Computing

With all the work I have been describing over the last few weeks, the end of the day usually finds me entering something into my computer to help me in my work. This week I thought I would give you an overview of some of the programs that I rely on.

With language learning, SayMore and Flex are the two I use. SayMore is designed to help with transcription of recordings as well as with keeping my metadata (information about the who, where and what of the recording) in order. When I return from the village, I have dozens of recordings that I need to work through. I put each of them into SayMore, add the metadata and start transcribing. The program allows me to break the recording into small segments, which it then plays on repeat while I listen and type. Once I have worked through the recording, I am able to export it to the next program, where I work on analysing and describing the content.

 SayMore screenshot

Flex, or Fieldworks Language Explorer, is the next program I use. Its purpose is to help with the analysis and description of a language, while also being good for helping to build and edit a lexicon of the language. I use Flex to type up all my language learning notes, stories I’ve collected and to analyse the recordings I typed in SayMore and then imported. It is a powerful program, which is computer talk for the fact most of us use the basic things but we’re pretty sure there’s lots more we have no idea about. I can use it to break the very long Kope words down into the smaller units of meaning (morphemes) to help me see what is actually going on inside this complex language. Also, as the computer has a better memory than me, I can build up my wordlist and then go back and search it when I’ve forgotten the meaning of a word, or the word that goes with a meaning.

Fieldworks Language Explorer screenshot

For translation, the two programs I use are Paratext and Logos. Paratext is the software in which I am building up the Kope New Testament. It is where I can enter the Kope draft and back translation, create an interlinear version, and consult the Greek text and notes from other translators about things I need to consider as we work. It also has a handy send/receive function that allows us to share the work between users and leave comments for each other. This means that once we are more established in our work, we can collaborate even when we are not in the same place.

Logos is an electronic library in which I have the Translators Workplace collection of books. There are many many more books available in Logos, but my budget has not yet stretched to include them. Still, the collection of Biblical commentaries, Greek helps and journals on translation that I can access with a click are a huge blessing. Seeing as I pay per kilogram for everything I fly to the village, this program gives me access to resources without my computer weighing a single gram more than it did before.

As I’m now also supporting the Anigibi tribe in the adaptation of the Kope drafts into their language, I have also been learning to use the program Adapt It. This is designed for exactly my situation, where a second project is started based on the work in another. Using the Kope as a source text, it makes it easy to adapt into Anigibi, as the computer remembers previous changes we have made and suggests them as appropriate. The more we use this program, the easier it will get, as it will have a database of changes to work from.

AdaptIt screenshot

With all of these programs there are problems, but usually the problems are PICNIC: Problem In Chair, Not In Computer. Sometimes though I am not at fault, but the computer has got too clever and made a wrong guess. I was confused by one of these when the suggested gloss for ‘piraromoido’ was:

pi-	r-	aromoi	-do
Past-	1P.SBJ-	heaven	-GOAL
‘I went towards heaven’ (kinda, not really)

All of these are legitimate units of meaning, but they do not belong together like this and did not match the context. Instead, the word should have been:

p-	iraromoi	-do
Past-	think	-DU.SBJ
‘they both thought’

A bit of a difference, but I am thankful to have the programs to help me sort this out.

Anigibi Adaptation

 Working in Ebegau (H.Schulz)

My third trip to work alongside the Kope people in translation was momentous enough, considering we started drafting Luke. We managed to complete the drafting and checking of two chapters, which is a fine effort for a translation team just beginning its work. This was apparently not enough for one trip though, as on the last day, another momentous thing happened when we visited the Anigibi.

The Kope translation team had been saying that the Anigibi should also have their own Bible, and that they should receive it at the same time as the Kope. The Kope and the Anigibi are closely related, both linguistically and socially, but have distinct social identities. They can understand each other when they talk, but their dialects have numerous differences. It is wonderful that the Kope care enough about the Bible, and about their neighbouring upstream tribe, to want to help them this way. It is also slightly scary when I can’t even speak Kope properly yet.

So, on the last day of my third village trip, we went to visit the Anigibi. We took with some of our drafts from Kope. I say some, as I did not have a printer in the village at that stage, and there was only so much of the good copy written out by hand that we could take with. Drafts in hand, we went visiting to see what people thought and how hard it would be to adapt the Anigibi into Kope.

 Working in Titihui (H.Schulz)

First we went to Ebegau village, the furthest upstream. We sat in the shade with members of the community, reading through the Kope and using a red pen to change it to Anigibi as needed. About every second word needed changing, but the changes were consistent. Once the changes were done, we re-read the whole thing in Anigibi, to many smiles from the gathering crowd as they heard the text so clearly.

Next we visited the village of Titihui. This is right bedside the airstrip I was flying out of later that day, and not far from Teredau mill where many Kope and Anigibi people work. Once again, we sat in the shade with our drafts and Tompkin, a Kope translator, worked through the adaptation process with some Anigibi people.

As we heard the plane circling to land, an hour earlier than expected, we grabbed my luggage, rushed through the last changes, looked at the threatening clouds and headed for the airstrip. Unfortunately the pilot had not received my message to stop at the river end of the airstrip, so we had to walk the length of the strip in the pouring rain for me to board.

Flying back to the Highlands, I was feeling thankful and overwhelmed. Thankful that the Kope were so keen to help their neighbours. Thankful that the Anigibi were keen to have God’s word in their language. Thankful that the adaptation seemed to be a straightforward affair. Yet overwhelmed, as I can barely speak Kope and had just been handed the responsibility of supporting another tribe to have the Bible. Overwhelmed because I have no idea how to go about that well, for although the adaptation process may speed up the drafting, there is still much work to be done in checking etc. Overwhelmed because two full on months in the village had just ended with a wonderful development, and a tropical drenching. Yet overall I was thankful, because God is more than able to make things happen, even when I am not.

