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Stories from the Field, 4 April 2023 Does serving with Wycliffe only involve Bible Translation? What about those gifted with different skill sets? Mike and Eve Brooks have served in missions since 1989. Mike had been a military pilot in the US Air Force until 1984, but felt God calling him into full-time service while serving in Guam in the Pacific. He later served as a pilot with the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) for 21 years (1989-2010) in Irian Jaya (now Papua) and Kenya, piloting the small planes which provided transportation to missionaries and others who served in remote regions. This also included transporting all sorts of items such as printed Bibles, produce and even animals! During their time with MAF, Eve, a speech pathologist, volunteered her services to missionary kids and local children. This was a great blessing to the missionary families, as some would have had to return home prematurely if their children had not been able to get help in the field. In 2010, Mike and Eve joined Wycliffe, and Mike served as Director of Aviation at JAARS (an organisation that provides logistical services to Bible translation teams) until 2015, when they returned to Indonesia with Wycliffe. Now, they serve alongside Indonesian colleagues at the UBB (Language and Culture Unit) office in Kupang, West Timor, facilitating translation and literacy projects to some of the 66+ mother tongue languages in the province. Teams of trained mother tongue translators do the translation, with support from overseas trainers and consultants who travel in or work remotely. They are thankful that the teams were able to keep going through the pandemic. Eve also serves as a literacy and education specialist in a Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) project which is now in its second year. The project currently involves 6 languages, and aims to provide instruction in the mother tongue for preschool and Grade 1, introduce the national language in Grade 2, and gradually increase national language content up to Grade 6. After that, students will be able to continue their education in national schools. The curriculum follows the national Indonesian curriculum with some additional cultural material and Bible stories. The project not only produces the curriculum and teaching materials, but also trains teachers to teach the MLE curriculum. Teachers have reported that the MLE curriculum has made a great difference to the children. They say that young children who did not understand the national language simply copied what their classmates did, but teaching them in their local language means they are able to understand instructions and work independently. Mike and Eve’s enthusiasm and dedication to their work shone through in their sharing. Mike’s parting words to encourage those who are considering serving in missions: Remember that it is God’s work, not ours; and we have to be willing to take a step of faith.

by Stacy Cawley, Wycliffe US One of the best letters my children received while we were serving in Cameroon was a letter from friends at our home church. It was only one page printed, had a few pictures and a simple focus: our friends’ dog, Maude. After sharing a cute story about Maude, our friends posed a few questions: “Do you have any pets? What kinds of pets would you like to have?” My daughter tacked the letter to the wall in her room (who can resist colorful pictures of an adorable dog?) and immediately wanted to email our friends to share about our pets and the animals she encountered regularly: lizards, giant snails, snakes, birds and more. Despite being world travelers, they’re still just kids with “normal kid” likes and interests! When we returned to the U.S. for furlough, she couldn’t wait to go visit Maude and her family! Our friends understood something about missionary kids (MKs) that it can sometimes be difficult to remember. Despite being world travelers who live in different (sometimes exotic) places and speak several languages, they’re still just kids with “normal kid” likes and interests! Although it might feel easier for you to connect with your adult missionary friends, their children value you and your partnership just as much as their parents do! It’s likely that they pray for you by name and would really appreciate a deeper relationship with you. Here are a few ways you could connect with them. ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS “Tell me about” is a great phrase to use to engage with an MK of any age! You’ll get to learn about their lives from their perspectives without asking them to compare. With a few follow-up comments, you’ll be able to have a robust conversation. Try saying things like: “Tell me about your school.” “Tell me about your church.” “Tell me about your best friend.” “Tell me about your flight.” “Tell me about your Christmas/school break/vacation.” If you want to connect with a younger MK, it’s better to keep your questions simple and open ended, and then follow up with another question. You can ask things like: “What’s your favorite book? Which character do you like the most?” “What’s your favorite subject in school? Why do you like it?” “What’s your favorite food? How do you make it?” “What do you like to do to have fun? What do you like most about it?” AVOID COMPARISON Many MKs don’t think of their passport country as “home.” Instead, home is where they live, go to school and hang out with their friends. Traveling to the U.S. isn’t returning home; it’s visiting. And