Category Archives: Thoughts

Mid July Update — Learning to Live with Plan B

School, Thoughts, Travels, , , ,

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve written, so I thought I should post something about how things are going. Not because I have something new to say; things are still pretty much where we last left them, with our passports in Washington, D.C.,  and us unable to do anything until they come back, and us not sure when they will come back, or whether they will have visas in them when they do.

We have heard from a number of sources that the whole system is slowed down due to changes in how Congolese visas are approved, and that this isn’t political or personal. So it may be that we do get visas in advance of the constitutionally required elections in DRC this November –regarding which some have expressed doubts that they will happen on time.

So in the mean time, I’m following advice from our support team, and moving forward as I can with my doctoral work. I had hoped to make two more trips to DRC before I finish, but that may not be ultimately possible. These last couple weeks, I’ve been organizing material that I’ve written over the last couple years, but had not compiled in one place, as well as catching up on comments on some of that material that I had not yet incorporated.

I’ve also organized some of the data that I haven’t finished analyzing, and I will continue to get what I can out of that. It may well be that I can make tolerable doctoral work out of it, though that was definitely not plan A. But it seems like this is maybe something God is working on in me; making me willing to accept a lower standard of excellence than I know I’m capable of.  As one of the founders of the modern Bible Translation movement said, “There are some things that are worth doing, that are not worth doing well.” (or something like that).

For a perfectionist with anxiety issues, this is a hard pill to swallow.  But perhaps that’s why it seems to be next on God’s list. Anyway, I’ve seen a number of times in this program, where I have been forced to simply submit what I consider B level work, and move on. Not that I’ve ever actually gotten a B (there is grade inflation, after all), but I have had to continually face my own lack of satisfaction with my work. And I think it is true, that some things just need to be done, and spending a lot of time and energy doing them really well is a waste. For instance, today I cleared the back yard of dog poo. I think there’s a basic level of time and energy that it’s reasonable to spend on that, and it’s not more than an hour (unless maybe you’ve really let it go…).

Likewise, a paper that is necessary to pass a class, but which will never be published, is not one that merits getting it just right. Even some papers, I can tell before finishing them, that I’m going to need to move stuff around (and add it to other work, for instance) before it would make sense to a broader audience. Time and energy spend word-smithing those papers is a waste.  Once the overall structure is in place, and the analysis finished, then finer touches make sense.

In any case, I feel the need to plan for the possibility that I may not be able to enter the DRC in the next couple years, which would mean either waiting to finish the doctorate, or finishing it with the data that I have already. No one has advised the first, and several people have advised what amounts to the second (“Get this done; don’t delay”). While I’m working on that, if Congo opens up for me, I’ll make a trip, and see what happens. But in the mean time, I’ll execute the plan that I don’t desire, but which seems to be the one God is offering me.

 

 

Dictionaries

Church, Congo + Culture, Thoughts, , , ,

I just finished drafting the line “good progress on dictionaries for each of the languages” for the newsletter we’re hoping to put out in the next couple days, and I realized I’m not sure that it is clear to all why that is a good thing.  So here’s a bit of a rationale.

From what I understand of the history of dictionaries in English, one of the main reasons people do them is to help standardize the writing system.  Have you ever asked how to spell a word, and been told to look it up in a dictionary?  Perhaps that doesn’t happen so much anymore, but in any case, dictionaries can be an authoritative source for spelling information. I have even understood that one of Webster’s goals was not only the standardization of American English spelling, but also the creation of a distinctly American English. Have you used the words colour, litre, practise, paralyse or programme? If so, you’re probably British (or learned your spelling from a Brit). Nothing against the Brits; it’s just that spelling is one way of saying “this is who we are”. While I’m hoping that the communities we work with in the DRC won’t spend much time distinguishing one dialect of their language from another, I do hope they will spend time clarifying their identity in their writing system.