Ebegau from the air…it’s a very small village! (H.Schulz)

Life and Death while Village Checking

During our two days of village checking in Bavi we sat in an open-sided longhouse between the village and the river. From there I could watch village life as it passed by, and village death too.

Firstly, from my perch I saw a young man have a seizure. His parents carefully looked after him, which was a sign to me that this was not a new thing. When I could, I went over to have a chat with his parents about their son, taking someone with to help me with translation.  I then started messaging my friend who is the doctor at Kikori Hospital, sending details about the boy, receiving questions in return and sending more information as I could. It was a medical consult by messenger that resulted in his parents being encouraged to take their son to see her when she next visited the area to do clinics. Hopefully they do!

Later in the day, a logging barge went past on the river. All the kids, and plenty of adults too, lined the river bank to watch it pass. It was lightly loaded and had no trouble navigating the sandbanks in the river.

Watching the barge go by (H.Schulz)

When the school day ended, teenagers who attend school a little further along the river started coming home. They would paddle along, tie up their canoe and walk home, paddle in hand. I was amused by this as I was once at their school as they arrived. As the canoes came in, they tied them in a flotilla, planted their paddles on the river bank and went to class. My school had a bike rack, they had a flotilla. Where I wandered along swinging my bike helmet, they wandered along carrying an paddle. It is the same concept in a different context.

Risking a finger while feeding

star fruit to the parrot (H.Schulz)

As we worked on the checking, a semi-tame parrot joined us. He danced in the rafters. He hopped down and investigated any food anyone had. He was chased away as a nuisance and he kept coming back, adding some colour to the day.

The saddest part of the parade of life was when it became a parade of death. A child in the village became gravely ill, and his home was right across the path from where we were working. People gradually gathered at the house, kids peering in at the windows and doors until they were chased away. This happened late in the day, and as we left for the evening to stay in the next village (Gibi) just along the river we did not know if the child lived or had died. As we left, the women who had been working with us went to pray with the family in their time of need.

During the evening and the morning, many rumours came our way. The child had died. The child still lived. It was not the child, but the mother who was dead or near death. There was no clarity, but the decision was made to cancel the second day of checking out of respect for the family. We packed ourselves up and prepared to head back to our own village, Ubuo’o. As we passed the village where we’d been working, Bavi, we stopped to pick up a team member who had stayed with his family there overnight.

As we pulled up to the riverbank we found that the child had indeed died, but that the family and the community still wanted us to proceed with checking and were waiting for us. The family of the child had even provided a mat for me to sit on to demonstrate that they wanted us there. So, we unpacked the canoe and got to work.

The village was in a sombre mood. The teens had not gone to school, but remained at home. Kids were being hushed into silence when they got carried away. As we did our checking, the sound of wailing came from the house across the path from us. There was also the sound of sawing and hammering as some men made a coffin for the child in the yard outside the house. We continued with our checking making sure our own noise levels were never too high or that we laughed at anything. Discussing the joyful story of Christmas with this as our backdrop and soundtrack was quite a contrast.

Village Checking

Another level of checking in Bible translation is village checking, which comes after advisor checking. This is where we take the checked draft to another village, to a group of people who have not been at all involved in the translation process, and see how they receive it. We took our drafts from Ubuo’o village to Bavi village, where we spent two days sitting with a small gathering from the community, going over the work we had done. This not only provides fresh ears to the checking process, but involves a broader section of the tribe in the translation process. Having broad ownership is an important thing.

As usual, our journey to Bavi and back had its moments. The canoe we travelled in was over full, so part of the way there, as we were about to round a corner and enter some slightly choppy water, we pulled over to the river bank and dropped some people off. They waited on the bank until the canoe could take us to our destination and then come back and collect them.

 In the canoe, when only half full (Ikobu)

The checking process we used on arrival is much the same as the advisor checking, as we read the text as a whole, asked comprehension questions and discussed the finer points that were raised. My ongoing frustration is that people have not learnt the art of summarising a story. When I ask for the big picture, I get all the details. I think I may be on a one person mission to teach my region how to summarise when appropriate! I was encouraged by how well the Bavi community got involved and approved of the translation work, but my biggest encouragement was in seeing the team who did the drafting take ownership of the process and reflect a number of the things which I had been teaching them.

One challenge that we often have is what words to use for introduced concepts. Although my Kope is a long way from fluent, I know that when I hear talk of ‘bogobogo made’ (white talk) that this topic has been raised again. This time it was raised concerning the use of ‘boromakai’ for ‘cow’, a term borrowed from the Tok Pisin ‘bulmakau’. They wanted to use ‘boomo’ or ‘pig’ instead. The problem is that Mary and Joseph were good Jewish parents and would never have laid their child in the pig-food-place. If we had a generic term for ‘animal’ in Kope we would use that, but we don’t (as far as I know!), so a cow-food-place it is. Counting and numbers are the other area where people were worried about using English numbers, but as their own counting system is limited, it is hard to use it beyond about three. Our compromise is that we write the number as a figure not a word, and leave the reader to decide how they’ll say it.

 Sitting in a longhouse in Bavi doing checking (H.Schulz)

When these two issues came up, the team who had done the drafting did a great job of explaining to the Bavi checkers why we had made the choices we had made. There was then agreement that these were the right words for the text.