if they return to the U.S. to stay, they may feel like they have left or lost their home. With this in mind, if you ask MKs to compare the different places they have lived, you may inadvertently stop a conversation instead of starting it. And while some older MKs may be comfortable with deeper questions like this, others (including younger MKs) might be unsure how to answer. They may lack the experience or the vocabulary or wonder if you’ll be upset if they prefer the place they usually live to the U.S. They might not want to criticize either location and might have very strong feelings, either positive or negative, that comparison ignites. Many MKs don’t think of their passport country as “home.” MKs do often have unique perspectives that they are excited to share, and asking open-ended questions like those above will give them the opportunity to comfortably share with you. OPEN UP It’s great to learn about MKs and their lives, but if you really want to connect with them, you have to have real conversations. If they share about their school, tell them something you remember about your school (or maybe even about where your kids or grandkids go to school). If they tell you that they love the music in their church, share your favorite worship song with them. If you really want to connect with them, you have to have real conversations. The letter our friends sent to our kids about Maude opened a door for relationship because it shared something personal that they could relate to. That’s what made them excited to write back. Other emails we received for them that contained a list of questions weren’t nearly so appealing — those communications didn’t initiate relationships. MAKING A DIFFERENCE Whether you’re sending a letter or an email to MKs on the field with their parents or you’re talking with an MK after a church service, your investment of time and care makes a difference! Many MKs are accustomed to their parents having long talks with other adults about their ministries and lives, but they often don’t get the chance to share in those situations. Psalm 127:3 reminds us that “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him,” and Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:5, “… anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me” (NLT). The time you invest in connecting with MKs is valuable, and you’re likely to hear some very interesting stories! Learn a little more about how MKs see things from a different perspective by reading a former MK’s story: “My Life as a Missionary Kid.” Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe US

by Alfred Thompson, Wycliffe UK ‘Mapping is used to visualise information about what languages are spoken in different parts of the world,’ explains Eva Horton, a member of the mapping team of Wycliffe’s main partner, SIL International. Eva’s colleague, Marcus Love, explains further that ‘mapping in general shows people what the actual situation is on the ground. You can have lots of information and data about a group of people who speak a particular language, but often it is when you see that information presented in a map that it all comes into focus.’ The mapping team takes the data that language surveyors collect and turns it into maps. ‘That sounds quite simple,’ Eva notes, ‘but it can actually be quite complex, especially in places like Southeast Asia where one language can be spoken in several different places, in a number of different countries, and be known by various different names. And sometimes they are unwritten languages. So working on those maps can be very complicated; it can often be like detective work to make sure the map is accurate.’ ‘It is important in the work of Bible translation to help everyone know where the language is spoken.’ The mapping team works closely with the language survey teams. ‘Sometimes we prepare maps for survey teams before they go to an area, to help them find where they are going,’ Eva explains, ‘but mostly we collect information from the survey teams.’ Mapping is done before translation starts, and gives translators a clear picture of where people live. ‘It is important in the work of Bible translation to help everyone know where the language is spoken,’ Marcus says. ‘It helps people make strategic decisions about translation projects. Our maps are often used in materials that go out to people who pray for the people groups. We are also working to create maps that show the Bible translation status (like the map of Central African Republic above) as well as many other indicators for each language area.’ These maps are invaluable in the process of planning translation work and making decisions about allocating resources. However, they are not just about translation. Maps are also valuable for our parallel literacy and Scripture engagement work. ‘The maps are used throughout all the different stages of Bible translation,’ Eva observes. ‘And then also for distribution of the translated Bible and in evangelism – knowing that there are people from the same language groups living in a few different places, sometimes in different countries, enables us to distribute the translated Bible to people speaking that language as widely as possible.’ The language maps are also used by Christian radio stations – like the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) – so that they can know which language to use when broadcasting to different areas. Often these radio broadcasts may be the only way many people will hear the Bible. ‘Maps are used throughout all the different stages of Bible translation.’ The maps our mapping team produces are generally considered to be the most authoritative language maps available and are used by both Christian and secular organisations around the world. ‘I think the high standards of the mapping work we do helps people from many different religions respect Bible translation work and helps point people to God,’ says Marcus. ‘By producing maps that are very comprehensive, I believe we earn respect for our work as people who care about minority groups, even from those who may not believe in the Bible.’ In all of these ways, mapping plays a central role in the journey of Bible translation – and in enabling the transformation that can come from people having the Bible in their own language. Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe UK

