about debriefing they received when they returned from the field. In both cases, there was initial debriefing, but complete healing did not come until years later, at a Re-entry Retreat for returned missionaries and other Christians who had lived overseas. The attendees were interested in debriefing as well as other aspects of missionary care, and it was a lively and interactive session. Michelle ended the session by sharing some materials on debriefing, as well as further resources. About the speaker: Michelle served in an Asian country for over two decades doing administration, HR, member care and training. Now back in Singapore, she is the Prayer Coordinator and one of the Member Care personnel. Image: ©brgfx, Freepik

“This is a story about God's servant Elisha who lived many hundreds of years before the birth of our Lord Jesus. Now, one time, there was a famine at his place. During that time, Elijah got a bunch of visitors. Even with the famine going on, Elijah said to his servants, ‘Get a large pot and prepare food for all the guests.’ OK. Strange instruction at the time of famine… but, anyway, the servant started to do what Elisha told him. One of the guests went out into the fields to look for food as well. He found a plant that he didn't know, but it looked nice, and it had large fruits. So, he picked a lot of these fruits, and he carried home as much as he could. He chopped them into pieces, and he added them to the stew that Elijah's servant was making. When the meal was ready everybody sat down to eat. But as soon as they took one bite… Oh, it was horrible! It was so bitter it was impossible to eat! They spat it out again, and they cried to Elisha, ‘There is death in this food!’ Elijah said, ‘Get me some flour.’ He poured some flour in the pot, and he stirred it. And then all the bitterness was gone and everybody could eat the nice food. And this is the story which you can read in 2 Kings 4:38-41.” Irene began the session with this story. She went on to describe how a typical storytelling session would be carried out: telling the story at least twice, sometimes accompanied by drawing pictures, or having the listeners act out the parts. Some details might need more explanation. Then some questions would be discussed: Why did Elisha ask his servant to prepare food during a famine? What was the motivation of the different people in the story? What were their feelings? Why is it that actions made with good intentions can result in bitterness? What can God do when we make mistakes? Irene also explained the difference between storytelling to children and to adults – for children, there might be more embellishments such as drama and descriptions to make the story interesting. For adults, the content of the stories is kept close to the Bible text, and they go through a process of checking similar to translating the Bible to make sure that the stories are accurate. However, stories intended for oral retelling use clear and natural language, just as people would use in normal speech. The stories should be easily remembered and be retellable. For many people, stories told in their heart language can be more powerful than sermons as stories have characters that listeners can relate to, and which engage their emotions. Irene shared about the impact of Bible storytelling that she and her team have witnessed: Created in God’s image R and his wife, S, had found it hard to follow the preaching in church as it was in the national language. They knew very little about what was in the Bible. At a Bible storytelling group, they heard the story of God creating the first man and woman. S said that before hearing the story, she had not realised that both men and women were created in God’s image; R said that he had not realised that God intended men and women to fellowship with each other and with God. R resolved to treat his wife better in future! They learned to tell Bible stories, and started a storytelling group in their house, sharing stories with neighbours and relatives. Some of these listeners have become believers. Intimidated by the big book SH, an itinerant evangelist, found that the villagers would avoid him when he carried a big book (the Bible) because they were afraid. After he learned to tell oral Bible stories, he could “carry them in his heart” and didn’t need to bring the book when he went to the villages. People started becoming interested in the stories and would welcome him to tell them more. Especially effective for women In that traditional culture, women were not permitted to preach or teach. But when they learned to tell Bible stories, they found that storytelling was very effective for evangelism. Many women also found that Bible stories combined with trauma healing were very effective – it enabled them to talk about the heart wounds they had experienced, and the topics discussed encouraged them share their pain and receive healing. In the country where Irene and her team work, more than 120 language communities have participated in learning Bible storytelling. Some workshops are for crafting the Bible stories in an easily retellable form, and some are for people to learn stories that have already been crafted and checked. In one programme, people learn 24 Bible stories over 3 years, and up to 50 stories by the end of the 6th year. After learning each story, they practise telling them in their communities. Stories are chosen to give a panorama of the Bible from Creation to Jesus, with a few chosen to address specific issues depending on the culture and worldview of that community. In some of these languages, Bible translation is already ongoing or about to begin. However, many people will always find learning by reading a hurdle because it is not their learning style. Even the more educated find that stories speak to their hearts better than a written text. For many, concepts learned from the Bible text gives head knowledge, but telling stories touches their hearts. Bible storytelling is truly a powerful and effective way to share gospel and learn about God. About the speaker Irene has worked in South Asia for over 25 years in Bible translation, the last 14 of them focusing on Bible storytelling. As an Oral Bible Storying consultant, she trains and mentors people to tell stories in their own languages, and also checks their stories for biblical accuracy, naturalness, and clear understanding. S is a Bible Storying Consultant, and especially focuses on training women as storytellers. L is a pastor who is also a consultant in training, trains storytellers in several language groups, and uses storytelling in his own church.