Another challenge is that people want to use all the old words in the Bible, effectively creating the King James Kope version. As they do this to record the ‘pure’ language, I encourage them to write these words down for the dictionary instead, and to write stories using them that we can turn into readers. This way the words are recorded, remembered and used, but the Bible remains a source of clear communication. It was good to see the translation team talking about the need for the Bible to communicate, not just be a place to store old words.

The biggest area in which I could see the growth of the translation team was their graciousness is receiving feedback on their work. In a shame based culture, taking one’s work out for others to comment and critique is a risky affair. That the translation team accepted and appreciated the input of the Bavi folk was wonderful.

Checking

In Bible translation there are many levels of checking, as we take seriously that this is God’s word that we’re dealing with. One of the first levels of checking is the advisor check, when as translation advisor to the Kope translation team, I discuss with them their first draft and iron out any possible mistakes that I have spotted.

The first thing we do with checking is read the text aloud. Hearing the text as a whole allows the team to hear if it sounds natural or awkward, and if it flows well. Although we have done this when drafting, the gap between drafting and checking gives people fresh ears to hear things they no longer hear after working on a text all day. At this stage, some corrections are usually made to ensure naturalness.

Next I ask a range of comprehension questions of the text as a whole. This allows me to determine if they’ve understood the big picture or not. Sometimes these questions are specifically aiming at things I think may not be clear. Other times they are just general questions.

Next we go through the text, verse by verse, addressing specific questions thatI have from my time studying the draft and the back translation. These questions might be a reflection of something I know that was tricky in drafting, of something that does not seem to match the original meaning, or of something that may be unclear. We gradually work through these questions, making changes as we go.

At the end, we re-read the text as a whole, to make sure that it still sounds natural even after the changes have been made. Although this might sound like a dry process, it is actually an enjoyable form of Bible study as we read our way through the text and make sure that everyone is understanding the meaning clearly.

 Arrows are part of life, so people know
how important a sharp arrow is. (H.Schulz)

When we were doing advisor checking for the first time last year, a leader from the community joined us who had not been part of the translation process so far, and who did not attend church often. His comments as we worked on the text, reminded me why we do this work;

“I don’t go to church, but this is truth”

“It’s like sharpening an arrow”

I liked his second comment in particular, as it suggested that the draft was already strong and useful, but that we were making it more useful.

“We will need no introduction, no sermon; we will just read the text.”

I also liked the idea that once the Bible was done and we could use it in church, that the meaning would be clear enough that it should need no further explanation.

Back Translation

After drafting, the next stage in our translation process is back translation. What this means is taking the draft and re-translating it back into a language of wider communication (LWC) so that it can be checked. In our case English is the LWC, so the Kope draft is turned back into English.

As back translation is designed to help reveal if the meaning has remained clear and accurate, the English which is used is not natural. It should sound like Kope-English, not like English-English. This happens because each language specifies things differently, and this needs to be shown in the back translation so that it can be carefully checked.

One example of how these differences show up in back translation is that in Kope we have single, dual, trial and plural pronouns. This means that the back translation needs to specify if the Kope said ‘you-1’, ‘you-2’, ‘you-3’ or ‘you-lots’. If it is just back translated as ‘you’ the checker has no way of knowing how many people were involved.

Another example is that as the grammar of English and Kope are very different, some words that are necessary in English are not necessary in Kope. These are included in the back translation in brackets, to indicate that although the meaning is there, the words are not.

Another factor that makes the English sound un-natural is that all names are written as in the draft, and that idioms are spelled out.

Looking at the example of Luke 1:6 you’ll see these and other things going on:

•          Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. (NRSV)
•          Riiti oroi’ioi mea oobora dubura ka Iehoma hohoida. Iehoma madeire ka Bubuire ai pimabedioido. (Kope draft)
•          They-2  lived (as) a good woman and man to Iehoma’s face. Iehoma word/message and law they-2  took care.  (Kope BT)

Learning to back translate like this is tricky. In our translation team we have one man who mastered the art very quickly and another who finds it hard work, but can get there slowly. It is very easy for the back translators to rely on their memory rather than the text, and it is my job to spot when this has happened. One such example was when in Luke 2:7 that back translation suddenly said that they’d ‘laid him in the manger as there was no room in the inn’. Seeing as ‘manger’ and ‘inn’ do not have equivalent Kope terms, the slip was obvious. Once the back translation was revised, the baby was laid in the ‘cow-food-bowl’ as there was no room for them in the ‘guest house’.

Once the back translation (BT) is complete, I enter it into the computer and study it. I look at the BT, the Greek, the English and the Kope. As my Kope improves, I will be less reliant on the BT, but at this stage it is a very helpful thing to have. Looking at my resources, I check to see if the meaning has remained the same and flag questions for checking. More on that next time…

Drafting

On January 25 this year, we started drafting the Kope New Testament. It was a quiet yet momentous occasion. Since then we have got into more of a rhythm of how we draft, which I will try to lay out for you here.

Reading and reflecting (H.Schulz)

Firstly though, is the admission that my Kope language skills are not good enough to do drafting and that calling myself a ‘translator’ is somewhat misleading. At the same time, the Kope people are experts in their language and are good at drafting. My role is to train, support, equip, resource, mentor, check and advise. They are the translators; I am the advisor and supporter.

In my advisor role, I start the drafting process the night before any drafting happens. I sit and read through the original Greek text, relying on all the helpful resources on my computer to understand it clearly. I then turn to other resources including commentaries and notes from other translators, to help me think through the meaning of the text and what some of our translation challenges may be. In, under, with and through all this I am praying.