I want this for two reasons.  First of all, a lot of Bible Translation is about identity.  If we are going to help someone translate what will be seen as a foreigners’ Bible, then we might as well stop today, since these people already have second and third language Bibles. Additionally, this is not the promise of the scriptures. Rather, it promises “…a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages… crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God…'” (Rev 7:9-10 ESV). I don’t see this promise as just lots of different Christians, but people from each of the 6,000+ languages of the world seeing God as their own God, and worshiping Him as such. We don’t want to just translate and print books; we want to see the impact in individuals and communities of the Holy Spirit working through the written Word of God. This impact is hampered if you’re reading a Bible that continues to tell you that God is talking to someone else, not you.

The second reason I’m in favor of standardization has to do with fluency.  I’ve seen a lot of non-fluent reading of the scriptures, and I personally find it painful. And I imagine it must be difficult to have the kind of impact I mention above if the reader stumbles often in the reading, and/or has to read something multiple times to get the meaning. As a result, one major motivation for my work is to see people reading fluently. I want them to read without stumbling, and to get the sense the first time they read. I want pastors to be able to read the scriptures in the middle of a sermon without creating a major break in the thought flow. And I want to do everything I can to remove any barriers to fluency which arise as a result of the writing system. That normally starts with getting the consonants, vowels and tone correct, but it also includes people knowing how words are spelled, and identifying the correct word and its pronunciation quickly as they read.

There are two other arguments for dictionaries as part of language development, one of which is sociological, the other linguistic. Related to the identity question above, many peoples I’ve interacted with don’t see their language as valuable, and this opinion is often shared by outsiders. I once heard a “real language” as “you know, one with books”. I think I know what that person meant, but if it takes a book to give a language respect, then I want to be a part of giving them their first book. And people get this. Seeing someone look at the first booklet in their language (as little as 15 pages, with lots of pictures!) is an amazing sight. They immediately get that someone does finally care about them.

The linguistic argument is that in order to do good dictionary work, you need to do a lot of other things which you already should be doing anyway: collecting and analyzing texts, checking pronunciations, helping the community decide how words should be spelled, including diacritics, spacing, and punctuation. All of this analysis helps build not only the dictionary, but our understanding of the language more generally, perhaps more particularly how the sound and writing systems will interact. I hope it is clear why one would want to do this before publishing much in the language; anything you publish without really understanding how the writing system will work may need substantial revision, and anything you publish creates a precedent that you will have to fight against in making later changes (and if you don’t see how precedent can trump sound reasoning for spelling changes, just look at English).

So our ultimate goal is life transformation through the Bible, but to get there, we want to see that the community is well placed to have and use a Bible that is theirs, that can and will be read fluently and with power, and dictionary work helps further all of those goals.

 

 

 

15 Years

Personal, Thoughts

I was walking in the door of our little university apartment after a long day teaching boisterous third graders. Kent was soon to graduate with his MA in Linguistics, but his university schedule varied. He was already home, sitting on our couch with a grin. He made me listen to the answering machine message right away. (And stood behind me with a camera, ready to capture my face on film. Yes, film.)

The message announced that we were voted in as new members of Wycliffe Bible Translators. June 6, 2001. I knew I would always remember the date. For six months we had been filling out essay questions, getting physicals, taking Bible tests, etc. Everything that could have gone wrong – did. I’ll save those details for another post.

The Committee was to vote at 9:30am in Florida on membership. We’d been told that our file could not be considered because it was incomplete. Kim’s Medical Document had been MIA in the postal world for quite some time. We had sent it from Oregon in plenty of time. No one knew where it was. Our Member Application Guy (he had a much cooler title I can’t remember) walked to the meeting discouraged & decided to stop in the mailroom one last time “just in case”. Everyone knows the mail doesn’t come at 8:30am… The form was there! Our file complete by miraculous means. And we were voted in, against the odds.

So began a journey for Kent & I to learn more & more to trust God and wait for his perfect timing. And what a journey…

15 years
3 kids
17 moves
3 languages learned
French Alps
Cameroonian hillside
Kenyan family
Congolese home
Becoming Sr. Members
Kent – a Linguistics Consultant
Countless flights & frights
The sheer delight on the faces of those reading their own language in print for the first time.