Stories from the Field, 5 Mar 2024 Speaker: Jim Moore Who are the “mobile masses”? Just about everyone these days! Even in the most remote of villages, someone will have a mobile phone. In 2023, there were an estimated 6.7 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, and this is projected to increase to 7.7 billion by 2028! Many people, even if they are literate, prefer to access Scripture in audio and/or video formats. In language communities where literacy is low, digital publishing meets a heartfelt need. Kalaam Media Kalaam Media was set up in 2008 to distribute translated Scripture in digital formats in countries where distributing printed Bibles was not practicable. Their vision is for people in every language community to experience abundant life through receiving digital scriptures expressed in their language and culture. Their first website was launched in 2010, and since then, they have launched 1,252 websites, developed 4,031 apps and trained 1,965 website managers across 100 countries. Teams from Kalaam Media go to language communities to hold face-to-face workshops to teach locals to create and maintain the websites and apps. Some recent workshops were held in Guinea Bissau, Papua New Guinea and Cameroon. They also run a helpdesk which provides support by email or video calls. Other services provided include social media integration, cloud hosting and domain name management. Funding and Staff Kalaam Media does not charge the language communities for their services. Many communities may not be able to pay for continual upgrades and maintenance, which would make the websites and apps unusable after a while. Instead, Kalaam Media’s full-time staff raise their own support as missionaries, while unpaid volunteers serve part-time. Donations are also received from organisations and individuals. Costs are kept low – about US$50 per year to maintain a website. Kalaam Media staff and volunteers work remotely from wherever they are based. They hail from all over – US, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Singapore… Currently, the greatest needs are for a Software Development Manager, Digital Publishing Manager, Funding Manager, and a trainer for Social Media Promotion. There is always a need of volunteers to serve regularly, or for shorter durations on specific projects or workshops. If you are interested in getting a taste of what Kalaam Media does, come along to a half-day workshop on 1 June 2024. An example of a website: SuaraHakka (Voice of Hakka) Kalamm Media   About the speaker: Jim is the Managing Director of the Kalaam Media team which participates in the global effort to assist language communities to have their own internet presence.

Good Friday and Easter Sunday is the time of year when we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is an invitation to the  Risen life  in Jesus! This invitation is given to all, which includes all people groups who are not able to read, see or hear the salvation message in a language they understand best . To date, 99.8 million people, speaking 1,268 languages, are still waiting for God's Word in their own language. May the words of Christ be a reminder and an encouragement to you. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) Let us we go forth to proclaim to the world that Christ is the Resurrection and the Life!  Join us, as we serve together to translate the Word into the heart languages of the people and testify the transformational power of the Gospel.

I am a few decades too old to have grown up with Taylor Swift’s music, but who could have missed hearing that she was performing in Singapore? Especially since a daughter managed to snag a ticket to a show. What grabbed my attention after the first night was the fact that she and her backup dancer, Kameron Saunders, had incorporated a Singlish phrase into the performance! As the days went on, it became clear that Saunders was going to say a different Singlish phrase each night. I began to ask my daughter each morning, as she scrolled through her Instagram feed, “So what Singlish phrase came up last night?” Singlish, that local variant of English so dear to our hearts, is the language that almost all Singaporeans use when we can be informal and unguarded, usually with our family and friends. It is also the language we use to form an instant connection when we meet a fellow Singaporean overseas. In each performance, the Singlish phrase occurred at the same point, after Swift said the line: “We are never ever getting back together”. The usual response was “Like ever”, but in the six performances in Singapore, Saunders responded with: No lah! Siao ah! Walao eh! Alamak! Wah piang eh! Hanor, abuden? Watch a video compilation of the 6 Singlish phrases Read an explanation of the 6 Singlish phases From the screams that greeted each night’s Singlish phrase, it was clear that the crowds much appreciated the efforts to connect with them using their colloquial language. Even without the star power of Taylor Swift, those who share God’s Word will likewise receive a warmer welcome if they use the language that resonates with the hearers’ hearts.