The next day the translation team gathers on my veranda to work. Once at least three of the team are there, we are ready to start, but in the meantime we chat about life. With the team assembled we pray for our work, open our Bibles and get started.

Writing and discussing (H.Schulz)

First we read through the portion of text we’ll be working on as a whole, to get the big picture. We read it in several different English translations, usually something easier to read like the Good News, something more literal like the New Jerusalem (my favourite) and something more middle of the road such at the NIV. We also read the Hiri Motu (trade language used in our area) and where possible watch the appropriate portion of the Jesus Film in Kope. After this we talk about what is happening in the text. Who are the main characters? What are the main events? What is the main point? Having this discussion helps to move us from a word by word translation that is stiff and loses meaning, to a translation that flows and captures the meaning of the text.

With the big picture in mind, we then start on verse by verse translation. Initially I encouraged the team to tell the story and then write it down, drawing on their skills as a primarily oral/aural culture, but the team has not taken to that method. Instead, they prefer to each write their version of the verse on individual pieces of paper. Once a few people have come up with an option, these are read out, discussed and the best way of saying something is agreed upon. This is then written on the blackboard for further discussion and refining. During this time of drafting I am often asked questions about the text and the meaning, drawing on my reading the previous night, and researching further as needed. Sometimes a verse takes ten minutes, sometimes more than an hour.

Putting our draft on the blackboard so that
everyone can see and contribute. (H.Schulz)

Verse by verse we chip away until the whole section is on the blackboard. We then read that as a whole and start another edit to make sure that the whole flows as well as each verse. This edit can easily take another hour. Sometimes I find myself frustrated by the time things take, and need to remind myself that I have the privilege of sitting with community and church leaders, discussing God’s word for hours on end.

With the edit done, it is time to write the good copy into the notebook. One of the team members will do the official copy, but often everyone else is writing their own copy as well. Once the good copy is written, it is proof read by another team member before being given to me to type into the computer. I hope to teach some members of the translation team computer skills in the coming months, but so far that has been one of my responsibilities.

This first step of drafting is slow and challenging, but it is exciting to see Luke’s gospel slowly unfolding before us.

Language Learning; Assumptions and Imagination.

While learning Kope, I am organising my own daily language classes. In these approximately hour long sessions, I use a variety of approaches, but one of my main tools is pictures. I have a collection of old calendars from PNG, as well as series of pictures that make up a story, and sketches of life in PNG. Using these pictures we describe things, ask questions and tell stories. Along the way, I have discovered that my imagination and assumptions work differently to women I am sitting with and learning from.

One picture I intended to use to learn the phrase for ‘The boy is reading’. I got many phrases, but not that one. The boy was lying on the mat, the boy was looking at the camera, the boy was holding the book, the boy was looking at the pictures (of which there were none) and the boy wanted to read, but at no point was the boy reading. I was both frustrated and fascinated by our different assumptions. My teacher thought the boy was too young to read, so would not describe him as reading. He was also clearly looking at the camera, not at the book, so couldn’t be reading.

Reading? From SIL PNG 2014 calendar, June.
Photo by Catherine McGuckin.

Another time, I had been learning the many ways to say ‘go’, depending on who was going and when. I then wanted to switch to saying come, but hit a road block, because whenever I wanted to elicit the phrase for ‘we will come from X’, I was told that we had not gone there. After that I got extra practice with the phrases for going, as first we had to go before we could come. I was being abstract in my approach to language, but they were being much more concrete.

 A tiny picture of a frog chasing a snake
chasing a gecko that was the basis of a
fun story we made up.

I have been using a number of picture books to learn how to tell stories. The first time I gave the book to someone and asked them to tell a story, but they quickly got stuck. The next time I stumbled my way through the book, being corrected every second word, then asked them to tell the story. Most people would tell the story very much how I told it. Only one or two people would add their own colour to the tale. I wonder if this reflects a culture which values being able to remember and retell traditional tales more than it does being able to create new ones.

Pictures are a wonderful tool for language learning, but they still require common assumptions for the learning process to work.

Language Learning; Assumptions and Imagination.

While learning Kope, I am organising my own daily language classes. In these approximately hour long sessions, I use a variety of approaches, but one of my main tools is pictures. I have a collection of old calendars from PNG, as well as series of pictures that make up a story, and sketches of life in PNG. Using these pictures we describe things, ask questions and tell stories. Along the way, I have discovered that my imagination and assumptions work differently to women I am sitting with and learning from.

One picture I intended to use to learn the phrase for ‘The boy is reading’. I got many phrases, but not that one. The boy was lying on the mat, the boy was looking at the camera, the boy was holding the book, the boy was looking at the pictures (of which there were none) and the boy wanted to read, but at no point was the boy reading. I was both frustrated and fascinated by our different assumptions. My teacher thought the boy was too young to read, so would not describe him as reading. He was also clearly looking at the camera, not at the book, so couldn’t be reading.

Reading? From SIL PNG 2014 calendar, June.
Photo by Catherine McGuckin.

Another time, I had been learning the many ways to say ‘go’, depending on who was going and when. I then wanted to switch to saying come, but hit a road block, because whenever I wanted to elicit the phrase for ‘we will come from X’, I was told that we had not gone there. After that I got extra practice with the phrases for going, as first we had to go before we could come. I was being abstract in my approach to language, but they were being much more concrete.

 A tiny picture of a frog chasing a snake
chasing a gecko that was the basis of a
fun story we made up.