Looking forward to the next 15!

Mourning

Family, Personal, Texas Culture, Thoughts, , ,

Last night I heard that a woman I’ve been in ministry with has filed for divorce. I could only respond “ouch”. There are lots of details I don’t know (and that’s probably good), but I can only think how much our enemy is laughing.
And that we need to continue holding each other up in prayer. We need to pray that we as individuals would have the grace to see our sins and repent of them on a daily basis (c.f., Luther’s thesis #1). And that we would have the grace to see relational troubles between ourselves and others (including spouses) and do something about them. And that we would continue to take all these troubles and sins to God through Christ by faith, trusting that He will be good to us, and much more than we deserve.
Because however much our enemy is laughing now, He who laughs last laughs longest. So let’s continue to hold up each other, as we trust in the One who will win in the end.

The Content of Our Character

Holidays, Homeschool, Texas Culture, Thoughts, ,
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. 
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life in the Pacific Northwest basically persuaded me that civil rights and racism were issues argued by academics and politicians for academic and political reasons. Since moving to Texas, however, I’ve found that the issues are more than skin deep, as it were. As in, many people don’t want to talk about race, yet their actions, and things said tangentially or avoided altogether, indicate that tensions are still quite alive.

But rather than to pretend to solve this nations race problems, I’d like to talk about a good friend of mine, and how he envisions the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Way’s skin is darker than mine, but I’ve never seen that as relevant in our relationship. He is an elder at a church I attended some time ago, and hope to visit again this summer. When he preaches, he preaches boldly and clearly, and with insight. He speaks out against corruption, which has played a large part in keeping his area in poverty. And when he thinks I’m wrong, he doesn’t hesitate to say so.

Yet he was the the one called on to give the sermon at a funeral of several young men killed by those of a rival group. The fact that the community called on him in this potentially explosive moment shows that they trust him to to speak the truth without bias, and in love. In a moment where many called for retribution, Way lived and preached the ideal Dr. King referred to as he said “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred…. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”

But not only has he promoted peace when and where others sought violence and revenge, he is also a constructive part of building his community. As head of a development college at a local university, he teaches students about practical and applicable development. He requires and supervises student work that makes a difference in the area. Where there is not clean water, he has built wells. But anyone can dig wells; they do it in a way that the community can pitch in, both financially and logistically, so they have the self respect of having participated in the project (not just receiving a gift). So the well improves the health of the community physically, but also morally, as the people benefiting see that they can be a part of improving their lives. Which brings me to another Dr King quote: “You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.” It is too easy to look at hardship and sit down. But Way has been an example to me of working hard in hardship, to make things better for himself and others.

Which brings me to the most fundamental Dr. King quote, cited above.  While we argue and fight about what each other really think, I yearn for the time where character is the basis of judgment, not skin color. Which is to say that I think that judgment is necessary. Police brutality is wrong, and should be stopped. But I yearn for the day where it is neither vilified nor excused because it was white on black. I yearn for the day that a reporter can talk about the character of the abused before giving a racial description. I think of the “Mom of the year” recipient, who dragged her son out of a mob and beat him. If a man is committing a crime, he should be lawfully arrested and tried, however we might describe his skin. And if he’s innocent, that should be found without prejudice, and he should be left in peace, again without reference to skin. Character is what should count, not skin. But perhaps we’re a ways off of that.

Ebenezer 2015

Family, Holidays, Personal, Thoughts, , , ,

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”

1 Samuel 7:12 (ESV)

For the last several years, it has seemed good to draw up a list of specific ways that God has helped us, as we reflect back on the ups and downs of a year drawing to a close. Some years we have needed that because we needed to see past all the more obvious and difficult things, and remind ourselves of the providence of God working all to Good, as we looked past the pain of each moment to the longer perspective. And many of those points have been more private than publishable, either because we’re not sure we wanted to lay those pains open to the whole of cyberspace, or else because the point of the joy probably just wouldn’t make sense if you weren’t there for the pain as well.

