going abroad

This comes with my love from South Asia! I think I'm in love. =) Coconut trees everywhere I look, a myriad of bright colors, exotic music, delicious smells, beautiful people... and precious Deaf family who are hungry and eager to soak up every lesson, every life-giving word, with joy and anticipation.

On a humorous note... (in list format, since I like lists)

a) I have internet at my hotel, but not hot water. ;)
b) Today, whilst chowing down the remainder of a large bag of dried mangoes, I looked down to find that some sugar ants had been enjoying it long before I started eating them. I salvaged a few more pieces before disposing of the rest... I guess that just means I had extra protein for my supper!
c) I never cease to be amused by my bathroom experiences abroad. We all have such different cultural norms from country to country! A fellow expat recommended this book, and it's officially made my wish-list. ;)

heart-melting

I had been in Africa for four days, when I was invited to a women's fellowship group with the Deaf wives of our translators. One of the Kenyan women, who is now a dear friend, brought her two-year-old daughter, Grace. A fellow expat warned me that Grace was terrified of "wazungu" (white foreigners) so wouldn't talk to me. Yet, when it came time for study, my Kenyan friend came in and sat down next to me on the bench, plopping little Grace right in between us.

By the end of the evening, Grace was playing with my capris, twirling my watch around my wrist, and talking in a mixture of Kiswahili and little person gibberish. I quickly found, as I whispered with her, that we had no common spoken language! Even though we are both hearing, our only common language is Kenyan Sign Language! Before she went home, she let me put her socks and shoes on. A friendship had begun.

The next few weeks, I noted that when all the other wazungu, particularly the hearing ones, run up to her with loud voices and try to pick her up, they are met with wide-eyed fear and clinging to her mom. Instead, I would sign with her, use my voice only rarely, and let her decide when I get to hold her. And, with two months now gone, we've become good friends. =) She greets me when I come up during lunch each day and often follows me inside. We drink juice or share a mango, speaking gibberish while pointing at everything in sight and asking, "Why?" or "What is it?"

When I came down with a virus last week, one of the toughest consequences was the inability to spend time with Grace since I didn't want to get her sick. And, naturally, at two, she couldn't understand why I wouldn't pick her up, come over to play, or let her in my house. She would come over and plop down on my welcome mat outside my screen door, playing and carrying on a monologue more to herself than to me, but including me when I looked her way. *melt*

After a week in more or less isolation, the virus is practically over and I'm able to interact more with others. Last night, I had two fellow expats over for dinner. We'd just finished when I heard the pattering of little feet running towards my door and heard little person knocking. Opening the door, little Gracie looked up at me with wide eyes and a huge smile, flinging her arms open for me to pick her up. *melt* I did, and she wrapped her little arms around me in a hug and squeezed. *melt* Her papa was standing across the hall on their porch and said she'd been wanting to see me and he'd given her permission.

She stayed for a little while, snuggling on my lap while my company and I played a card game. Half hour later, she let me scoop her up and take her home, content with finally having some visit time. Ahh... she just melts my heart.

ups. downs. and all.

"The pathway to holiness is located right where you are. In those circumstances, those relationships, in that tiredness, in that challenge. The grace of God to make you holy is right there." Amen.

simply because He is WORTHY

I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be on my mouth.

My soul will make its boast in the LORD;

The humble will hear it and rejoice.

O magnify the LORD with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

Psalm 34:1-3, NASB

Lord...turn me all into love, and all my love into obedience, and may my obedience be without interruption. (Jeremy Taylor)

this is my life...

Thursday -- wake up to my light still on because I fell asleep in my book the night before! Crazy day at the office where I manage to get a lot done, but none of what I had planned to get done!

Friday -- wake up to hot water coming out of my shower which NEVER happens in the morning! a beautiful start. spend the day in town running errands and meeting up with a friend from the States who happens to be in town. then get stuck in Nairobi traffic for the ENTIRE afternoon/evening... make a few wrong turns... wind up home 6 hours later with a headache and none of the items I was supposed to pick up during my errands.

Saturday -- wake up early to get help in donning an Indian saree for a Kenyan colleague's sister's wedding. It takes a good 35 minutes to get it "just so" with lots of tying, tucking, pinning, and smoothing. Whew! Arrive an hour early at the wedding because of practically no traffic! Enjoy a beautiful ceremony and make new friends. Get home in time to cook the evening away with my Indian friends for our safari trip the following day.