I have been using a number of picture books to learn how to tell stories. The first time I gave the book to someone and asked them to tell a story, but they quickly got stuck. The next time I stumbled my way through the book, being corrected every second word, then asked them to tell the story. Most people would tell the story very much how I told it. Only one or two people would add their own colour to the tale. I wonder if this reflects a culture which values being able to remember and retell traditional tales more than it does being able to create new ones.

Pictures are a wonderful tool for language learning, but they still require common assumptions for the learning process to work.

Dreams and Encouragement

I am from a mainline protestant background. Dreams and visions as answers to prayer were not really part of my liturgical upbringing. Sure, in theory we acknowledged that God could work in this way, but in practice we were cautious of the Pentecostals who claimed that God regularly did such things. Working in PNG, where there is no line between the spiritual and the physical world, and working in a non-denominational organisation of many and varied backgrounds, I have learnt to accept and appreciate the encouragement that God can give through dreams.

On my first night in Ubuo, the first night of the rest of my life with the Kope, I had a strange and vivid dream. As I rarely remember my dreams, it took me awhile to realise it had been a dream, not an actual occurrence in the night. I will not outline the whole dream here, but summarise it as a confirmation that although Satan could push and scare me he could not bite me, that although I may not be aware of God’s presence I am always in it, and that God had put good people into my life to help me on this new journey. This was a hugely encouraging dream to have on the first night of something so new and so big.

My mosquito net fortress.

I have only told the details of the dream to a few people, but one of these reminded me of it after a series of okay-in-the-end-but-nearly-dreadful mishaps. She reminded me that although I can feel pushed about and scared, I am not defeated, but protected. The mishaps has been that in one evening I had nearly fallen and severely cut myself in the shower, nearly dropped a sharp knife on my bare feet, nearly spilled boiling water down my leg and very nearly choked on my dinner. Nearly, but not quite. The next evening a hive of bees moved into the wall of my bathroom, which is a rather distressing discovery when one is in the middle of showering. A day later, with some persuasion from citronella smoke and pyrethrum poison, they swarmed off to a new home. I hid in my mosquito net while the migration took place, scared of what that many bees could do if angry, which they had reason to be, considering my campaign against them. Once again, it was a case of nearly, but not quite. Although I had thanked God for saving me from what could have been, it was my friend who pointed out to me how this tied back to my dream of being pushed but not harmed. It was a strange dream, but it continues to encourage me in strange and scary times.

 Me with some of the Goiravi women. Usually I walk home,
 but that week there was a king tide and the path between
villages was underwater, so we took the dinghy instead.

Another dream is one that was told to me by a friend when I walked to Goiravi to do my weekly Bible study there. She said that the previous night she had dreamed that she had seen me making three sago rolls to give away. Seeing as I don’t make sago, we all thought this a bit funny. That day though, there were only three women at the Bible study, when often there is a crowd. As I thought on the dream, I realised that although I had not been making sago, I had been preparing the Bible study, and I am part of the long slow project to translate God’s word in to Kope. This is me preparing the bread of life for the Kope people. Bread was a staple food in Jesus’ time; sago is the staple food in Kope life. With three women at the Bible study that day, I had effectively made three rolls of sago for them. I could easily have been discouraged that only three women came when there is usually a crowd, but this dream reminded me that the work I was doing was important, and that three had been God’s plan for that day.

There are many dreams that are just our brains processing life, but in some instances, they are a moment of insight and encouragement to hold onto. These two dreams have been the latter to me.

Above Reproach

Social networking and facebook are simply the current model of what people have always done: present themselves to the people around them, watch what others are doing and make judgements based on what they see and hear. The speed of news in the village leaves the internet for dead at times. Although what the truth is underlying the story that is told can be equally mysterious in both places.

In this context, of both high speed village news and an online presence, I find myself juggling the concepts of doing what is right, being seen to do what is right, and living in the freedom of the Gospel. Let me give you some examples

Gossip is destructive, and once a story is out it takes on a life of its own and cannot be brought back under control. As a single woman, it is easy for gossip to spread about what man I was seen with and what we were doing. As my translation team is made up of men, I am often left juggling social situations to make sure that we are seen to be above reproach. When I need to talk with my village brother, we do so in the yard, not on the enclosed veranda. If we need to work on the veranda on the computer, his wife or his children normally come with, to keep everything above board. If a man needs his phone charged, he will send it to me with his children. If he comes himself, kids will always come with him. All of this social engineering is to make sure that rumours cannot be spread, as there was a group present, not a secret meeting of two people.

It is not just in the village that I juggle these things, as Ukarumpa has been called Uka-rumour with good reason. One time a single guy came to visit while my yad meri (gardener) was working outside. We sat in the lounge by the big glass windows, where she very obviously kept an eye on us to make sure nothing happened. Had she not seen enough to keep her happy, valley rumour would have had us ‘married’ by nightfall. Another time a colleague came to help fix something in my house, and his wife came with, to make sure no-one could spread rumours. It was not that she didn’t trust me or her husband, but that she did trust the speed at which rumours can develop and damage can be done.

The social management involved with being a single woman is not the only area in which I find myself making sure I am seen to do what is right. Alcohol is another area. At home in Australia I like a glass of wine with friends. In PNG I very rarely drink. At home social drinking is normal. Here drinking is associated with drunkenness and is not Christian. I agree that drunkenness is not the life Christ calls us to, but I do miss a quiet drink with friends.