Stories from the Field, 7 March 2023 by Blessy How do you start working on a Bible translation from scratch? How can you start translating the Bible into a language that has no existing writing system? Why would you leave your comfortable life to start anew in a country with a culture you barely know? This is exactly what Greg and Rosie Blok faced when they responded to God’s call to become Bible translators. They went to seminary for three years and brought their two young children with them. When God opened a door for them to reach out to the Eastern Lawa people group in Thailand, they entered! The Eastern Lawa people group numbers around 10,000 and is found in north Thailand at an elevation of about 1,000 meters above sea level. Their livelihood is mostly farming, mainly rice which they grow for their own consumption. Their traditional beliefs are animistic. For example, they will consult a witch doctor if a family member is sick, and may be told to offer a sacrifice to ask for healing. A water buffalo can cost up to around S$1,000, which is a huge sum for the family. As a result, many families fall into debt. The people mostly speak their native language – Eastern Lawa. Although there is a school in their village, Thai is the language of instruction, not their spoken language. Because of this, the children find it hard to cope with the lessons taught in Thai, and this results in lower confidence. Most of them only attend about six years of schooling before stopping. At the time the Bloks started their work among the Eastern Lawa, the people’s language was entirely oral. There was no alphabet or writing system. So, for the first 10 years, the couple worked on studying the sounds in the language and creating a writing system based on the Thai alphabet. However, they discovered that the language contains 15 consonant and 14 vowel sounds that are not in the Thai language, so the alphabet had to be modified. Once the alphabet was completed, they started making literacy primers to teach the people how to read their own language, and translating Christian worship songs. They also went on to craft 50 oral Bible stories in the Eastern Lawa language taken from across the Bible, starting from the creation account to stories about the early church. However, as the Christian teachings counter local beliefs, the couple and believers face persecution. They also experience spiritual attacks in different forms. Those who came to hear the oral stories are often anxious as they fear the spirits will be angry with them if they stop making offerings to them. Still, the couple press on. They have translated the book of Ruth and have begun translating the Gospel of Mark. Aside from Bible translation, the couple are also serving the felt needs of the community. The local school has reached out to them for help in developing resources for teaching 3 to 5-year-old children in their own language, and the teachers have begun using the materials. Rosie also pioneered a sewing project which aims to help the local ladies generate more income. Other efforts to open up opportunities to build relationships with other Christians and people from other villages include initiatives such as a mushroom-growing workshop! Greg and Rosie have now lived in Thailand for 15 years, and can see how much more work needs to be done to complete the translation work and to help the local people. Although God has faithfully sent them people to help carry the burden, more help is needed. Much of the work requires long-term efforts, but short-term missions could potentially help the people, especially in finding ways to generate more income. If you are trying to discern God’s call to go to the mission field, may God build your faith as you respond to God. Perhaps you will be challenged to leave your comfortable life and go somewhere to start from scratch!

Why did Obadiah prophesy against Edom/Esau? Obadiah 1:8: “In that day,” declares the Lord, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?” ‘Edom’ comes from the Semetic word meaning ‘red’, which could refer to the rocks of the region where they lived beside the Dead Sea, or the colour of Esau at birth (Genesis 25:25). The Edomites were descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (Israel). Although the people were related and should have been at peace, there was considerable enmity between the Israelites and the Edomites. For example, the Edomites would not allow the Israelites to pass through their land as they fled Egypt to the Promised Land (Numbers 20:14-20), and biblical texts also indicate that Edom played a part in the Babylonian destruction of Judah and Jerusalem (Obadiah 1:10-14). These actions probably explain why Obadiah and other prophets spoke such harsh words against Edom.

