How Will They Hear?
We have seen some amazing things this done a lot of things putting more than 10 hours a day into language learning; that is a lot for the human brain, and considering it is only light outside for 11-12 hours. We are trying to get this language quickly! We have been given motivation that shakes the soul. We have been in various events and settings, from going about the village, to town, to Bible studies not in our native tongue, and much more!
We were greeted by our language helpers (Joshua and Amilia) when we came back from orientation and they said things like “we are happy to see you…we want to teach you our language…come on over and talk with us anytime”, the translation is not a one-to-one ratio but the message and heart is clear. They want us to learn their language, and they want to help us.
While we were walking in the village I (Seth) was talking to a man, he told me he wants to help me learn Tok Pisin (the national/trade language). He said he wants me to speak his language and to teach me the “right” way (talk straight) to speak. It is a funny saying in Tok Pisin, because everyone says the same thing, it is encouraging. But this is where it turned…he said he has helped many people learn his language, but just when they become proficient in Tok Pisin they leave. He said he loves hearing about the Bible, and wants me to learn his language so I can share about God’s truths…if that is not motivation, I do not know what is? To have a moment of transparency, we looked at Tok Pisin as the gateway to the tribe, once we get there, we can get to where we ought to be, but that is far from the truth. God brought us here at this time to seek His will for not just our tribal work, but to impact the people HE is placing before us right here in Madang. Pray we learn well, so we can share the Message of Christ with these people soon!
We want to share one more amazing experience with you. When we were at the base in Goroka (Lapilo) going through orientation, we were able to observe some “translation checks”. What an amazing and detailed process! The Bible translator first has to submit a “back to English” translation for the checker. A checker is typically a person who has translated a good-bit of if not all of the New Testament into a tribal language. The checker then reads and prepares several questions regarding the discourse analysis and the apparent grammar idiosyncrasies. You can translate word for a word, but just because it is a word within a group of words does not mean it conveys the accurate meaning to the audience. Example: five stones grabbed smooth David. This is a poor example, but it does show the difference in meaning. It is a familiar Bible event, but we would better understand the sentence if it were written: “David grabbed five smooth stones”. From there, there is something that is natural for foreigners to have…presuppositions. Who is David? Where did he come from? Why is he getting stones? Why five? Why do they have to be smooth? When did David do this? Where did he put the stones? Among many other questions that could be given, but that is why we must ask and think through as many things as we can. We have found this to be true in Tok Pisin. We keep looking for words like “for” or “because” but they do not exist on a word for word translation, the same meaning is there, but the exact words are non-existent.
After the checker goes through the back to English process, they move to an indigenous person reading the passage for comprehension. Next, there is another indigenous person listening and then regurgitating what was read. Another person shares their opinions on the text and repeats what the other two people had said (all three people are different ages and genders, the more broad the spectrum the better the testing can be). After that, there are several things done through the national language, and other testing’s of the translations accuracy. After fluidity and comprehension is checked, you move on to the next verse. We were able to listen to 12 verses being checked, this took almost an hour! There was a lot of work that went into the translation before it was even checked; all in all it is a thorough and tedious process. But when it is done, there is such a joy; it is amazing to see a people receive a passage of scripture in their own language and be able to understand it, truly there is no greater thing! The joy of being the first to ever hear parts of God’s Word in your own language, when so many have had it for decades, centuries, even millennia, truly there can be no greater joy. Be excited! Many tribes are getting translations finished and checked right now while you are reading this blog post.
Rejoice, God is faithfully building His church and preparing hearts, pray for missionaries to come to PNG. There is a great decline in missions and sadly, the attrition percentage rate is growing. The church needs to step its game up and separate its people for missions, send them (Acts 13:1-3), and partner with them to reach the lost for Christ. There is too much work to be done and too much opposition to give the Devil and the world another foothold. We need to step away from entertainment, pleasure, and excuses and answer the call for people to hear the Truth of Jesus Christ. I do not know of another place in the world where there are so many people asking for God’s eternal Word, pray we can answer the call to here in PNG before another religion does and sways the masses to an eternal separation from the one true God. Hell is real, and our time here on earth is short, let’s get busy for our King.
Your feet in to the unreached in PNG, Seth & Nicole Stokes
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Stoking The Fires 