The challenge of being seen to right, as well as doing right, is not just my challenge. I have reminded my village brother, who was the voice of Jesus in the Jesus film of this a few times. If he does things that people see as immoral, they will no longer trust the film or the story of Jesus. For all Christians, it is a challenge to proclaim Christ with our action as well as our words, but for him, this is doubly true.

All of this social engineering seems very restrictive at times, especially when I consider myself free from the law to live a life of grace. Putting on what can feel like act to show others that I am doing the right thing, when the fruit of the Spirit is self control and I should be trusted to do the right thing, regardless of appearances, is frustrating. Still, I need to balance doing right and being seen to do right. I also need to balance the living in the freedom of the gospel with the knowledge that people will make their own judgements of their actions and base future decisions on this.

 River view from Ubuo.

Chalk, pencil, pen and pixel.

How does one go about writing a draft of the Bible? With a variety of implements!

First the Kope translation team works on a draft together, writing ideas on individual pieces of paper, sharing them and then writing their combined draft on the blackboard. This draft is then reviewed and rewritten until it is clear, accurate and natural. Once the team is happy with the draft it gets written into the exercise book of drafts, in pencil. It is their choice to use pencil even though I would prefer pen as it is easier to read. This draft is then read over and corrections marked with red pen. I take the draft and type it into my computer for eventual printing.

In the space of a day, the draft has been through chalk, pencil and pen to reach pixels. This may seem like a lot of rewriting to some, so let me explain the reasons for each.

Chalk is affordable and lasts well. Whiteboards are fancy, but the markers have a bad habit of drying up at inconvenient moments. This is not a problem with chalk, although kids getting hold of it and having some creative fun can diminish supplies rapidly. Using the blackboard allows everyone to contribute to one written edition as it is easily seen and commented on.

Pencil allows for endless rubbing out as people revise their ideas, which is a definite advantage over pens. Pens also don’t work well if people rest their hand on the page while writing and leave a trail of sweat and grease behind. You can’t see this trail, but pens don’t work well where people have previously rested their hand on the page, as my co-workers tend to do.

Pixels require expensive equipment as well as training. Not only do computers cost a lot, but the equipment to power them costs as well. Learning computer skills takes time. At the moment I am the computer owner and operator for the Kope translation programme. One day we will have a computer for the team and I will take on the bigger challenge of teaching computer skills, but I know that it will be a big task.

Chalk, pencils, pens and pixels. These are our implements as we draft the Kope New Testament.

Incarnation

The Creator walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Incarnation is very much part of the Christian way.

It is how I understand what mission should look like. We need to be with people, in the midst of their lives, with all the mess that entails. It is then that we may be bringers of truth, hope, joy and grace. We are to live as bearers of Christ. This is as true for life in the PNG swamp as it is for a stay-at-home parent, a business executive or a blue collar worker.

This theme of incarnation is one that I keep returning to and hope to keep growing in the practice of.

Christmas is often when we focus on the incarnation of Jesus, and I am reminded that he started as a baby, reliant on others. He grew up in a culture, a network of relationships, and learnt how to be a man in that time and place. After about thirty years, he spent a short time in public ministry. Being incarnational about mission requires humility and patience. We cannot come in with all the answers from the beginning, but need to learn how to be in that time and place. We need to belong so that we can be heard. We need to accept the help of others. These things are a challenge to me. Stepping back to being reliant and being the learner is hard. I like to be competent and independent, but that is not how incarnation starts.

Incarnation is sacrificial. Jesus left heaven and came to earth. He humbled himself. He was hurt, betrayed, misunderstood and killed. I hope not to be killed for my beliefs and the message I share, but I should not expect to be spared the painful realities of life. Jesus invites us to take up our cross and follow, so he is not trying to fool us that it will be easy, but he promises that the Helper will be with us. We are not alone in the suffering, we are understood and we are in good company, in God’s company.

Following in the crucified Christ’s footsteps also means resurrection. The sacrifices we make are not for their own sake, but for a greater and most worthwhile goal. We can be confident in this life, both now and ever after, meaning that the incarnational life is also one of joy. We have the privilege of being light in the darkness, now. We have the opportunity to be the representative of peace that passes all understanding in the midst of what is troubling people today. Among what is going on, we bring grace.

Incarnation: there is one white hand waving amidst the crowd, mine. (Ella B)

Incarnation is a slow process. Jesus spoke of the kingdom being like a small amount of yeast mixed into a large amount of dough. It took time, but the whole thing was leavened eventually, and could not be separated out. We are the leaven, and living incarnationally means mixing ourselves into the world so that resurrection can happen.

One thing that empowers me to live incarnationally is gathering for communion. Here, at the eternal family table, we are fed and told ‘Take and eat, this is my body.’ In that moment we are invited to really take Christ into us. We are then sent out to be the body of Christ, so that, that which has come to us, now goes to the world.

Immanuel, God is with us. This name for God is both a promise and a challenge, one that I expect I’ll spend my whole life pondering, and still find things to learn.

Home Moments

On returning to the village, there were a number of moments which showed to me that this place in increasingly another home to me.

First were the familiarity of faces and the warmness of welcome. These are now people I know and have a relationship with. We were genuinely pleased to see each other, with lots of hugs and strong handshakes. There were even some hugs from the men! There were also some familiar faces who were absent, but not missed. A place is home when you have been there long enough to have some people rub you the wrong way as well as to form friendships. The nicest welcome was that some of the children smiled at me, rather than being scared yet again.

Kake cat, who unfortunately died recently (H.Schulz)

My neighbours’ cat gave me a very smoochy welcome back, although when he brought me a dead rat to show his affection I was less pleased. I was pleased about one less rat in the world, but not pleased to hear him crunching it in my living area. He was a bit upset that I swept him out the door to eat on the veranda.