by Jennifer Stasak, Wycliffe US Deaf in Japan are meeting God through Scripture. One of the first things that happened when I met the Japanese Sign Language (JSL) translation team was that they gave me my own sign name. I didn’t realize, until later on, that this was important. They saw me as part of the team. The sign that I received had to do with my curly hair; one of the staff members showed me by holding her hands up on either side of her head, slowly making a fluffing motion from top to bottom, as if outlining the hair. Before I met the Japanese Sign Language team, I didn’t know all that much about the complex world of sign language. When I tried it, the team smiled and clapped to indicate that I had gotten it right. (Later on, one of the JSL team members would tell me that my sign name is also the sign for a popular coffee chain. I felt even more elated with my sign name after that.) To be honest, before I met the Japanese Sign Language team, I didn’t know all that much about the complex world of sign language. According to the Deaf Bible Society, there are more than 350 known sign languages in use around the world today. Yet only one of these has a full Bible in a language and format they understand and only 5% of sign languages even have Bible translation work started.* The Deaf are often considered to be the largest unreached people group for that reason. And because they’re a minority, the Deaf are often at a disadvantage when it comes to operating within a hearing culture. Some of the JSL team members have experienced hardships because of being Deaf and many expressed the same sentiments: they were taught, growing up, that they needed to speak and not sign. Even in school, JSL team members noted that they were instructed to learn written Japanese. Imagine being taught a language in school that would make everyday communication difficult. Now imagine trying to understand a Bible in that language. For the Deaf to easily understand and engage with the Bible, it must be conveyed in video format. That’s why, in 1992, leaders of Deaf ministries in Japan gathered together to discuss the need for a Japanese Sign Language Bible. And in 1993, ViBi (which stands for “Visual Bible and Video Bible”) was born; this is the group I met with who are working to translate Scripture into Japanese Sign Language. Sign language communication involves a person’s whole body: their hands, their eyes, their facial expressions, their body movements, and even the space in front of and around them. A word can take on an entirely new or unintentional meaning depending on the facial expressions — down to the movement of the eyebrows — used to accompany a sign. For the Deaf to easily understand and engage with the Bible, it must be conveyed in video format. EVERY SIGN MATTERS When I met the JSL team, they were working on translating the book of Daniel. They had already published Daniel 1‑6 and it was available on an app for the Japanese Deaf. They began outlining Daniel 7‑12 on a grey and gloomy morning, but we were all thankful that the intermittent rain outside was cooling the city down. The team of translators and exegetical consultants gathered around two folding tables with their laptops, pens, Japanese Bibles and Post-It notes in front of them. They were huddled upstairs in ViBi’s office which consisted of a small house with two rooms upstairs and one downstairs. Because of the lack of space, the administrative staff members work in a building less than a quarter of a mile down the road above a milk delivery place. Uiko Yano, the ViBi project leader, led the group as they went back and forth among themselves trying to determine how to explain and summarize the big picture of Daniel 7‑12. Daniel chapters 1‑6 are pretty concrete and contain the stories most of us have known since we were young: Daniel and the lion’s den, the statue and the fiery furnace. Nearly everyone, Christian or not, knows those stories. But Daniel 7‑12 features so many visions with complicated details, beasts and characters. Trying to determine exactly how to portray even one verse can be difficult. Because sign languages are dependent on facial expressions, hand movements and body language, no detail is wasted. Every movement matters. Every sign matters. The workgroup broke for lunch and we sat around the table together downstairs in the ViBi conference room, dragging a variety of chairs around the office’s table. Some of the translation team members brought their lunches, while some walked nearby to a grocery store to purchase salad, chicken and desserts. When the JSL team is around the lunch table, they don’t mention work until they have to. They laugh, ask about life and try to swipe each others’ desserts. After lunch, they began to draft the