Sunday -- wake up at 5 and leave at 6 for Nakuru National Park -- a team safari trip today!!! With a 3+ hour drive, we pray, worship, have a Bible story, eat breakfast, take pictures, and visit -- all in sign language, mind you. ;) Get to see the Rift Valley, which runs from Egypt to South Africa. At the National Park, we drive through and saw rhino, buffalo, flamingos, pelicans, impala, gazelle, cranes, giraffe, baboons, monkeys, and a lion!!! The safari is a blast, and we find joy in teasing one another with, "Look! Look! Over THERE! ... just kidding! Made you look!" Fun.

Monday -- wake up late because... it's Jamhuri Day! Which means a holiday! Spent the morning cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, and catching up from a fun, full weekend. Make a store run with a fellow expat and we decide on the way to stop and see the new Rapunzel movie "Tangled," which is cute. We shop and arrive back in time for me to catch dinner with the team. It's Indian food... and delicious, as always.

Tuesday -- wake up at 5:30 and reluctantly roll out of bed to heat water for a bucket bath. Thankful for the quiet hours of this morning to regroup. Thankful for the crazy, fun, full last few days and buckle down to finish up all my projects this week. The office closes on Friday for the holidays and there is much to do!!! Already planning next weekend and a "Stone soup" dinner. I'll keep you posted. ;)

Bagels

Just attempted these for the very first time... So good, so EASY!

And yes... one is partially eaten, because I had to make sure it was really good enough to post the recipe for you all. ;) Don't worry... it is!!! =p


Randi’s Bagels:  Makes about 6. 

Measure 3 cups high gluten flour (or 2 ½ cups flour and ½ cup gluten -- OR just use regular flour)

1 ½ tsp salt

A little less than ¼ cup sugar

1 level tsp plus 1 heaping tsp yeast

1 ¼ cup luke warm water

Add 2 cups of the flour to a bowl (set the 3^rd heaping cup aside), add salt, sugar, and yeast to bowl.  Add your variations now *See below* Add 1 ¼ cup luke warm water.  Mix in a mixer with a bread hook – dough will be moist.  Add the 3^rd cup of flour now.  Add more flour if needed until the dough is not sticky.  It should pull of the side of the bowl.  (Note: When you add wet variations like apples or jalapeños you will have to add more flour.)  The dough should be a small ball. Spray or oil a bowl and place dough in bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel.  Let rise for approx 20-40 min.

Put water on to heat in a large pan – it does not need to boil, just get it heating up. Remove dough from bowl and flatten dough long wise just a little into a log like shape.  Cut dough into 6 pieces. Form into balls with the edges pinched on the bottom, flatten the balls a bit and form a hole in the middle.  Put your middle and ring fingers of both hands through the hole and pull it round and round.  Drop the bagels in a pan of hot water.  Pull the holds open again as you place each one in the water.  Leave them about 30-60 seconds on one side and turn them over for another 30-60 seconds.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon or spatula.  Place on a paper towel to drain or let drip through the slotted spoon. Move bagels to baking pan.  Add a sprinkle of cheese on top if you are making cheesy bagels.  Bake 16 min at 445 degrees F.  You might want to turn the tray around after 8 min.  Bagels without the cheese may not need to bake the full 16 min.  

Variations for bagels –

Jalapeño Cheese Bagels:

1 handful grated Swiss cheese (or other cheese)

1 heaping tsp crushed red peppers

¼ cup heaping jalapeños, chopped

Jalapeño/Sundried tomatoes Herb Bagels:

½ of a ¼ cup heaping jalapeños, chopped

½ of a ¼ cup heaping sun dried tomatoes

½ to 1 tsp herbs such as basil, sage and or thyme

Cinnamon & Raisin:

½ cup raisins

1 ½ tsp cinnamon, or more

½ tsp nutmeg, or more

Some extra sugar

Sundried Herb:

¼ cup heaping sun dried tomatoes

½ to 1 tsp herbs such as basil, sage and or thyme

Cranberry Orange:

½ cup dried cranberries

2 Tbsp orange peel mixture (Chop ½ of an orange peel and a little sugar)

Apple & Cheddar:

1 large handful of cheddar cheese

½ an apple chopped

Uno!! The card game of choice...