I know I am becoming a local when I know my way around the village and am able to wander around at will. When I walked between this village and the next, I was only escorted back as far as the edge of the village, they trusted me to find my way home from there.

Hanging out in the afternoon (H.Schulz)

Being able to just hang out with people is a homely thing too. Between visits, a shelter was built between the river and the open space where volleyball is often played. I often head down there in the afternoon and sit with the women awhile. All the while my phone downloads emails. I do not have to tell stories or make a show, I can just sit and be with them. I cannot join the conversation yet, but we can watch volleyball together and enjoy each other’s company. Slowly I am recognising more faces and connecting families together.

Although I can’t follow the conversation, I am encouraged by the scraps I do understand. Kope has gone from being a long string of sounds to having distinct words to my ears. Often I find myself thinking ‘I know those words!’ By the time I’ve repeated them to myself and worked out their meaning, the conversation has moved on, but I am still encouraged by the pieces I do recognise. To not be overwhelmed all the time, but to have points of recognition, goes a long way to making this place home.

My village garden, with its enthusiastic
 snake bean plants. (H.Schulz)

A final piece of belonging is being able to share veggies from my gardens. When I flew down I brought a box of passionfruit and a container of cherry guavas, picked from my highlands garden. People were very happy to try these fruits that were new to most of them. Meanwhile, my swamp garden was flourishing, provided beans to eat and making my house look like home.

While the language is still hard work and the culture often confronting, it is encouraging to have these moments of belonging.

What’s mine is yours…

The rain returned eventually, with the 

sweet sound of it pouring into my tank. (H.Schulz)

A constant struggle for me when living in the village is the different cultural expectations of ownership and stewardship. What belongs to me and what belongs to the group? What is to be used now and what is to be saved for later?

I have a wonderful neighbour and village brother who built my house, looks after it while I am away and is one of our translators. He recently named his newborn daughter after me. I am sure that I have some sort of responsibilities for my namesake, but have no idea what they might be. He himself is a generous person who often has other people living with him in his small house and who is often doing things for other people. It is this particular relationship, with its web of obligations that is the hardest for me to navigate.

What makes it even harder is that it is often the small things that leave me in a crisis, such as an umbrella or a bottle of water.

My umbrella was left in my storeroom when I went away. It was about the only thing not packed in a box because it was too long. When I returned, it was the only thing that had gone walkabout. It had been borrowed to give shade to my namesake while they went to fish camp. When they returned, I saw the umbrella in use, but it didn’t return to me. A week later, when I was walking somewhere in the middle of the day and needed it for shade, I asked about it. It was brought out of the house, broken and barely held together with string. It gave me the shade I needed, but it is useless as shelter from tropical downpours.

Why was I so upset about an umbrella? It was that my trust of things left in storage had been broken, that something I needed was not there when I needed it. My neighbour though, saw it as an appropriate use of an item doing nothing to meet a need for my namesake. My tension is that I can understand his reasoning, but still wish it had been left alone and was in one piece when I returned.

Another day I found myself annoyed at a request for a few litres of drinking water, and even more annoyed at myself for being annoyed.

At the time it was dry season. As this was first time in the village in January, it was hard to tell if it is a drier than usual dry season, but it seemed to be that way. Each morning and each afternoon there was a parade of people going along the path by my house to get drinking water from a bush well. The round trip seems to take them about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, my house has two 1000L rainwater tanks.

Before I came to the village, my neighbour had called asking for permission to clean out one of my tanks. We did not communicate clearly, and I thought that rain was falling more often to refill the tanks, so I said yes, as long as you leave me at least half a tank (500L). When I got to the village I found out that there has been little rain, so the tank was not refilling, but that everyone had very much enjoyed getting a container of water from my tank when it was cleaned, as well as from half of the second tank. I was left the half a tank as requested. This probably saved the village one day of walking into the bush for drinking water, maybe two.

My umbrella two years ago when it was new. (D.Petterson)

When I returned, my neighbour turned up asking for drinking water in bottles, and I was annoyed. Why?! I did not make the rain fall, I just caught it. I did not earn it, yet I was reluctant to share it. Part of it was knowing that half a tank will not go far if I’m providing water for a house of six or more people next door. Part of it was knowing that if my water runs out, someone else will be the one walking into the bush to get water for me. Part of it was just cultural annoyance that ‘my’ water should be assumed to be ‘their’ water from a different cultural perspective. A lot of it was annoyance at myself for being a scrooge about water, an essential ingredient for life.

My first week in the village, I was cautious with my tank, but still used it for washing etc, thinking rain would continue to fall like it had the day after I arrived. By week two we’d had little rain, my tank was much lower and I switched to washing with well water and only using my tank for drinking. I still had occasional requests for water, which I would help with, but was not getting regular requests. This seemed like a good balance for me.

Still, the question of what is mine, what I am keeping for later, what is communal, and what I am sharing with others, is an ongoing struggle. Coming from somewhere very individualistic when it comes to possessions, I am having many of my assumptions challenged, which is a good but difficult process.

Right Side Up

(H.Schulz)

Labelling my boxes for aviation rarely means they arrive in my village the right way up. They have usually been turned over a few times along the way, to fit them in the plane, while carried on a shoulder and when squeezed into the canoe. It pays to pack things tightly so that at every angle they are secure. I go through a lot of packing tape and I give thanks for God’s eggshell design and the person who created the egg carton. It amazes me how well my eggs survive their journey!