But this year, there have been many joys, and many of those joys are shareable, so it seemed right to do so, and give God glory for what has has done for us this last year (the following list us, as the secondary agents; God is the primary agent working the good out in us):

At the UT Arlington:

  1. I took Statistics, and learned R (a statistics computer program).
  2. I finished formal syntax, formal phonology, and formal semantics requirements, completing my coursework requirements for the doctoral degree.
  3. I Presented the Mbo language (of D.R.Congo) at three different conferences in Feb-Mar: the UTA Student Conference in Linguistics and TESOL (UTASCILT), and the UTA Annual Celebration of Excellence in Students (ACES), and the Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL)
  4. I won an award for my presentation at ACES, talking about the integration of linguistic work and community development.
  5. I had an awesome time at ACAL, reconnecting with some scholars, and meeting new ones, including people whose work I am building on.
  6. My academic advisor took a job elsewhere, and I made a smooth transition to another advisor, with whom I’m getting along very well.
  7. I presented the Ndaka language (of D.R.Congo) at UTA Linguistics department Graduate Student Showcase and the Metroplex Linguistics Conference.
  8. I got broad departmental affirmation for my Metroplex talk.
  9. I submitted an abstract (on Ndaka) for ACAL 47 in March 2016, which was accepted.
  10. I fully drafted my dissertation proposal, and sent it to my committee for review.

In Personal health:

  1. I spent far too much money on doctors and tests to find out that I needed to loose weight (which I already knew).
  2. I lost 60 pounds, and I’ve kept it off.
  3. I withdrew from teaching at church to focus more on our marriage.
  4. I got back into teaching at church.
  5. I got to enjoy some Christmas preparation.
  6. I got to see Kim enjoy me enjoying some Christmas preparation.
  7. I finished the fall term well, early, and in peace with myself, God and Kim.

In the Family:

  1. We prepared and executed a trip to Oregon
  2. We set up a website, and integrated it with Mailchimp, our blog, and our give page at Wycliffe.
  3. We started leading a homegroup.
  4. We celebrated James’ 13th birthday.
  5. We got to see each of our children take major strides in trusting Christ.
  6. We got to see each of our children excel in particular ways at school.
  7. We got solar panels installed on our house.
  8. We made lots of progress in our marriage, both in and out of therapy.
  9. We successfully got each of our cars out of the shop (multiple times each).

Other ministry opportunities:

  1. I got to lead a small group of constantly changing group of fifth graders every other week in Sunday school, where I get to teach a bit and pray for each of them.
  2. I got to lead a boy to Christ in the 5th/6th grade class.
  3. I have continued to pursue relationships at church and homegroup that do not respond as positively as I would like.
  4. I finished CORPS (a training course at our local church) answering questions well on the final exam (incl some potentially divisive ones). I received a particular commendation on my respectful demeanour from our senior pastor, who lead the course (those who have interacted with me over the years may sense how much of a blessing this was to hear!).
  5. Kim has helped make 10+ quilts, and through this ministry continues to raise up prayer for missionaries.
  6. Kim started as a BSF group leader, leading 13 women (including non- and new believers) through a study of Revelation.

So odds are some of the above doesn’t make sense.  That’s OK; maybe it’s more personal than I thought it was.  Anyway, God has carried us through a lot this year, both in terms of things to bear, and things to enjoy. So it just seemed right to ring in the new year giving him the credit. To God be the glory, from whom all blessings flow!