first few verses of Daniel 7. It took hours. I peeked into the room a few times during the afternoon and asked my translator friend, Donna, from Deaf Bible Society, what was happening. She kindly informed me that the team was debating the meaning of Daniel 7:6, which says: “Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard. It had four bird’s wings on its back, and it had four heads. Great authority was given to this beast” (NLT; emphasis mine). When I asked about why the team was debating the meaning of this particular verse, Donna elaborated: In a hearing culture, she explained, we know the Bible is open to interpretation. So when a hearing person reads a verse like Daniel 7:6, we can conjure an image in our heads of whatever we’d like. For example: What do you imagine the four wings look like? You can picture big wings, small wings, wings on the beast’s back or wings on its side. But for a Deaf person to understand a passage, they need to see it visually. And in Japanese Sign Language, there isn’t just one way to say “wings” like there is in the English written language. There are specific, different signs to say “wings on the back” or “wings on the side” or “big wings.” Context is everything. It might seem odd to us — a 15‑ or 20‑minute debate between team members over the best sign to use for “wings” in Daniel 7:6. But being clear and accurate are two things that the JSL team members value. Whether it’s Daniel 7:6 or John 3:16, every verse matters. UNBURDENED FROM STRESS When people are able to understand Scripture in a language and format that reaches their hearts, lives are transformed. But there are practical, subtle transformations that happen too. Until I watched Tadashi Nagasawa, a member of the Yamagata Deaf Christ Church, sign about his experience, I never considered that reading might be stressful for a Deaf person: “A few years ago I had a stomach ache and was hospitalized. The doctor explained to me that it was due to stress. I wasn’t sure where I got the stress. … I think I didn’t preach for a year or something. Then later I was asked … to preach. … It’d been a long time since I had preached, but I accepted it and opened my Bible to prepare. … So I opened my Bible, started reading and studying it. Then I felt the pain in my stomach. I thought to myself: ‘This is probably the same stress that the doctor mentioned to me when I was in the hospital.’ “After that, I was asked again to preach, but this time I said no because of the pain in my stomach. But Pastor Matsumoto kindly offered to help me and explained the content of the Bible in JSL for my preparation for preaching. And when he did that, I did not feel any pain.” Sign languages and spoken languages have completely different syntaxes. The way that we order words in spoken languages differs from the way that words and phrases are ordered in sign languages. And spoken languages are phonetic, relying on connections between text and sound. As Uiko explained: “For Deaf people … they need something that’s visual. … As hearing people read, there’s a connection between text and sound. For us as Deaf people, we cannot hear and we’re never going to have that connection between the sound and the text. … Visually seeing the hand movement in sign language is very important for us.” THE LOVE OF GOD IN SIGN LANGUAGE The Deaf need Scripture in a format that makes sense to them: video. And they deserve to understand God’s love for them in their language. Toshie Otsubo, the administrative assistant for the ViBi team, is an older woman who acts as the team’s “grandmother”; she arranges everyone’s shoes into neat rows at the front door of the ViBi house. She cleans dishes and takes out the garbage. She takes care of the team. Toshie has spent most of her life reading the Japanese Bible. “But when I started working for ViBi, it really changed my perspective,” she signed. “What I really didn't get in [written] Japanese, I understood so easily in the JSL Bible. For example in John 3:16, it says that God so loved the world [that] he gave us eternal life. When I read this Scripture in Japanese, I thought that God gave eternal life to someone. But when I watched [it] in JSL … I truly understood that it includes everyone.” She concluded: “I was finally able to grasp the deeper context … [and] I'm so thankful for that. It is my hope and prayer that more and more Deaf people will be reached through JSL Bible with more understanding of the Word of God.” Toshie cried after she shared her story. I did too. There’s nothing more powerful than understanding God’s love in your own language. Sign Language Translation You can help bring the hope of Scripture to Deaf people around the world by praying for the Japanese Sign Language project and other translation projects like it. LEARN AND PRAY *This is based on the translation standards established by the Forum of Bible Agencies International. The American Sign Language Bible was completed by Deaf Missions in collaboration with partners like American Bible Society, Seed Company, Deaf Bible Society, Pioneer Bible Translators and Wycliffe USA. Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe US

