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Keep It in Your Heart
30 July 2015
What does it mean to keep something in your heart?
In our recent translation workshop covering the beginning chapters of the Gospel of Luke we spent some time discussing this very question. In Luke 2:51, after hearing young Jesus' question "Didn't you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father's house?" the gospel writer tells us that Mary "kept every word in her heart." We understand this to mean that the Messiah's mother treasured these things up in her heart, she cherished every word. For the languages represented at our workshop, however, the idea of keeping something in one's heart has a very different meaning, namely "to hold a grudge." For these languages, translating this phrase word for word as we find it would give the wrong idea that Mary is holding a grudge against a naughty little boy. As much as many mothers of boys might sympathize with such an understanding, we don't get the sense that this is what Luke is trying to communicate. Our translators therefore have to find a natural way to express in their heart languages what exactly it was that Mary was keeping in hers.
Pray for the translators who are currently drafting Luke as they first seek to rightly understanding Scripture before clearly communicating it in a natural way for their communities. It's an art!
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State of the Family
May, June, and July have been packed with firsts for us as a family. The twins, now with a firm footing on eight months of age, have started taking solid foods. Florence is finally outpacing her twin brother in one regard; she's got two little teeth while George has none. But if you can mash it, they will, well, mostly make funny faces and spit it out. The second time around, they might just open up the airport for the plane to land. Foods we've had smeared all over our dining room furniture include mashed potato, carrot, avocado and rice cereal.
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The bigger kids have been making the most of summer vacation. Poppy enjoyed celebrating her sixth birthday at the beach and has been faithfully practicing piano ten minutes a day. Her personal goal is to learn to play 'Let it Go' by Christmas. Henry continues to hone his big boy bike skills while eagerly anticipating starting back at preschool in August.
Emily no doubt became the first woman in history to run her first 5K only months after giving birth to twins. Way to go, Peanut! In between juggling babies, she's now turning her attention toward which color to paint the kitchen. Send her your ideas. I (Drew) had my first article accepted for publication in a French translation journal, Le Sycomore. I talk about how language communities can take advantage of the latest findings in biblical studies to become prime players on the international stage of Bible translation. I'm recovering from a workshop-packed July while simultaneously gearing up for the next round in September.
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Rəwt
Saturday, July 18, was a big day for one of the languages in our cluster. The translators organized a dedication ceremony here in the capital for their newly printed book of Ruth. They couldn't wait to show the community the fruit of the labors. "Many people say that we are a cursed people and our language is good for nothing. But by God's grace look what we have been able to accomplish. We have God's word in our language!"
On the same day that the illustrated print copy of Ruth went on sale, so did an electronic copy in the form of an app for their phones. Thanks to new software being developed by our organization, with a couple of clicks we were able to make their translation of Ruth available in a customized Bible application for Android. Don't just take our word for it, download the app at the following link and try it out for yourself: http://bit.ly/BibleMoloko. We're already looking forward to adding new books of the Bible to the app as they're translated. The finishing touches are being put on Jonah and Luke is currently being drafted.
Thank you for your continued partnership with us! This printing of Ruth is the first major publication of Scripture since we started working with this group of languages. Thanks for keeping us in your hearts. ❤️️
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This roadside menu for a local restaurant advertises the "menu du jour." Among the selections on offer that day are roasted snails, pangolin (often referred to as the "scaly anteater"), porcupine, roasted chicken, beef broth, and freshwater fish. Add to that your choice of either flavored rice, plantains, or manioc, and you have a spread that rivals even the most elaborate of smorgasbords.
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Prayer and Praise
- Pray for Drew as he works from a distance with translators who are drafting Luke and prepares for another translation workshop on the Gospel of Luke in September.
- Pray for the translators and their families, that God would protect them from volatility in the region.
- Pray that Emily will find inspiration to be creative in finding variety in daily life.
- Pray for the OT translation teams who are now drafting the book of Ezra, the teams for which Drew wrote a translation guide.
- Praise God for each partner in our Wycliffe ministry. On behalf of all the language communities we serve, thank you!
- Praise God that Poppy and Henry start back at school in two weeks!
- Pray for continued good health of the twins.
- Praise God that Emily's parents are coming to visit next week.
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