Rachel’s first Christmas
Thursday, 10 December 2009 at 12:50 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
I have celebrated many Christmases, but the one that is most unforgettable for me is the miracle-filled Christmas season of 2005. It started around July, that year, when we found out that we had been matched with a baby girl in an orphanage in Cebu City, Republic of the Philippines. Unfortunately, a paperwork deadlock followed, where agencies in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines were both waiting for the other one to make the next move. And waiting. And waiting. It felt to me like a hostage situation. We earnestly desired to bring our daughter home. I made phone calls, sent emails and faxes, all to no avail.
Then I prayed. The Lord said “Go there.” He also said “Tell people that you will have your daughter by Christmas.” The Inter-Country Adoption Board told me not to come, because they weren’t ready. I said I was coming anyway for other reasons, and went. After personal, face-to-face conversations with the appropriate people in Port Moresby and Manila, the bureaucratic paper jam was cleared, and the process started moving again. There was still some waiting, though, with no natural way of knowing how long. Lori had to go back to PNG to take care of our sons. I stayed there, acted as our own expediter, and kept telling people what the Lord said.
On the last working day before Christmas (a Friday), Rachel was released. I got stuck in a major traffic jam on the way from the store where I picked up baby cereal and formula, so I told the taxi driver that if he would wait for me, I would pay him double the going rate to get me to the airport. I got out of the cab about 3 blocks from the orphanage, signed the paperwork, gave Rachel a fresh change of new clothes, and walked back to the cab, which was now only 1 block away from the orphanage. Yes, traffic was bad, and I had a use-it-or-lose-it ticket on the last plane with any space on it from Cebu City to Manila before Christmas. The taxi driver, being highly motivated, drove with adrenaline and enthusiasm through back alleys and byways, in ways that defy attempts at diplomatic description. I prayed in the back seat, holding Rachel. “Lord, you know that we will probably be late. Please hold that airplane for us.” That airline had a 98% on time record. We arrived late. The taxi driver tore my duffel bag as he pulled it out of the trunk, still pumped with adrenaline. I thanked and paid him as promised, and calmly walked up to the ticket counter and checked in, asking for tape to repair the duffel bag. The flight was delayed, giving us a little time to sit in the waiting area as Rachel drank some milk from a bottle.
So, Rachel and I made it back to a guest house in Manila, which was officially closed for Christmas. We were allowed to stay there anyway, but without meal service. No matter– I had formula and cereal for Rachel. Someone had pity on us, and invited us for Christmas dinner: microwaved frozen McDonald’s hamburgers and an apple.
After another week’s delay, Rachel and I were cleared to leave the Philippines and return to Papua New Guinea, where we celebrated Christmas again, with the whole family. And yes, the meal was more traditional, the second Christmas of 2005, including ice cream and cake. It is, after all, a birthday celebration for Jesus, the Savior.
That was just a small sample of the many miracles involved in making Rachel a permanent part of our family. Praise the Lord!
Long and short term missions
Tuesday, 1 December 2009 at 11:00 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
Which is better: long term missions or short term missions?
Both have their advantages and disadvantages, of course. A long term missionary has time to really learn languages and cultures, to develop relationships, and to effectively work on projects or engage in types of ministry that take significant amounts of time. A short term missionary has opportunities to make a concentrated impact and/or to investigate future short or long term missions. So why would anyone even debate this issue?
Both have their potential disadvantages, too. Long-term missionaries risk creating unhealthy dependencies or burning out. Short-term missionaries risk doing damage because of inadequate understanding of language and culture, or by being more of a drain on mission resources than they are an asset. They are also more easily deceived. Do these disadvantages mean that we should abandon either strategy? Of course not! As with any hazard, we evaluate what we can do to minimize the negatives and maximize the benefits to the Kingdom of God. In all things, we seek the wisdom of the Ancient of Days Himself.
Which is better? Whatever the Lord has called you to do.
The high cost of free salvation
Saturday, 28 November 2009 at 02:36 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
I often get scam emails where some criminal tries to deceive me into thinking that if I will get some outrageously large amount of wealth if I just pay some preliminary “fees” to clear the way. Of course, those “fees” have cost many people more than they can afford, and the promised wealth (an inheritance, unclaimed funds, or whatever) never appear.
Reality is better than that. The greatest treasure you can imagine: eternal life, a mansion to live in, food for all eternity, great music, fun things to do, great company with good friends, joy, peace, love, righteousness, and more is available as a free gift from God, and He gives it before you pay anything. It is, in fact, a very costly gift that cost God His Son’s blood and more. Yet, because of His great love for us, He gives it for free to all who believe in Jesus Christ. There is no way we can earn that. Nothing in this world can compare to that gift. We don’t have to pay any fees up front. We don’t have to clean ourselves up, first. We don’t have to do anything to earn this great gift except believe in Jesus Christ in our hearts and call him our Lord with our mouth.
Now, once we have this gift of eternal life, the Lord works on teaching us His ways, teaching us to love like Him, and preparing us for life with Him. He also includes us in His work of Salvation by having us show His love and bring His message to every tribe, language, and nation. Now, this does cost us time, money, and all that we are in this world, but it is a great investment in the future of other people. Yes, salvation is already paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ, but it costs us plenty to bring that Good News to others who live far away and who don’t speak the same language. Yet, even then, the Lord provides the resources we need, including enough money to buy whatever we need for transportation, communication, Bible translation, etc. He usually does so through many different people, because He likes to see us work together to do what He wants to do in the world.
One important part of fulfilling the Great Commission is Bible Translation. See the current statistics from Wycliffe Bible Translators, which show both good progress being made and that there is a long way to go. The Lord has given such riches to us. It seems right to spend what we have in this world to help others believe in Jesus Christ so that they may also join is in living with the Lord forever. After all, we already have much greater wealth.
PNG Scriptures web site launched!