Cargo though is not actually my theme, but the kingdom of God.

I have heard people refer to God’s kingdom as an upside down kingdom; The last shall be first and the first shall be last. We are saved by grace, not by works. Love your enemy, do good to those who hate you. The thief on the cross was told that ‘today you will be with me in paradise.’ He didn’t deserve that, but God’s ways are not the ways of the world and do not always make sense from our human perspective.

Rather than an upside down kingdom, I believe we have an upside down world. God is right-side-up.

I love looking at reflections in a pond, in a river or in the sea when it is calm. There is beauty in the reflection, even though distorted by ripples and shadows. This is how I see God’s kingdom and the world. We live in the broken reflection, an incomplete idea of the reality. We have got used to life upside down, but God is right side up. Eternity is right side up. Yet in the reflection, we get the sense of who God is, even if we do not always interpret what we see correctly.

(H.Schulz)

One common misinterpretation of our reflected version of reality is the relationship of worship and salvation. Most people naturally default to a position that work and worship will lead to blessing. To put it another way, we believe that if we do the right things and manipulate the powers-that-be in the right ways, we will get what we want. This is not just an animistic practice, it is also the unspoken theory behind facebook ‘likes’ and our plea for ‘at least x people to like this post so that y’ Right-side-up looks different, as first we are blessed and then we worship. First Jesus was born, died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins. Later we recognised our need for this and responded with worship and the transformation of our lives through the Spirit.

 No part of the world is without the reflection of God, as the Creator’s fingerprints are everywhere (Rom 2:14-16). All people in every place have interpreted this reflection, seeking to worship and know the Reality. Every culture has got something right as well as something wrong (see Acts 17:22-34) . I believe that this reflection is made clear in Jesus, the image of God (2 Cor 4:4, Col 1:15), the Word become flesh (John 1:14). In sharing Jesus we are helping people to understand the ultimate reality. In translating the Bible we are giving access to the source text of our faith and allowing communities to hold a conversation about the questions of their place and time, in the light of the Word.

What the world looks like right-side-up in suburban Australia is going to be different to right-side-up in a PNG swamp. The Word is the light that guides both places, but the form will be different. How can cultural practices in each place glorify God? What aspects of culture lead people astray from God, rather than towards? Which actions or beliefs belong to the distorted reflection rather than to the Image of God? Can these practices be redeemed, so that rather than shining a poorly reflected light, they shine the true light? The same questions need to be asked in every time and place. Indeed, it may be harder to ask these questions in places where Christianity is entrenched.

(H.Schulz)

1 Cor 13:11-12

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

Tablet

My tablet is in there somewhere (H.Schulz)

I am not an early adopter of new technology, but wait to see if it might be useful as well as fashionable. As I could not see much use to a tablet beyond a fancy photo album, I was unsure if I should buy one, but did so as people always want to see photos of where I live and work. it is true that I mostly use it as a fancy photo album, it has proven its worth in this respect, both in Australia and in the village.

When in Australia it is handy to be able to carry photos around so easily, and to throw in some videos for good measure. These can be videos I’ve taken in the village, or the carefully crafted ones promoting our work in Bible translation. Kids love to watch the videos on repeat, but adults enjoy them too. As a picture speaks a thousand words, this album of photos does more to describe my life and work than I could ever do using words. The pictures also prompt questions about aspects of life that I would not think to mention otherwise.

Just as the translation team was about to leave, it started pouring

 with rain, so we watched the Jesus Film on my tablet for an 

hour while waiting for the rain to pass. (H.Schulz)

In the village though, is where my tablet is proving its worth. Firstly there is the ease of using it to show portions of the Jesus Film as part of Bible studies. With a small speaker attached, I can share the film with a medium sized group before we spend time discussing what we have seen.

Sharing an album of photos of the Jesus Film dedication has been a huge hit this trip. Learning to swipe between pictures is never a problem and once I have the album open, I hand over my tablet and stand back and watch as a crowd gathers to enjoy the show. It is interesting to see what people do and don’t recognise, which pictures they stop at or not. A photo of the local mill and airstrip taken from the air confuses people as they do not recognise the view from above. Stretches of river, which to me all look the same, are quickly identified as to where they are. Small figures in distant canoes are also named, along with where they are from and how they are related. As with all people in the world, they pause for the familiar faces, and skip the strangers. Aba Robbie is a favourite with everyone, but their circuit minister is always skipped. Close ups that whiteskins comment on as beautiful portraits, are seen as a bit odd by locals.

It is remarkable how quickly
a crowd can gather! (H.Schulz)

While I was worried about having technological toys when very few locals do, the joy that the tablet has brought to many people has made it worth having. I’ve also been shown that I’m not the only one with technological toys, as one day I was charging a far more expensive tablet for my neighbour’s in-laws.

One side-effect of tablets is that kids expect every screen to be full of fun things and are a bit disappointed that my phone and computer seem so boring. When I go down to the riverside to check emails (the signal doesn’t reach my house) there will always be a kid or two who comes to stare hopefully at the screen. They soon wander off disappointed, or are called off by their parents. I’ve also learnt to say ‘Only words, no pictures’ to discourage them. Checking email is when I’m grateful for low literacy rates, as I can leave my phone beside me and not expect anyone to be  able to read small print, at a distance, upside down, in English, and so my emails remain private.

While I am not an early adapter to technology, the locals are. They enjoy using my tablet, seeing photos, taking photos if their phone is capable and at least one person has asked me to blue tooth some of the dedication photos to their phone. It is a reminder to me that the culture gap is not always as big as it might seem.