Grace,

Kent

The Gospel in Romans

Thoughts, ,

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith”. (Rom 1:15-17 ESV)

Here we see what could be called a thesis statement for the book of Romans. If Romans is the explanation and defense of the Gospel as Paul preaches it, then this is the summary statement of how and why that happens. There are a number of things to notice in these verses:

  1. Paul is eager to preach the gospel to this audience. (v15) because
  2. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. (v16) because
  3. the gospel is the power of God.
  4. the gospel brings salvation.
  5. that salvation is to everyone who believes.
  6. that salvation is for Jews, and
  7. that salvation is for Greeks/Gentiles/non-Jews. This is because
  8. The gospel is about the righteousness of God. (v17)
  9. That righteousness is revealed by means of faith (source).
  10. That righteousness is revealed for the purpose of faith (end/result). And finally,
  11. This centrality of faith is not new; it has backing in the Hebrew scriptures.

Looking at this verse another way, we can ask the following questions:

Who is the object of the gospel?

This passage is clear enough, I think, that the Gospel is aimed at and available to all nations, Jew and Gentile/non-Jew alike. Elsewhere in Romans, Paul lays out the evidence that neither all nor only the descendants of Abraham will receive the blessings promised to Abraham. That is, at least some Jews don’t obtain that blessing, and at least some non-Jews do. So the object of the gospel is not one particular ethnic group, but everyone who believes.

What is the basis of the gospel?

If the gospel is not a message to a particular people group, who is it for?  And how do we enter into it? I find it intriguing that “from faith to/for faith” is somewhat ambiguous. That is, does it mean something like from A to Z, meaning all-inclusive, or more like Alpha and Omega, which presumably doesn’t mean that Jesus is everything, but that He is the origin and purpose of everything else. Here the difference might be between saying that the righteousness of God in the Gospel is revealed entirely by faith — never by anything else, on the one hand, and on the other hand saying that the righteousness of God in the Gospel comes from/through faith (as its source),  but also aims at faith (as its goal). This second interpretation would mean that not only does God provide us with His righteousness by means of faith (as in Eph 2:8-9), but the purpose for doing that is to give us faith — that is, relationship with Himself. I find this intriguing because I don’t think these interpretations are incompatible, so maybe the ambiguity is intentional.  Maybe it is all about faith, AND provided by and for the purpose of faith. In any case, there is nothing else that provides this righteousness; faith is the only means by which we may enter into the blessings God offers us in the gospel.

What is the purpose of the gospel?

The purpose of the Gospel is addressed three times in this passage, though perhaps tangentially. First, Paul is not ashamed because the gospel is the power of God. Then in verse 17, the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. And finally, as mentioned above, I think the whole point of the gospel is to magnify faith in God, making Him the primary mover and shaker, revealer and powerful One in all gospel work.  That is, the gospel is all about showing the Glory of God.

Summary

God in the Gospel does not hand out blessing to one people group and not another; rather, what He desires in us is, and has always been, faith. And the purpose and result of all this, is that we get to connect relationally with the glory of God.

On titles

Family, Thoughts

Just for the record…
I think I have failed to explain that we did not choose the title ‘tenfootfamily’ because we love feet. I once found this adorable family blog around the theme that they all loved coffee. Cute coffee cups artistically scattered around their lives contributed to the theme in the sidebar. Drink yumminess. Fill our cup. All sorts of language to illustrate their theme.

When we decided to blog (all of TWO years ago!), we decided right away that we weren’t the open-sharing-of-full-names kind of people. (I’m not judging those of you who are btw!) Nor were we the kind that like to dub our family members with bizarre initals DH, DS, DD. Makes for troublesome reading if you ask me! Nor did I like giving them some other web identity (though I considered it, it really doesn’t lend itself to the theme of FEET very well): then Stinky Feet said… and Twinkle Toes replied… then Soccer Cleats really lost it. I find it pretty hard to follow these blog posts, as I will never remember by the time I’ve scrolled past the key terms in the sidebar which kids they are talking about.

So, despite my temptation to go overboard about feet, you will not find tons of feet pictures. I know some people are not fans of feet… =) With five of us, there were only so many choices: fivenosedfamily, teneyedfamily, fiveheadedfamily… And we’re linguists, so we can’t help but love the double entendre of tenfootfamily. There we are. Over on the far side of the sea… but not really by the ocean.