Kawah men aren’t much for jewelry, aside from traditional amulets for spiritual protection. But my Kawah lady friends love all things shiny. Sequins and metallic embroidery threads are their favorite fashion statements. Cheap costume jewelry abounds in the...
It was 1993. I was in junior high at the time, sporting fluffy bangs, big glasses, and braces, and my main worry was navigating the crowded halls of Kirby Junior High so as to ensure a seat in class next to someone I knew. Activities at school and church consumed most...
Checks and Balances The air conditioner gently hummed behind me, making a valiant effort to cool the room and remove some of the 95% humidity of Madang, Papua New Guinea. I sat at one corner of a conference table, staring into my laptop screen, comparing what I was...
“She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in cloths, and laid him in a manger — there was no room for them to stay in the inn.” (Luke 2:7 GNT) The Christmas story from Luke 2 seemed to be a reasonable place to begin translating God’s Word into the Apal language....
“Where did this happen?” “Near Bethlehem.” “What kind of place is Bethlehem?” “A small village.” “What appeared in the sky?” “An angel.” Christmas was approaching, and the Apal people were about to hear Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth in their own language for the...
Derek and Allison were eager to start translating God’s Word with a Bibleless people group in Africa. They had made their home among the Muliga people and had begun learning their language. Their next step was to facilitate a meeting in which local leaders would...
What does “hope” mean? I am a translator, and my work involves parsing meanings of words to their core components with the purpose of identifying functional equivalents across languages. So naturally, this is where I began with a word like “hope.” The word “hope” is...
Because prayer is the strategy of Pioneer Bible Translators, our worldwide team intentionally sets aside a day of fasting and prayer every month. On this day, we join in unified prayer, offering up to our Father praises and requests collected especially for this day....
Because prayer is the strategy of Pioneer Bible Translators, our worldwide team intentionally sets aside a day of fasting and prayer every month. On this day, we join in unified prayer, offering up to our Father praises and requests collected especially for this day....
We didn't know what was going on, really, but just decided we should get in line because that's what everyone else was doing, and deep down, no one really wants to look out of place, right? The smiling faces and the beat of the drums let us know that this was a happy...
From an early age, we learn to connect the name of an object with the written word that represents it. Young children are taught that “cat” refers to a small animal with fur and claws who likes to chase mice. Our world revolves around those connections...
The pilot folded his hands and looked at us across the table. His eyes brightened and a smile crept across his face. “This week I get to fly Bibles. First Scripture ever in these people’s language.” Our grins matched his. My family and I were in the capital for our...