A Storying Fellowship Group (SFG) is a way of enabling people to hear and reflect on Scripture. This is done in the form of telling Bible stories orally in natural, colloquial language. It is believed that two-thirds of the world’s population learn orally, preferring to communicate and learn through spoken rather than written means (learn more here). In four sessions from July-August 2022, Wycliffe Singapore (WSg) and Wycliffe Malaysia (WMB) jointly conducted a Mandarin SFG using a series of three stories from the book of Jonah. Through the sessions, participants from Malaysian and Singaporean churches listened to the three stories, re-told them, and reflected on the stories in small groups. Participants also had a chance to discuss how using the SFG method compared to other methods of Bible study, and who SFGs could be used with. An SFG participant shares his experience One of the Singaporean participants, Alan Chan, shares his experience of attending SFG for the first time. Why did you sign up for SFG? After serving in my church’s befriender ministry, I wanted to learn how to reach out in Mandarin. It was challenging at first, but my small group facilitator was very encouraging. Did anything surprise you? The trainers were so captivating and passionate. I felt like a Sunday school child again! Although we were encouraged not to refer to the Bible during the session and to only read the Bible after the session was over, I could not resist looking at the Bible as I was surprised by how the story of Jonah ended. It was really like that. I never realised the ending was so surprising before! How was your overall experience with SFG? It was a real eye-opener because we started to think out of the box! Having gone through it, is there anything you would like to tell others about SFG? Try it at least once in order to appreciate how effective storytelling can be! Can SFG be used in Singapore? SFG is not a new method. It has long been used in overseas mission fields, especially among people groups that rely primarily on oral traditions. Singapore is a highly literate country, with an adult literacy rate of 97.13% in 2020. However, though literate, many of us do learn well through aural and oral methods, such as through stories, videos and podcasts, possibly better than relying only on written methods. Many existing Bible study methods in Singapore rely on written texts. Perhaps sharing and reflecting on oral stories can complement text-based Bible study methods, helping Scripture to come alive to people of all backgrounds. Even Christians can find new insights when hearing the stories instead of reading them. And perhaps stories, communicated orally, can be a way of sharing Christ to pre-believers in a non-intimidating way, inviting them to think about who God is, and to mull over what Scripture says about God and the world He created. If you are interested in finding out more about oral storying, or participating in a workshop, please contact us. Read about Oral Bible Storying in other countries: Malaysia: https://wycliffe.my/en/the-beginning-of-oral-bible-storying/ Another Asian country: https://www.wycliffe.sg/news/we-can-share-story Read about a past workshop: https://www.wycliffe.sg/blog/crafting-stories-reflect-internalise-tell

Stories from the Field, 7 Feb 2023 by Blessy Vera Khor has been a Bible Translation consultant since 2012. She served the Obo Manobo in the Philippines, translating the Bible, hymn books and health books into their language. The New Testament was completed and dedicated in 2011, and some portions of the Old Testament have also been translated. When someone mentions Bible translation, what comes to mind? The very complex processes of translating, and the technical expertise that is expected from a Bible translator? Vera’s story tells us that there is more than that! When Vera heard God’s call to missions in 1982, she hesitated because she was not confident in her ability. She was then working as a maid in Kampar, Malaysia. God, however, showed her that he was more concerned with her availability, and so she responded to the call. She went through the first SIL training course for Asians in Singapore in 1987, and was assigned to the Philippines in 1988. A year later, she went to the Obo Manobo tribe and dedicated the next two decades of her life to translating the Bible into their language. She