We like to pass our "downtime" in a variety of ways here at the DOOR Centre. =) Some of these activities include chess, cricket, badminton, football (soccer), or volleyball. But, when we discovered a couple boxes of Uno in the stash of games last week, we decided it was time to try something new. After a couple "quick 'n' dirty" trial runs with explanations, this game has caught on like wildfire!! My colleagues love it! I never realized how visual this game is, making it the perfect Deaf card game. =) What a great, competitive way to pass the evening. When's the last time you played Uno?

They need Coffee!?

Check out the latest newsletter from DOOR here: http://www.doorinternational.com/news/coffee and read stories from our Tanzania community checking trip! I know many of you were covering this trip in prayer. Here are just a small handful of the results.

The Best Refrigerator Bread Dough

1 Package Active Dry Yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 1/2 Cups warm water (105 - 115 degrees)

2/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 cup lukewarm mashed potatoes (or mashed sweet potatoes)

7 - 7 1/2 cups flour, or enough to make a smooth dough

Knead 5 minutes, refrigerate 8 hours, use within 10 days. To use - take out of refrigerator and shape into whatever you're wanting to make. Let rise in a warm place for an hour or until doubled. Bake. Enjoy!

One recipe worth of dough can be used to make any of the following:

• 3 batches of crescent rolls (400 degrees for 10-12 minutes)
• 2 loaves of bread (375 degrees for 25-30 minutes)
• 2-3 dozen dinner rolls (375 degrees for 15 minutes)
• 2 - 9x13 pans of monkey bread (350 degrees for 25 minutes)
• 3 pizza crusts (400 degrees for 12-15 minutes)
• or whatever else you desire!

snapshots of my (new) life

I no longer find it strange or unusual to...

• see warthogs or baboons alongside the road on the way to the store
• live without a hot water heater, microwave, or coffee-maker
• sleep under a mosquito net
• have the electricity go out at least once a day
• pray with my eyes open
• drink shelf-safe milk from a box
• answer to "Auntie Bethany," "Bethany Auntie," "Sister B," or "Miss B"
• worship God in another language
• always carry my own toilet paper with me
• be the only white face in the group
• eat with my hands. or a spoon. but almost never a fork and knife.
• have every meal end with toothpicks
• have someone walk right into my house after knocking once
• take my shoes off before going into the house (makes it easy to figure out which apartment fellowship is at each night, though! ;))
• drink chai 3-5 times a day
• spend most of the day without using my voice, yet still having many good, deep conversations

I'm still getting used to...

• shaking hands with my friends in greeting, rather than hugging them
• every trip anywhere feeling like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland
• ugali & instant Nescafe coffee
• plugging something into the electrical socket and then remembering to turn the socket on
• preparing for "the holidays" when there's nothing around me signifying it and the weather is more like summer
• roads being "tarmacked," wearing "trousers," using "serviettes," and "topping up" my cell phone
• not having the freedom to go anywhere, anytime, by myself
• seeing another white person and thinking they are either a European, Aussie, or Kiwi, and not automatically assuming they're American
• being asked, "Do you know _____?" Saying I don't. And then getting, "But s/he lives in America!?!"
• constantly having absolute strangers vie for my attention and a greeting
• having an audience gather whenever I want to cook something, because everyone wants to watch and learn

I love...

• seeing Jesus in men and women from completely different backgrounds and places, and finding the fruit of the Spirit in their lives
• that worship automatically means drums (and, often, dancing)
• being surrounded with family in every shade of brown and tan
• eating Kenyan and Indian food
• watching my Deaf brothers and sisters pour out their hearts in prayer and praise to the Lord
• seeing the sincerity in their faces when they share their burden for the Deaf who don't know Christ
• being invited and welcomed into their lives
• being absolutely confident and peacefully content, knowing I'm exactly where He wants me
• that He allows us to join Him in His eternal purposes

And I love that I could take this picture on my way home from a Masai Church a few weeks ago

bread-making

Baking here in Nairobi, which is over a mile in altitude, is quite the adventure for this American girl. Last week, I made my first batch of "cake mix cookies" (which went over well!!) in my propane, timer-controlled (energy-saving?), Celcius oven. 204 degrees anyone? It really doesn't matter that everything is on the metric system here, as I don't own any measuring cups/spoons anyways. ;)

But what's even more of an adventure? Combining all the above factors in a yeast-bread-making lesson for a small group of Deaf people in a sign language you're still learning!! ;) But, what fun and laughter! =) Some days I can't believe I get to live the life I do. Thank you, Jesus!!