Sunday, 4 October 2009 at 10:30 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
We live in exciting times. A few years ago, there was no telephone service in Papua New Guinea outside of a small number of towns, except for a few satellite terminals. Now, mobile phone service covers a significant percentage of the land area of this nation. And now, Internet access via mobile telephone network is available. We want to make sure there is something worthwhile for people to access in their own language when they start discovering this new medium in smart phones and certain computers. The beginnings of this effort is at PNGScriptures.org (for and English greeting) and TokPlesBaibel.org (for a Melanesian Pidgin greeting). Praise the Lord!
Battle aftermath
Friday, 14 August 2009 at 23:20 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
6 days before the following, I saw a vision of a bright white warrior angel descending on the SIL Ukarumpa Centre (where we live), watching towards Ukarumpa Village (which is right next to the SIL Ukarumpa Centre). The events that followed are not something I can explain, except to report a tiny part of what happened, and to say that I know that God is working to bring good out of this evil.
One good thing that happened is that in one of 72 houses that burned to the ground in the fighting, there was a stack of 3 Bibles. Not one page of them was burnt.
Another good thing that happened was that one man who was being pursued by enemies ran into his house, knelt down in prayer to repent of his sins and ask Jesus to save him. His enemies rushed in to kill him, but didn’t see him and left again.
If you want to help the homeless, the best way is to send us a gift and email us your intentions.
Here is the official statement:
Armed men entered the SIL-PNG Ukarumpa Centre gate at about 8:00 am, Wednesday morning, 12 August 2009, then left after threatening employees connected to Ukarumpa village, firing warning shots in the air and commandeering an SIL vehicle. One national employee from Ukarumpa village had his house on the SIL Centre burglarized and vandalized by the attackers when they were unable to locate him.
No SIL personnel or PNG employees were injured in either incident and the vehicle was recovered later.
At the time of the initial skirmish, the SIL-PNG Ukarumpa Centre was placed on complete lockdown until the security situation could be assessed. Residents of the SIL-PNG Ukarumpa Centre were encouraged to stay indoors and not walk outside.
By 1:00 pm the sporadic gunfire had ceased, but four individuals in Ukarumpa village were dead, several injured, and 72 village houses had been burned to the ground.
A verbal warning from the attackers was given to SIL-PNG that any help given by SIL personnel to those who had been attacked would be seen as taking the side of their enemies and retaliation against SIL would result.
Papua New Guinean pastors in the Aiyura Valley were called upon to provide aid to the village families whom had lost their homes and belongings. Many of the women and children slept in churches overnight, while the men camped out.
The Provincial Police Commander in Goroka decided to send his mobile unit, which arrived at the SIL-PNG Ukarumpa Centre just after 5pm. They have patrolled the local village areas to restore peace since arriving.
In the aftermath, it has been determined that the reasons for the fighting and destruction were complex. Mercenaries along with villagers from the next valley had come to punish one village family line, because of the recent rape of a young girl; the recent killing of another nearby village member; and also in retaliation of village houses being burned earlier this year in a clan dispute.
Please pray with us for those who are grieving and those who are still afraid of more violence. Pray for the local churches who are reaching out to those who are now homeless. Pray for us (SIL-PNG) to have wisdom in reaching out to the village community near us.
Divine protection
Sunday, 9 August 2009 at 03:19 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
Something missionaries have to deal with is security in unfamiliar and sometimes unknown conditions. We go where we go because the Lord calls us there, or maybe because we have to go for some reason, not necessarily because it is “safe” to go there. Search the Scriptures and see that this is nothing new. There really isn’t any place on earth that is 100% free of sin, crime, or war. (If you found a place that was and went there, you would probably ruin it before too long with your own imperfections, if nothing else.) There are, of course, places that are scarier than others, and statistically much worse in terms of crime per capita, war, etc.
A friend of mine, Pastor Joseph, was doing some church planting work in the Western Highlands Province, recently, when he was in a prayer meeting that was interrupted by the sound of some youths making a racket outside of his door. They had a gun, bush knives (machetes), and masks, and evil intentions. The people inside kept praying, and the racket suddenly stopped. After they were done praying, Pastor Joseph went to the door to see what was going on. He saw the would-be bandits kind of frozen in place with their knives and gun. He asked if they were OK. They couldn’t really talk, but kind of made a tiny “no” motion. He asked the Holy Spirit to release them, and the gun and knives dropped to the ground and the youths kind of shook themselves to work out the kinks in their muscles from holding still so long. He invited them in, prayed with them, and had his wife make dinner for them. It turns out that these were from the church youth group, supposedly Christians. They learned some fear of the Lord and some of the love of the Lord that evening.
Compare this with the story in 2 Kings 6:15-23.
There is no power on Earth or in Heaven greater than the love of God.
Bugs and User Interface Design
Friday, 13 March 2009 at 07:18 | In Journal, Technobabble | Leave a Comment
I’ve been dealing with bugs a lot, lately. Not the living insect variety, but the computer bug sort. It is my job. Yes, I’m a missionary, and I do “missionary-like” stuff like living in a remote area in an exotic nation, preach in another language, and continually have faith in God to supply the needs of my family, my ministry, and myself, because I get no salary. My 40-hour-a-week job, though, is IT support and custom programming for a mission aviation organization with 7 aircraft. I support Bible translation work by supporting the people who get the Bible translators in and out of their villages, and who keep supplies coming in a land with very few roads.
In combating computer software bugs, I have learned to recognize some really common ones. I have also learned some things about writing software to avoid them. Just like bugs in the animal kingdom, there is a taxonomy that can be used to describe them. One major distinction is the source of the bug: bad design, bad implementation of a good design, or both. The bad implementation side is the one people usually focus on. I have seen several lists of common errors, like stack overflows, arrays with indexes out of bounds, improper validation of input (especially if that input is going to be interpreted by another process like a SQL server), etc. Such things are important to pay attention to, but those are like miller moths (the kind of bug found in a relay of one of the first computers, and for which all computer bugs are named). They can’t bite you, don’t normally carry diseases, and as long as you keep them from laying eggs in your stored clothing or wedging their bodies into your relays, it takes a lot of them to really do much damage. Design problems, however, are more like centipedes, scorpions, and poisonous spiders. They can be lethal to a project.
