A time to uproot (Matthew)

We feel rather uprooted. Or perhaps transplanted. After almost 14 years in Nigeria, it's been hard to leave so many dear friends, neighbours and colleagues and the daily interaction with students. There are some aspects of life there that we're happy to leave behind (e.g. road blocks, security concerns, and mosquitoes), but also plenty that we'll really miss (the cultural landscape, the wild spaces, people's friendliness and exuberance, and being able to pick mangoes and lemons in our garden). Although we can see that it was the right time to leave, we know that it will take some time to adjust to a somewhat unfamiliar 'home' culture. 

We've been back in the U.K. for 5 months now, and for most of that time we've been staying with my parents in Liverpool, whilst looking for a house to rent. We looked at an unfurnished one the morning after we landed, and were happy to take it, but due to needed renovations and other delays, we only just moved in last week (see our new address at the bottom). It's been great to have some extended time with family, and give my parents a chance to get to know David and Anna better, but it's also wonderful to finally have our own space again, and be able to unpack all our suitcases! An extra blessing was that Rachel's parents were wanting to sell a small cottage they owned and said that we could have all of the furniture. So if any of you happen to be up near Liverpool for any reason, please do pop in - we'd love to see you!

So what's next?
Many of you have been wondering what we'll be doing now that we're back in the U.K. The short answer is "much the same as before" (i.e. supporting Bible translation and language development in Nigeria). In other words, we're still serving with Wycliffe, and I'm still very much involved in teaching and supervising students' theses at TCNN, as well as advising language projects throughout Nigeria. It's likely that I'll have to make one or two trips back to Nigeria each year for this, but there is a lot I can do remotely. I was back in Nigeria in November, and am planning another trip for the end of January to teach a course in Discourse Analysis at TCNN.

I will however have more time for a part of my work that I've had to put aside for the last few years. There is a lot of research into Nigerian languages that needs to be written up to help translation teams and language projects throughout Nigeria. Writing things up helps to clarify analyses, and means that insights can be shared more widely. One paper I'm currently working on is a description of the Kyak language, which a former student needed some help in analysing, and which has never been written down before. That research will help both of us produce the first reading and writing book for the language over the next few months, laying the foundation for Bible translation.

Another encouragement during my visit was meeting a former student, Dogara Manomi, who had just returned from his PhD. in Germany to teach full-time in the Linguistics and Translation Department. He is the second, full-time Nigerian member of staff in our department, working alongside five other former students who are currently teaching part-time voluntarily. The department is still very short of staff though, and we were unable to take in any new MA students this year as a result. A couple of other former students also hope to start their PhDs next year, which will mean they are less available for teaching. Nevertheless, seeing an increasing number of former students getting higher-level training and returning to teach is very encouraging for long-term sustainability. Also, a British family (the Turners) are currently preparing to come out and teach sometime next year, which will hopefully mean we can start accepting MA students again within a year or two.

Family news
Both David and Anna have coped with the transition quite well, having visited the U.K. on previous summers. The biggest change for David was undoubtedly his new school, since it is much bigger and very different to his school in Jos. It took him a few weeks to settle in, but he has made lots of friends now, and he usually runs into the playground at morning drop-off time rather than holding tightly on to daddy. And the speed of his acquiring a Scouse (Liverpool) accent was truly astounding!

Anna is still at the age where everything is a big adventure, so starting nursery in the mornings was really fun for her. She thoroughly enjoys it, and loves to point it out whenever we pass it in the car. One of the  nursery staff commented recently that they'd never known such a continually happy child. This week was her nativity, in which her chosen role was the donkey. She enjoyed singing and dancing with the other children and giving orders to Mary & Joseph.

We're looking forward to spending some time with our families over Christmas and New Year, which may include Anna's first experience of snow, real snowmen, and the joys of high speed sledging.

Adoption update
The final step in our adoption adventure is to get our Nigerian adoptions recognised in the U.K. This will involve a few visits from our local social services department and a couple of court hearings, and could take up to a year. We haven't gone far along this path yet, since we've been waiting until we'd moved house, but so far I have found a local family-law solicitor who is willing to help us, and I hope to move things forward early in the new year.

Shortly after David first came to live with us as a 3-month old, I remember doing a rough calculation of how long it might take to complete all the Nigerian and U.K. processing of his adoption, and my estimate was about 7 years. Well his 7th birthday is coming up in November 2020, so that target might just be achievable!

As 2019 comes to a close, you may be interested to see some of the initiatives, including the work of TCNN, that Wycliffe (known in Nigeria as SIL Nigeria) has been involved with over the last year. You can read about them in our latest online brochure, God at Work 2019, available here. If you would like any printed copies, just email me and I'll be happy to send them to you.

And whilst you're enjoying your Christmas lunch leftovers on Boxing Day, spare a prayer for the Abuan community in the far south of Nigeria who will be dedicating the full Bible in their language for the first time that day (We had an Abuan student at TCNN several years ago who played a part in the project).

Thanks to all who support us prayerfully and financially and enable us to help meet the need for Bible Translation in Nigeria - we couldn't do this work without you! 

Wishing you all the fullness of God's grace over Christmas and in the New Year,

With our love,

Matthew, Rachel, David and Anna
xxx