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August 1, 2016
Dear companions of the Road,
Yes, it was time to celebrate, and many of you who saw us doing so on Facebook celebrated with us. On July 21, Moïse and I finished our draft of the whole book of Leviticus. There is still lots to do before we're "done" -- all the testing in the community, remarks by team and reviewers on the last chapters, then corrections. Then it gets back-translated to French so it can be consultant-checked (the back-translation is already done through chapter 5).
But those key sessions of taking my exegetical notes and prepped text, and of Moïse carefully speaking it in Nyarafolo while I type -- that is finished. And it also marks the end of the two of us doing that together for the Old Testament portions that we plan to print in a couple of years, along with the New Testament. We've translated the Pentateuch and the Psalms!
Thanks for all your prayers as we plowed our way through this, sometimes full of joy at discoveries and great Nyarafolo solutions, sometimes scratching our heads and researching in the community. We had never had to deal so extensively with skin diseases, physical emissions and cycles, animal body parts, and laws about calculating redemption prices! Sometimes we said we were medical workers; some days we were deeply struck by God's standards of holiness and how impossible it is for us to meet them by our own efforts.
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (Lev 19:18 ESV)
Somehow I had never noticed that first part that precedes the much-quoted law of love for one's neighbor. Never bear a grudge??? Which one of us can say we've done that? And then there is this:
You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Lev 19:34 ESV)
Those kinds of things hit me. The Nyarafolos in the community who heard the book read to them were often impacted by the long lists of sacrifices for various purposes. Some who don't follow Jesus were pretty exultant at first, saying: see, doing lots of sacrifices is a good thing -- so why do you Christians say we can't do them? Moïse's reply was: Did you notice that every single one of these sacrifices is offered only to YHWH, the Supreme God? Who do you offer sacrifices to? In this culture soaked with obligatory sacrifices to various gods and spirits, that met with thoughtful silence. We're praying that the seeds that have been planted will take root and grow!
(Just to clarify, we will not be printing Leviticus until we print the whole Pentateuch and Psalms along with the New Testament, in a couple of years.)
There is lots of other news in the columns below, some of it great, some sad. We so appreciate you walking this Journey with us!
Grateful for your partnership in getting out the Good News,
Linn, for Glenn too
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One "son" got the BAC!
Last month we asked you to pray for four special young people who would be taking the BAC (high school diploma) exams. Only one of those mentioned was granted the BAC, Ephraim. We got to know him three years ago when he helped on of our short-termers with an English club; he took over all the pre-schoolers. His father is Pastor Dognan Soro, who is at the Laanvira church in Ferke. Ephraim impressed us with his kindness, creativity and love for the Lord. Please pray for him as he considers his future training.
The other three we mentioned (Saly, Nenyihe and Sylain) did not quite make the passing grade. Only 42,38% of those who took the test passed (up a few percentage points from last year). Please pray for these young people as they try to discern the Lord's leading: keep trying, and take the BAC next year again? move on to something else, and if so, what?
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Kids learning to read Nyarafolo
Three mornings a week during their vacation, kids have been coming to our back yard to learn to read their mother tongue. When the numbers crept up to 15 and more, Tenidihe (our literacy worker) divided them into various reading levels -- and another young man came alongside to help. It was pure joy to see kids running into the courtyard early in the morning, three days per week, carrying primers and other reading material!
Several of the kids (not the ones pictured) are in 4th grade, but cannot even read French (the language taught in the schools). So this was a very challenging project. We are hoping that even this limited exposure to reading in Nyarafolo will help them to do better in school -- as well as read the available Nyarafolo Scriptures!
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Hide the Word in Your Heart!
The kids in Sunday School in Tiepogovogo have all memorized John 3:16 in Nyarafolo, from the 3-year-olds on up! Kifory, back-translator (to French) on our translation team, is there teacher, and he is amazed at their success. Now to feed them more of the Scriptures to hid in their hearts, and guide them to know the Lord and follow him. (Hints: Kulocɛliɛ=God, Jaa nigbiiwe=one/only Son, bànguɔ sìi=eternal life)
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Larisa, a new "granddaughter"
Family relationship terms express degrees of closeness in a community here, as you may have noticed. Larisa's mom, Yolande, worked for us, cleaning the translation office, and our relationship goes back into the '90s. Her husband, a former employee, had to be fired for immorality; he deserted his family, leaving Yolande to raise their daughter, Larisa, and his kids by another woman.
Last month Yolande suddenly died of acute hepatitis. All the kids had suddenly lost their mother, and were deeply bereft. Larisa went to live with her aunt and uncle, Pastor Fouhoton and Victorine. They are our "son and daughter" already. Larisa was looking for consolation, and approached me to whisper that her birthday was coming up. So we had the family over, and gave her something to smile about.
Please pray for her and her brother and sister who were put in the care of their father's family. They need hope, and deep faith. Larisa is faithful at church.
And do pray for their father, our former literacy worker, who is still far from repenting.
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In just one month . . .
we'll be waving goodbye to Nyarafololand and flying over the Atlantic for home assignment. Yes! We asked you to pray that we would have wisdom from the Lord, and there have been several indicators pointing to that date.
Our Africa directors, Lloyd and Jan Chinn, gave us their permission to move up our travel date as needed.
I, Linn, found out that we cannot get a consultant to check the last half of Psalms before our planned departure in November. So it seems wise to leave soon, and reserve the help of a consultant for our return.
We finished translating Leviticus and soon the corrections should be done as well. Rather than start our next project (Hebrews), this is a good time to take a break. (While I'm gone, I'm hoping that Moïse will be able to make lots of progress in audio-recording of the Scriptures.)
Glenn says he'll just put his work on hold for a while (computer programming etc.)
We are renewing our one-year residency visa, and they say it will be ready September 1.
See how that fell into place? Our family is truly excited. And we will begin to make our visits to supporters in mid-October--Glenn will be contacting those churches that we want to report to this time around.
Thanks for all your prayers!
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