One particular design problem that I have seen too much of is in the form of bad user interface design. Human interaction with machines is very complex, because humans are extremely complex and the machines they use tend to be a little complex, too. I enjoy the computers on Star Trek, because they are so speedy, recognize natural speech in almost any language in the galaxy, can store the collected information from multitudes of civilizations and search and analyze it all in seconds, and can produce any kind of food or beverage on command. They always seem to just understand what the user wants. Not so with the computer I’m typing this article on. I could name at least two projects that had serious user interface (UI) problems in the world of Bible translation and Bible translation support software, but I won’t, at least here. One of those is basically irrelevant except as a how-not-to lesson, as it is essentially dead, killed by lack of use. The other has credible hope of being resurrected with a UI make-over in at least the most critical areas.
Rather than detailing all that is wrong with the UI designs I have seen, I prefer to be a little more positive, and focus on what is good and right about the best UI designs that I have seen. Here are some things to keep in mind when designing a new program or program suite that may save you some grief:
- Before writing a single line of code, design at least the basics of the user interface. What are the inputs, outputs, and interactions? How do they fit with the work flow of your customers? Is this the same as what they do, now, or better? (If it is not the same or better, then scrap the idea and start over.) To really do this right, you need a good understanding of what problem(s) you are trying to solve, and good lines of communication with your customers. (Yes, you have customers, even if you write free software.)
- Know your customer base. Know their education level range, their familiarity with computers, other programs, and operating systems. Know what kinds of computers they use and are likely to use. Know why they would want to use your new and/or improved program. Talk with them frequently before, during, and after design and development of the program. If the entire user base is too daunting and could consume all of your time, talk to a few truly representative users, and make some way for others to send feedback (i. e. bug reports, feature requests, etc.).
- Make your UI intuitive. That means make it so obvious how things should be used that someone who has never used it before can use it. In reality, the only way you will get this done is to copy the good ideas and behaviors of other common programs that users have likely used, before.
- Read up on good UI design. Microsoft and GNOME both have good things to say in this regard. Even if you don’t like all of their ideas, you need to use most of them or your interface will seem strange to people, because it is different.
- Use a good UI design toolkit/library. Not only does this save you from “re-inventing the wheel,” it makes it easier to both be consistent and be more like other programs (and therefore more intuitive).
- Do not get too “creative” with your UI. Sometimes even something that is arguably better is much less intuitive, because people aren’t expecting whatever you are throwing at them. Choose a “normal” way of doing things. Read Microsoft’s Common User Interface guidelines and the Gnome project’s user interface guidelines for some good ideas that you should probably stick to unless you have a good reason not to.
- Match the UI to the task. For example, if it is a control system for a physical system with fluid or material flows, lay out your UI in an easy schematic diagram of that system. If is a calendar, make it look like one. If it is a recipe book, make sure it is easy to find the recipe “cards,” and once you present them, they look like what cooks are used to seeing. If it is a flight simulator, make it look like a cockpit. I once visited a business web site that was programmed like a video game, but the business had nothing to do with video games. Match the form to the function.
- Make the common stuff easy to do and easy to find. Minimize the number of mouse clicks and keystrokes it takes to do stuff that is done frequently.
- De-emphasize the more esoteric or “advanced” stuff, lest it confuse the beginners and casual users of only the basic functions.
- In de-emphasizing the advanced or infrequently-used features, take care not to hide things too well. Make such things reasonably obvious to find, too. Sometimes it is better to have a larger set of options shown at once, and sometimes you need to show just a few. Knowing when to do which is a matter for experience and wisdom. Usually, this balance has to do with putting “advanced” features on a separate dialog box, or having a less/more button on a dialog box. It also explains the partially-hidden menus in some programs, although I never liked that feature myself. So, if you do that, make sure the users that are annoyed by that can turn the menu-hiding off.
- Be consistent. This includes layouts of dialogs (i. e. normal locations of OK and Cancel buttons) as well as when and how things get saved. Some programs automatically save everything you do instantly, with no “save” button needed, but some require an explicit “save” function. Try to do it the same way within the same program.
- Give the user good feedback. When something happens, make it look like it happened. Users are ALWAYS confused if you don’t do this. Better yet, give feedback of exactly what happened, visually, audibly, or both. Make it obvious what is going on.
- Provide an “undo” function where appropriate. People goof. Often, they recognize immediately that they goofed (especially if you give good feedback), and they want a way to repent, undo, and avoid disaster. Make it possible.
- “Are you sure you want to launch a nuclear missile?” messages are no substitute for a good undo function. Choose wisely where you put “Are you sure?” prompts, and don’t over-use them. Otherwise, they will be ignored when they are really needed.
- Avoid overusing modalism, or the shifting of controls into different modes. Computer interfaces are inherently modal. Different menus, buttons, controls, etc., appear on your screen at different times in different situations. This is both flexible and annoying. It is both powerful and non-intuitive. Consistency is intuitive and easy. Consider the automobile. The accelerator pedal is on the right. The brake is to the left of it. Turning the steering wheel clockwise turns the car to the right when moving forward. It is always the same, in all cars, all over the world. I like that. When practical, keep the same kinds of controls in the same places.
- Keep it SIMPLE! This is probably the most important suggestions. It takes careful balance. Don’t bedazzle & befuddle the user with too many things at once, but don’t make it too tedious to find all of the things that the user wants to do. Group things together that logically go together in the user’s normal work flow.
- Make the program forgiving. I detest programs that you have to press 3 buttons exactly once, in order, exactly one time per month, or things get messed up. If one of the buttons doesn’t work, programmer intervention is required. Don’t do that. If a button can be pressed, make it do something safe and useful. If not, disable or hide it. If something has to be done exactly once a month, reconsider the design.
- Write clear, concise, indexed, illustrated instructions. If you can’t write well, find someone who can to help you. Include the instructions with the program and keep them up to date with the program.