first had to navigate unfamiliar circumstances, cultures, places and people that challenged her in personal ways. The people lived in very remote areas on the slopes of Mount Apo where travelling was a challenge. Electricity was limited. Food was different. The people considered themselves the poorest of the poor. When she arrived, the people were ashamed to speak their language, and they lived in constant fear of spirits, witchcraft and superstitions. Even those who were Christians carried charms. Most people did not know how to read, and the preacher was the only person who had a Bible, which was not in their ethnic language. The Word was preached in English that the listeners could not understand. Vera felt the great need for the people to know and understand who Jesus is, and the power that came from having a personal relationship with him. But they could only experience this if they could understand the Word preached to them. She could not begin translating immediately as she needed to learn the language. The Obo Manobo language also didn’t have a writing system. So she lived with the people with the goal of learning their language. She studied their culture by whatever means available, like attending celebrations such as weddings, funerals and birthdays. She and her partner in the field did what they could to help the people. They became like a health clinic handing medicines out for fevers and coughs; a bank where the people could change their banknotes; a pawnshop where they could leave their precious radio for 200 pesos. They were the village’s official photographers during funerals and weddings! Their doors were open 12 hours a day to cater to the people’s needs. In this way, they were able to gather and record stories, build up a dictionary and, more importantly, come up with a writing system that represented the sounds in the Obo Manobo language. Only then could the rigorous process of translating God’s Word begin. It took Vera and her team about two decades to complete the New Testament translation into the Obo Manobo language. But Vera’s mission work didn’t stop after translating the Bible. She became much more than a translator. There was a need for continuing work to reach over 20 different groups of the Obo Manobo (about 70,000 speakers) spread across 6 different districts. She and her team continued to train people so that they too could become the teachers of their language. They also encouraged the pastors and church leaders of different churches and denominations to take ownership of the Bible translation they now had. Recognising that the translation of the New Testament was not enough, they continued working on the translation of the Old Testament. For God’s Word to reach more people, a 30-minute live radio programme was also started, and a training centre was erected to facilitate Bible training courses for local leaders. At present, Vera is working as a translation consultant and no longer stays with the Obo Manobo people. However, she continues to make trips there as she believes there is still a lot of work to do. She sees the need to train the pastors and workers not only in the Bible, but also hymns, and to provide guidance as to how to introduce these to the community. There is also a need to ensure the sustainability of the language and the available resources through expanding literacy programmes for children. They have begun to invest in digital libraries for schools. Armed with a computer, a big TV screen and the translated Manobo materials, teachers are empowered to preserve the language among the younger generation. The work is far from completion. Vera went to the Obo Manobo with the goal of sharing God’s love by helping them to have a Bible in their heart language. However, her work went beyond translating God’s Word, and has served as God’s way to redeem and preserve Obo Manobo culture while building confidence in their identity. Vera’s life has been a journey of being faithful to God’s call and sharing God’s love for the people, using whatever ability that God has given her.

What is your plumb line? Amos 7:8b: “Then the Lord said, ‘Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’” A plumb line is a cord that has a weight attached at one end. Suspended from a point, it will define a vertical line. This is especially important when building walls to make sure they are perfectly upright. In Amos, the image of a plumb line illustrates God’s perfect standard. God had placed a plumb line among the people of Israel so that it could be clearly seen how much they deviated from His laws and commandments. Since Israel had persisted in sinning, and the people had not aligned themselves to God’s perfect standard, God declared that he would call judgement down on them.