- Keep the design of the over-all program simple. If you have trouble explaining to someone how to use it, chances are that it really is too hard to use, and needs to be changed.
- Keep the number of controls to the minimum needed to accomplish the task efficiently. Remember that for each control you add, you raise the minimum I. Q. of the operator by 3 points.
Now I’ve reminded myself of what I’m shooting for as I redesign some software. I hope it helps you, too.
Bible Dedications 2008-2009
Sunday, 1 March 2009 at 08:38 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
The following is a list of Scripture dedications already celebrated or planned in 2008 and 2009. It is possible that some were missed, or possibly omitted from this list for security reasons, so really there are probably a few more. Please be in prayer for the people who speak these languages and for the translation teams as they work through the final stages of checking and typesetting. Spiritual warfare tends to be intense at this time, but we are on the winning side. Please also pray for the people getting new Bible translations in their own language that they will read, hear, study, and meditate on God’s Word and that it will bear much fruit in their lives. Obviously, I feel a stronger personal connection to some of these dedications than others, because of help I have provided and/or knowing some of the translation teams and some of the people who speak the languages listed below, but I thank God for ALL of them!
This list is compiled by Wycliffe Bible Translators, but includes work by several different Bible translation agencies.
PACIFIC Old or New Testament DEDICATIONS 08/09
AUHELAWA; Papua New Guinea; 1,200; January 18, 2008
BIMIN; Papua New Guinea; 2,500; November 1-2, 2008.
DJAMBARRPUYNU; Australia; 450; June 7-9, 2008
IPILI; Papua New Guinea; 26,000; August 13, 2008
KUBE; Papua New Guinea; 10,500; March 22, 2008
KUMAN; Papua New Guinea; 120,000; June 27, 2008
MAPE; Papua New Guinea; 12,000; December 21, 2008
NATQGU; Solomon Islands; 5,899; July 20, 2008
NGAANYATJARRA Shorter Bible; Australia; 1,200; May 11, 2008
PIJIN Old Testament; Solomon Islands; 24,390; July 7, 2008
TANGOA; Vanuatu; 900; April 12, 2009
TANNA, North; Vanuatu; 2,000; July 20, 2008
WALA*; Solomon Islands; 6,978; March 16, 2008
ASIA AREA DEDICATIONS 08/09:
BAUZI; Southeast Asia; 1,500; March 17, 2009
IFUGAO, ANTIPOLO Bible; Philippines; 8,000; June 12, 2009
KAGAYANEN; Philippines; 25,000; April 19, 2008
KEMTUIK; Papua; 5,000; July 25, 2008
KINARAY-A; Philippines; 378,000; September 26, 2009
KISAR; Southeast Asia; 20,000; May 8, 2009
TBOLI Bible; Philippines; 90,000; January 30, 2008
WANA; Southeast Asia; 100,000; New Tribes Mission; February 17, 2008
AMERICAS Area DEDICATIONS 08/09
CAKCHIQUEL, SOUTH CENTRAL; Guatemala; 43,000; April 13, 2008
CHA’PALAA language, Chachilla people (Chachi); Ecuador; 9,000; August 16 & 17, 2008
IXIL, Nebaj; Guatemala; 59,500; August 12, 2008
MIXTEC, TEZOATLAN; Americas; 6,200; March 15, 2008
TERIBE; Panama; 3,005; August 17, 2008
TEPEHUAN, Southeastern; Americas; 9,937; May 17-18, 2008 Audio NT & OT abridgment
ZAPOTEC, OZOLOTEPEC; Mexico; 6,500; March 15, 2008
AFRICA AREA DEDICATIONS 2008/2009:
DINKA, Southwestern; Sudan; 450,000; April 20, 2008
FAREFARE Bible; Ghana; 845,100; April 26, 2008
GABRI-KIMRE; Chad; 15,000; April 12, 2008
GUJI; Ethiopia; 2,000,000; August 2, 2008
JOLA-KASA; Senegal; 40,850; January 3, 2009
KONO; Sierra Leone; 190,000; June 14, 2008
LOKAA language, Yakurr people; Nigeria; 120,000; March 15, 2008
MAALE; Ethiopia; 53,779; August 2008
MOBA (Ben); Togo; 191,200; March 15, 2008
MOFU-GUDUR; Cameroon; 60,000; February 16, 2008
MWAN; Cote d’Ivoire; 17,000; March 29, 2009
SENOUFO, Supyire; Mali; 364,000; December 20, 2008
SERE-SINE Bible; Senegal; 1,183,120; January 6, 2008
TAABWA; Democratic Republic of Congo; 250,000; Distributed 2008
TIRA; Sudan; 40,000; February 18, 2009
VOLTA region multi-project*: Lelemi Old Testament 48,900, New Testaments in Sekpele 23,400,
Selee 11,300, Siwu 27,000, and Tuwuli 11,400; Ghana; April 12, 2009
EUROPE COMPLETIONS/DEDICATIONS:
AVAR; Russia 600,959; September 19, 2008
KOMI-ZYRIAN; Russia; 345,000; October 10, 2008
MARI, MEADOW; Russia; 534,569; March 4-5, 2008
Check for updates to the above list at The Seed Company.
Computers, Teamwork, and Missionaries
Sunday, 1 March 2009 at 05:06 | In Journal | 1 Comment
When I was very young, I had an idea of what a missionary was: a person who went off to extremely remote areas of the world, far away from anything resembling the civilization we were used to. He or she had to learn new languages, convince people that it was better to listen than to eat the messenger, and somehow get lots of people saved or die trying. The missionary image in my young mental image worked pretty much alone. The cliché cartoon image of the missionaries tied up in a large cauldron, boiling over a large fire almost always came to mind. Somehow, teamwork, computers, rocket science, and aviation didn’t usually cross my mind, although I had heard stories of some of the early uses of small airplanes by missionaries. Now that I have had some experience, I have a different view. For example, I’ve never seen a large cauldron out in the jungle. (Other dangers, sure, but no cauldrons.) I see and experience lots of teamwork. I see lots of applications of appropriate transportation, communication, and computation technology in getting the Word of God to people, even in very remote areas. I have also noticed a lot of variety in the vocations represented on the mission field. I also see a wide variety of mission fields, with a wide diversity of cultures, languages, economies, and stages of development.