Patrick Lai, Tentmaking: The Life and Work of Business as Missions, InterVarsity Press, 2006, 418 pgs. This is an excellent manual for anyone preparing to serve as a missionary, whether as a tentmaker or not. The book discusses the many pros and cons of various forms of missionary work and provides much food for thought and exploration. Many aspects of missionary life are discussed: motivation, preparation, accountability, visas, relationships with authorities and team members, "third culture kid" issues, finances, home assignments, etc. Lai began his missionary service as a traditional missionary for four years, then later lived and worked as a “tentmaker” in a creative access nation (CAN) for nearly two decades. In the book, he points out that both traditional missionaries and tentmakers are similar in feeling called to do missionary work, but the “missionary” is openly identified as such in the place of service while the “tentmaker” is not. Tentmakers are therefore able to gain access to the increasing number of countries which do not issue missionary visas, as well as to the workplaces which are natural settings to befriend nationals. During Lai’s service in a tentmaking role, he was challenged by a mentor to provide support for his pro-tentmaking views. Over six years, he surveyed and interviewed 450 workers (various types of missionaries, including tentmakers) from many organisations working in the 10/40 window. Nearly 50 factors were identified, including their background, education, training, motivation, life, ministry and work. These factors were related to the workers’ effectiveness (defined in terms of evangelism, discipleship and church planting). Read a summary of the findings: Tentmaking Unveiled—“The Survey Says”. The findings from the survey form the basis of the book. Classification of Tentmakers One of the most useful outcomes of the survey is Lai’s classification of tentmakers into 5 common groups, and his discussion of the pros and cons of each group. T-1: Employed abroad in the course of their careers without any initial commitment to cross-cultural ministry; self-supporting. T-2: Called to reach out to specific people, and so seek out training that qualifies them to work in a foreign or national firm in that country; usually self-supporting. T-3: Often associated with a mission agency; has a job, but part or all of their income is derived from supporters back home. T-4: Works in an NGO to serve the community in a job consistent with their identity; part or all of their income may be derived from supporters back home. T-5: Missionary in reality, but with a non-missionary identity; spends most or all their time on missionary service; income is derived from supporters back home Measures of Effectiveness Lai uses three criteria to assess tentmakers’ effectiveness in ministry: the number of people they led to Christ; the number of people they discipled in the Word; and the number of churches they planted. Based on these criteria, the survey indicated that the most effective tentmakers belonged to the T-3 and T-4 categories, while the least effective was the T-1 category. While these criteria are relevant to all missionary endeavours, it should be noted that there are other activities which missionaries engage in that do not fall within these categories, such as social or development goals, or Bible translation (of particular interest to Wycliffe!). Some social and development goals may be carried out under NGOs, but not all. Heart Language and Bible Translation Ultimately, as Lai affirms, the aim of all missions work is to plant churches where no churches exist. In Revelation 7:9, John describes the vision of a multitude “from every nation, tribe, people and language” worshipping the Lamb. Lai himself advises tentmakers: “learning their (the target people’s) heart language is not optional”, and recognises that “heart language” is not necessarily the national language or trade language. He strongly encourages the use of the heart language for discipleship and in churches, and while he does not specifically mention scripture in the heart language, it can be assumed that he would advocate the use of heart language scripture. Wycliffe missionaries also share the ultimate aim of seeing churches planted and lives transformed in every people group. However, Wycliffe’s work encompasses a crucial element absent from Lai’s criteria of effectiveness – foundational to Wycliffe’s mission is the provision of heart language scripture for use in evangelism and discipleship. In ethnic groups where heart language scripture has not been translated, then the missionaries will embark on language learning and Bible translation along with the initial efforts to befriend the target people group. Without this, all missionaries seeking to reach that people group will have to translate scripture “on the fly”, or use scripture in some other language. An issue faced by missionaries whose ministries are not compatible with a secular workplace or a welcomed NGO (such as Bible translation) is this: what is the most suitable strategy that meets their needs? While evangelism and discipleship can more readily take place in the workplace and in the surrounding social settings, translation work requires dedicated and extended time for study, discussion and concentration, and involves nationals in the work. It is probably only the T-5 category that would allow this amount of dedicated time and focus. Unfortunately, this is also the category that is most likely to attract suspicion. As of now, a good solution has yet to be found. Can there be a different model of tentmaking or some other solution which may involve some form of tentmaking, be devised for ministries such as Bible translation? Pray also for wisdom for those who are currently involved in translating the Bible into heart languages, so that evangelism and discipleship can be even more effective.