The Body of Christ really does have many diverse members, with many diverse missions and organizations, but we all work together in the same mission of fulfilling The Great Commission and The Great Commandment. My little niche is mostly in computer support, although I do teach and preach and do some other things from time to time. Finding and eliminating computer bugs may not sound very glamorous, but it is one of many very different jobs in the Body of Christ. All of this works together for good, according to God’s good plan.
Can you imagine what it would be like to go back to living without computers? I can, and it isn’t a pretty thought. It would take a whole lot more manual labor to do pretty much anything you can think of. This is definitely true of Christian mission work in general, and Bible translation in particular. The most useful software for missionaries and missions is software that can be freely shared. I’m a very big fan of Free/Libre Open Source Software on the mission field. (And yes, I’m writing this article using open source software on Linux.) The work of the software developer gets used far more, and by more people in missions, that way. The only down side, of course, is that the software developer has to raise support, just like most of the other missionaries, and live on donations instead of royalties. That is OK. A million years from now, what will matter is the souls brought into the Kingdom of God, not who paid the bills for the work of the Great Commission.
The Great Technician
Sunday, 2 November 2008 at 10:51 | In Journal, Technobabble | Leave a Comment
I was really happy to have succeeded at fixing a satellite relay station of the Papua New Guinea Christian Broadcasting Network (Wantok Radio Light) in Kainantu. The man in the picture is smiling because I just gave him a solar-powered fix-tuned radio, playing Wantok Radio Light. That nice little Galcom radio is really good for PNG, because batteries cost lots of money relative to people’s income, and people don’t always have access to electrical power. The thrill of victory turned to the agony of defeat quickly when I got back to Aiyura, and the station had gone off the air, again, then drifted on and off rapidly enough to make the station pretty useless. I had done all I knew to do. I just turned to the Lord, and asked Him to either fix it Himself, send an angel to fix it, send someone else to fix it, or show me how to fix it. That evening, the radio station came back on. And stayed on. I’m listening to it, now. Glory be to GOD! He is a better electronics technician than I am. He is the master architect, engineer, designer, and Creator of all that is used to make anything electronic.
World English Bible translation status 16 Oct 2008
Thursday, 16 October 2008 at 07:12 | In Bible translation, Journal | Leave a Comment
There is more than one way to
cross a river.
Now is one of those times that I need to take a strategic look at the World English Bible project, and really seek the Lord concerning the finishing of the translation. This project was begun by the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, and it must be finished the same way. This project began in a Volkswagen Rabbit in March 1994. (See http://ebible.org/webhistory.htm for some background information.) The World English Bible has always been a part-time project, subservient to a full-time job, for me. It still is. It is the same for the many people who have contributed to the project. (There are so many that I gave up trying to keep track shortly after losing many of their names and email addresses in a disk crash. I also vowed to do a better job of backing up important data after that.) I’m hoping that either that will change, and the Lord will provide some dedicated time for me to work on that project exclusively, or that He will show us how to accelerate the process as a part-time work.
The most recent update of the official distribution copy of the World English Bible at http://eBible.org/web/ and http://WorldEnglishBible.org is still 19 August 2008. The books that still need work are indicated with *2* or *3* at http://ebible.org/web/web.htm. The project is still active, but there are some serious challenges. At this point, my #1 need for help is in prayer: faith-filled prayer of agreement. A couple of times in the past, things looked grim for the timely completion of the World English Bible. Both of those times, the Lord showed me some clever ways of moving forward at a faster pace. This is now one of those times. I feel the need for another boost from the Holy Spirit. I also believe that your prayer support will make a big difference. Here are some specific prayer requests:
- I need to find more time to regularly work on the World English Bible translation. This has been hard for me, lately, because of the demands of my main job (which is also supporting Bible translation, but for minority languages, and in ways that really don’t overlap at all with the World English Bible work. I also live in a place that lacks many (most) of the time-saving conveniences that I would like to be accustomed to, again, such as automatic dishwashers and pizza that doesn’t involve starting from scratch with flour, oil, yeast, etc. On top of that, much of my time has been consumed (and will be, for a while) with complicated legal and social issues pertaining to adopting a Filipino girl as U. S. Citizens while living in Papua New Guinea. Either that, or I need a release from the Lord to release control of the project to someone else, but so far, I haven’t gotten that except in one case, and then only for a short time and for certain books, and then only until the person stopped work and moved on to another project. Please pray for me for wisdom in time management and for Rachel’s adoption, visa, and citizenship issues to be resolved quickly, with little more effort on my part.
- Please pray for a new volunteer, David, who will be continuing the work of recording a Public Domain audio version of the World English Bible for posting at http://eBible.org/webaudio/ and other places. Please pray that he would find joy in the work, do an excellent job that pleases the Lord, and that the recordings would bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God.
- It has been on my heart for some time to shift the software infrastructure for the World English Bible translation process to be compatible with the formats used for minority-language Bible translations all over the world. I want to be able to use the same software I use to facilitate the translation and publication of the World English Bible to also help with Scriptures in many other languages. (I live in a nation with over 800 languages spoken, so this is a rather important project to me.) The conversion process has begun. Please pray for wisdom and understanding for me in the software and data conversion and development process.
- Please pray for provision for the printing of the whole World English Bible, for continuation of the high-volume web site for text and audio distribution of the Holy Bible, and for abundant provision for my family. (We live on donations. See http://kahunapule.org for more about that.)
Thank you. May God bless you.
Michael
http://kahunapule.org
New Testament and Old Testament Completions 2008-2009
Wednesday, 17 September 2008 at 01:34 | In Bible translation, Journal | Leave a Comment
One of the most spiritually intense portions of the Bible translation process is the completion phase. (A close second is getting started.) Of course, there are battles all along the way, but it is especially worth while to pray for the translation and publication teams working on the end stages of the translation and for the people who just had the Scriptures made available to them in their own language to open their hearts to what the Lord has to say to them.
It is also a great encouragement to us who are doing the work of Bible translation and fulfilling the Great Commission to see progress being made. Included in “us” are Bible translators, consultants, Bible translation support workers on the field and at home, everyone who sends money and other resources to supply those listed above, and those who pray in faith.
In the first draft of this article, I attempted to list the names of languages of Bible translations finishing in 2008 and 2009 that were cleared for publication, being finished by several different Bible translation agencies. Because of concerns about accuracy of a few of the entries, I’ve removed the list rather than try to verify and reconstruct it. (It was a really long list, and I only have about 86400 seconds per day.) I still encourage your prayers for the home stretch of these Bible translation projects. God knows their names.
Newsletter Time Again
Sunday, 4 May 2008 at 06:04 | In Journal | 1 Comment
Here it is, again. Time to produce a missionary newsletter. Actually, it is more properly called a prayer letter, because we want you to pray for us when you get it. Prayer letters are great things, because they help keep us connected with our partners, serve as reminders that we are still doing the work of the Lord that He has called us and our partners to do. I say us and our partners, of course, because there is no way we can do all of this ourselves. One, we couldn’t afford it, financially. Two, we probably could not stand the heat of the spiritual battle without prayer backup. We were, in fact, partially self-supporting when we first started in full-time Christian ministry, but once our savings were depleted in about 2001, that stopped being the case. Now, we have just the Lord to rely on for our physical needs. Fortunately, He is faithful, and He has called some wonderful friends to partner with us and keep us going. Praise the Lord!
Now, what do I write about in our prayer letter? Lori and I have, since the beginning of our missionary journey in 2000, tried to keep our official prayer letters under 2 pages. We figure that one 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper, written on both sides, using pictures liberally, and without resorting to itty-bitty type, is about the attention span of most of the busy people we send these to. That may or may not be true. We get, and read, longer newsletters, but it is also true that the really long ones tend to pile up somewhere to be read later. They may or may not actually get fully read, even if they are from dear friends. The space limit forces us to focus. It is hard, though. So much is going on in our lives and our ministry that it is hard to condense it all. In this journal, I allow myself the luxury of rambling on longer with no set space limit, but I also know that much fewer people will read it. That is OK. I feel better sometimes for having written it.
If you were to ask Rachel what our biggest news is, lately, she would probably tell you that we now have a kitten. His name is Puma. Rachel named him. Mostly, she calls him “kitty.” Rodents beware! This animal will be a mighty hunter in our house.
We were asked by one church to provide them with a 1-2 minute video presentation that they could use to promote missions during a Sunday service. Many of my friends asked me what we could do to condense our lives serving the Lord here down to two minutes or less. Good question. I tried, anyway. The result of my effort in that respect is posted at http://kahunapule.org/kmpj2008-03-24.mpg for your viewing pleasure. It is a huge (109,199,360 bytes) file, so great patience is required in downloading it, but I wanted to keep it high enough resolution that it would look good projected on a screen in front of a church. I even put the slide show in a format you can create a video DVD from, if you are familiar with zip files, ISO images, and burning DVDs. That file is huge (86,037,612 bytes), too. Fortunately, I managed to upload these files just before the rates went up for Internet usage, here. Internet access in Ukarumpa is outrageously expensive. It is actually about $9000/month for the satellite connection, which gives us about 200 kbps download capacity. We share the bandwidth and the cost among 262 users. Instead of just dividing the monthly cost per user evenly, which would result in a charge of about $34.35/month, the SIL PNG Branch powers that be have decided to divide the cost proportional to usage in megabytes. It used to be, up through March, that the only bytes metered for billing were HTTP downloads on ports 80 and 443 (regular and secure web browsing). Those bytes were charged at $0.25 per megabyte. Starting in April, all FTP and HTTP uploads and downloads are now billed at $0.225 per megabyte. That means that it would have cost me $43.92 to upload those two files to our web site. I probably would not have done that. Our budget is too tight. This billing scheme obviously keeps our usage down and our bills high– especially at a time when we are doing college search work for Ben and trying to find bargain air fares for Nate and Ben. I hope you enjoy the show, and can download it for free (even if it takes a while).
Speaking of money, someone asked how we were doing financially. Since we computed our fundraising requirements for living here, the U. S. dollar has dropped 11.8% against the PNG kina. Our support has dropped by 2.6%. We have had some unexpected extra expenses and price increases. Our savings are depleted. And it will cost about $4760 to get Nate here and back for a visit/mission trip, and Ben back to the USA for college, just in air fare alone, not counting stuff like food and lodging on the way. Then there is the matter of college tuition at the Christian college Ben has chosen to attend. In other words, if the Lord moves on you to help with any of this, please do. If not, you can still pray for our needs to be met. Don’t worry, though. God is faithful, and will not let us down.
One thing I always want to know when I support missionaries is what they are actually doing, and if they are still doing it. I still have my 40-hour-per-week job at SIL PNG Branch Aviation, doing computer support work, plus various other “side” ministries, like leading Bible studies, working on the World English Bible, etc. Lori still has her teaching and HIV/AIDS task force chair jobs, and still takes care of our children. Household tasks always seem to take longer, here. Stuff like having no automatic dishwasher (and not being able to afford one at the outrageous prices they cost, here) make a difference. There is no ordering out for pizza or anything like that. We do eat pizza, but it is a lot of work to make them. Naturally, Rachel keeps us busy, as you would expect from an active 3-year-old. The adoption paperwork saga continues. How long do you think it should take for the Social Services office in Port Moresby to fax a copy of a letter of consent to finalize the adoption to us? An hour? A day? A month? They got it in January, and it is now May, and I’m still waiting, and still calling periodically and getting new excuses. A friend of mine, also working on an adoption, spent a week in Port Moresby, in person, trying to get some papers moved about one block. It did finally work. Rachel, however, is still blissfully unaware of her precarious legal status. She knows that beyond the shadow of a doubt, she has a mommy, a daddy, and three big brothers that really love her. She knows that her name is Rachel Brianna Joy Johnson. We will keep at it until we get the required court decree to make that her legal status as well, opening the door to get her USA citizenship.
Also on the subject of waiting for the PNG government, all of our resident visas expired on the 31st of January. The PNG government has had our passports and visa renewal applications since December 2007, and still hasn’t finished processing them. Apparently, it is OK for us to stay here as long as the government is working on them, but if we try to leave without a valid visa, it is a crime. This has caused excessive stress to many people in this community. Of course, if the government should deny any of our visa applications, we would have to leave immediately. That would also be stressful, of course. I don’t think that will happen, but please pray that Ben’s visa gets processed by June and the rest of ours by November, at the latest.
Lori would like to go to a teacher’s conference in Hong Kong in November. That requires a visa. That also will require money for air fare, etc. Professional development for teachers is still important, here, but not very available in PNG.
We certainly have challenges, here, and I haven’t listed them all. I don’t intend to. Instead, I want to focus on some progress. I just started leading an inductive Bible Study for the current Translators’ Training Course. This is for about 49 people from 15 language groups. It is a joy to see how they pick up the Bible study techniques, and want to go back to their villages and show others how to do it. I got a little choked up, though, listening to one man lamenting how his grandparents didn’t know any of this. You see, the Gospel didn’t get to his village until after they had died. What can I say? We are working to fulfill the Great Commission, but I don’t think all of us fully realize how urgent the task is. At least the Gospel is going out to his village, now, and he is working on a Bible translation for his own language.
Translating a New Testament is a long task. It can take years, often decades. This year, the task finished for the Kube language in March, with a Bible dedication for those people. More dedications are coming up in June and August. Praise God!
Now, for my next trick, I’ll condense this to a few bullets, add some pictures and an article Lori wrote, and produce a proper prayer letter. It will lack many details, but it will probably be read by more people than this article.
Bad news/GOOD NEWS
Tuesday, 26 February 2008 at 22:34 | In Bible translation, Journal | Leave a Comment
We could really use some prayer, right now. There is an overabundance of circumstances that point to the likelihood of the enemy trying to cut off our supply lines in some sort of spiritual war turned physical. There is no way the Good News of Jesus Christ can be stopped by this, but I believe that we need to be active in prayer and in standing firm in the authority and responsibility granted to us by Jesus Christ to overcome these things. Some help agreeing with us in prayer and holding onto the promises of God on our behalf would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few concerns:
- Heavy rains and flooding have caused a bridge to be closed between us and Kainantu (where we could get on the Highlands Highway). There is no alternate bridge. There is no real alternate road (but there is a long motorcycle trail and a 4WD trail that goes through the river (not over it). This makes it harder to get supplies (like fuel and food) that are normally trucked in. The government has been informed of the outage on this national road, but higher priority road disasters (land slips on Daulo Pass and Kassam Pass), coupled with depleted funds from earlier repairs due to floods in other provinces make it unlikely that this will be fixed quickly.
- A man named Yanis Manki claims that because the creek that our community draws water from gets water drained from his land (with a valid government permit), he wants more money in compensation for that water. He got tired of waiting for the courts to act, so this morning, he took a mob of people past our guards to disable our water intake, in violation of a court order. Remember, this is in the rainy season, with about 29 inches of water in the last month falling out of the sky for free, and the issue has nothing to do with him needing more water. He clearly doesn’t. It would just run down the stream, into the river, past the eroding foundations of the afore-mention bridge. He just wants more money from the “rich” missionaries that what they offered him. Much more. We get plenty of drinking water from our roof, but this is the water we use to flush toilets with and do much of our washing.
- Our Internet access via satellite has been in a slow, intermittent, degraded state for about 3 weeks. In addition, our ISP just cut off access to the port I needed most to manage the web/ftp/mail server that hosts eBible.org and 40 other domains. Shortly after that, the server went down.
- There is more, like the still-missing engine on the airplane in the picture, the PNG visa situation, and adoption paperwork hassles, but I don’t want to whine, just motivate you to pray.
Now, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the GOOD NEWS.
- We win! Jesus Christ always causes us to triumph!
- We have eternal life.
- We get to live with God in Paradise.
- We will accomplish what Jesus sent us to accomplish, including getting the Word of God to more people in their own languages.
- We still have supplies, communications, etc.
Praise God!
The Grass is Greener Here
Sunday, 10 February 2008 at 11:50 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
The best place in the world to be is where God wants us to be, when He wants us to be there.
In 2007,
- We moved twice (once within Colorado, once back to Papua New Guinea).
- Lori renewed her teacher’s certificate.
- I continued Bible translation software development while in Colorado.
- Upon return to Papua New Guinea, Lori returned to teaching, and I started a new job doing custom database programming for the SIL PNG Aviation Department.
- Two of Rachel’s post-placement home study reports were mailed to oblivion while we were in the USA, and never received by the Social Services office in Port Moresby. There were no backup copies anywhere. It took us being physically present in Papua New Guinea to recover from that mess. The process still has a long way to go, but at least the paperwork is moving, now.
- We distributed about 1,000 fix-tuned radios that are permanently tuned to Wantok Radio Light.
- I repaired the Wantok Radio Light station in Kainantu twice.
- I have been leading a Bible study for 10th grade boys.
In 2008, our plans and goals are to:
- Continue with our present jobs (teaching and Aviation Department Computer support).
- Continue helping with Christian radio ministry as practical.
- Continue leading a Bible study for Evan’s class.
- Have a family vacation, including Nate.
- Get Ben enrolled in college in the USA.
- Complete Rachel’s legal adoption.
- Attempt to participate in some Bible translation software global open source programming projects.
Long-term missions have long-lasting benefits. We don’t plan to retire before Jesus comes back, as long as we are able to keep serving Him on Earth.
Death of a Camera and Dog Death
Tuesday, 1 January 2008 at 05:58 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
Alas, I just lost over a hundred photos and a camera, all in one loud “pop!” My Sony DSC-S600 camera, the one that I used to take the Asaro Mud Man photo, here, self-destructed. I had just shot a picture of a yellow-lapped honeyeater dining on hibiscus nectar, turned the camera off, and set it on the table next to me. Suddenly, it made a loud popping noise as the camera destroyed itself and the 4 GB memory card that was in it, without any apparent provocation. Sigh. That was annoying. Also lost were some really neat pictures I took on a recent trip to Goroka and back.
If that wasn’t enough, the same day, I found out that my old dog, Mandy, was so old and sick that my sister took her to the vet to be put down in the USA. And today, the first day of 2008, my elderly dog, Dallas, seems to be so sick that after several days of not eating, she just wants to lay down in a ditch and die. I didn’t know what to do, so I asked God to take care of it. He did.
You know, even when trouble comes, and it does that a lot on planet Earth, God is good. His mercy and loving kindness last forever. Keep smiling. Jesus has overcome the world. The glory of His reward far outshines the annoyances along the way. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Long Term Missions, Life and Death
Tuesday, 1 January 2008 at 05:26 | In Journal | Leave a Comment
The year just rolled over to 2008. What do I see? I see a more intense year in the battle between God’s light and dark enemies. Battles rage, and many people are so distracted that they don’t even see the conflict.
Have you noticed the drop in missions funding, and the trend away from long term (career) missions to short-term missions? There is, of course, a place for both long-term and short-term missions, and the important thing is to make sure you go the way the Lord leads. Don’t substitute one for the other when God calls you– do what He says if you want to be fruitful. I am concerned that more people are being called to long term missions than are going, however. You see, there are things you can do long term that are impossible short term. You can truly learn new languages and cultures and understand what it takes to truly impact people and cultures with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that sticks and bears fruit far beyond what you see initially. Take a moment and ask yourself if you are one of those people called to go into a career as a Christian missionary. You can have all kinds of vocations within such a career– pastor, evangelist, administrator, aircraft mechanic, pilot, motorcycle mechanic, rocket scientist, custodian, doctor, nurse, teacher… whatever it takes to get the Word of God to people. There are also a lot of different organizations and movements that need help. Do some research, and listen to the Lord.
Is there a cost to long term missions. Yes. It costs you your life, really. You end up losing your life to gain it back again. The Lord may lead you outside of your comfort zone. OK, I’m pretty sure He does that for everyone who follows Him, at least once. 
There are dangers to going into another place and culture, but safety can’t be guaranteed anywhere this side of Heaven, really. When we get to Heaven, I plan to have lots of friends there worshiping the Father with us– friends I helped find the way there: Jesus Christ.
Think about it.
Wanted: Reliable 4WD Vehicle
Sunday, 4 November 2007 at 05:07 | In Journal | Leave a Comment 
Ben’s auto mechanics project in the picture isn’t exactly what I’m talking about, although I’m thankful for that. Ben is making good progress on it, and it should soon be able to pass a safety inspection and be street legal.
What we really need is a reliable, rugged, 4-wheel-drive vehicle that we can drive along the Highlands Highway and lesser roads without fear of breakdown or getting stuck. Cars and trucks cost a lot in Papua New Guinea, because none are made here, there is a high import duty, and transportation charges are high. Nevertheless, I believe that the Lord will provide both an affordable vehicle and the money to buy it debt-free. If He puts it on your heart to help us with this need, please do.
Missionary Rocket Science
Sunday, 4 November 2007 at 04:27 | In Journal, Technobabble | Leave a Comment 
In a land where only about 10% of the people have electrical power in their houses, you might wonder what good such technology as electronics, satellites, radio, and cell phones might be. Actually, such technology is very useful, indeed. Technology is no substitute for living and proclaiming the Word of God. It can, however, make it easier to reach people with the Word of God and make the logistics of getting the Word of God to new people groups much easier.
We rely heavily on communication satellites. All of our telephone calls from Ukarumpa to anywhere farther than Kainantu are carried by satellite, no matter which way we make them. The Papua New Guinea Christian Broadcasting Network (also known as Wantok Radio Light) uses a satellite channel to distribute its programming to FM radio stations scattered all over the country. Our Internet connection is via satellite. In a country consisting of about 600 islands, including the very large and mountainous island of New Guinea, satellite links are the most practical way to communicate in many cases. Running cables all over the place is way too expensive, and far to vulnerable to damage by vandals, earthquakes, and other problems. We also make heavy use of HF and UHF radio links.
A few weeks ago, the local Wantok Radio Light station in Kainantu stopped working. Its receiver (shown in the picture) apparently suffered damage to its RF front end in a lightning storm. The station manager sent a replacement up via an SIL flight, and I put the new one in place. Many people were happy to be able to hear their favorite Christian programming, again.
Although few people have electrical power in their houses in Papua New Guinea, there are many battery-operated radios listening in. We have distributed about 700 fix-tuned, solar powered radios to people in Wantok Radio Light’s service area, so far.
Yes, the Good News of Jesus Christ is simple enough for a child to believe. Rocket science can help deliver that good news.
Saving Lives
Saturday, 3 November 2007 at 23:50 | In Journal | Leave a Comment 
A helicopter is a wonderful but expensive machine. With it, we save lives. We do that by moving Bible translators into places they can’t get with fixed wing aircraft or wheeled vehicles to bring the Word of God to people so that they can be saved. Eternal life is the greatest gift we can get from God. God, in His great wisdom, has tasked us, His children, with sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with people so that they can believe in Him and gain eternal life with Him.
Of course, we also save lives with this machine in the more common sense, too. SIL Aviation recently made national news by saving the life of a pregnant mother in distress. It is good to show Jesus’ compassion in practical ways. See http://www.thenational.com.pg/100207/nation12.htm for that article.
So, how do we pay for this expensive machine? With a combination of donations and commercial work done with that machine in between Bible translation and life-saving runs.
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