24 x 7 = 2025

I may not be good at math, but this is an equation that makes sense to me.

Pray24x7.Vision2025

  

Taxes in October...

Our little Grants Pass Deaf Church made history, of sorts, on Saturday night. :) As a two-year-old Church, they held their first ever commissioning service. My Deaf pastor shared his excitement before we began... in 30 years of ministry (as a pastor and a missionary himself), he'd never seen a Deaf church perform a commissioning service. It's just very rare. :) Such a special evening and a privilege to be sent out as one of their own! Beautiful people. Family. I will miss them greatly.

The hours flee and my departure date nears... Oct. 8, 2010. Two years ago "Fall of 2010" felt forever away--an arbitrary time frame pulled out of the sky. I had plenty of time, and much to learn/do. Now... it's here. With a ticket in my hand. And suitcases to pack. The phone rings from time to time - another familiar voice, another goodbye. Goodbye comfortable, familiar normalcy. Hello Africa and the unfamiliar, new, and different.

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.   Psalm 139:1-10, NASB

It's moments like these I hear His reminders... in any unknown and all uncertainty... it is the known I can cling to and be absolutely certain of--HIS PERFECT LOVE. HIS provision. HIS grace. HIS strength and peace. HIS unchanging faithfulness and sovereignty. This story isn't mine... it's that of a King, a Kingdom, and a Love I have yet to fully grasp.

So, I sit here, preparing my tax deductions and paperwork for next spring... because that's what's in front of me this afternoon. What's in front of you?

SeedLinks Article & Pictures

Check out the May 2010 SeedLinks online magazine articles about Kenyan & Indian Sign Language Translation work here: http://www.theseedcompany.org/files/media/seedlinks/may-10/default.html
Also, pictures here: http://www.theseedcompany.org/cocosphotos
Enjoy!

delinquent

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet... though it might seem as such. I've just been spread far too thin to be able to post regular updates. Even this isn't going to be a "real update." But, fortunately, all of you whom are partners in ministry have received my monthly newsletters still. If you have not, leave a comment and I'll pass it on. These give a brief glimpse into life at SIL-UND... and just a few of the multitudious things that take up my every waking moment. :) Enjoy!

P.S. - I have been receiving several comments a week (in Chinese) from people I do not know. I've been deleting them whenever I sign on. Please don't follow the links, as some lead to perverse sites. I apologize for this, but have not yet found how to block them.

P.P.S. - And here's an interesting article on how Language influences Culture - if you're nerdy and interested. :) Lost in Translation

Ready our hearts to carry Your Love!

We are called out; we are ransomed
We are not of the world we're in
We are chosen; we are blessed
To bring light to the lives of men

So Father sow your seed
Give us life in community
Wake us from our sleep
This is Your time; this is Your place
And we are vessels for breaking

Under Your grace, we are led by Your Spirit
You have redeemed us by the blood of Your Son
Send down Your Word; we are eager to hear it
Ready our hearts to carry Your love
 
You are sunlight; You are morning
You're the hope of a brand new day
You are comfort; You are blessing
And You wipe all our tears away

So change us from within
Render miracles from our sin
Remind us once again
This is Your time; this is Your place
We are vessels for breaking

Under Your grace, we are led by Your Spirit
You have redeemed us by the blood of Your Son
Send down Your Word; we are eager to hear it
Ready our hearts to carry Your love

~Caedmon's Call, "Carry Your Love" 

oh, the drama...

We've had some excitement the last week, I'd say.

First, I've almost completely finished the lecture for one of my classes... THAT, my friends, is what we call "front-loading" a course. The first two weeks of a nine week summer intensive... lecture = finished. Now all that awaits are my labs, due July 2nd, and one credit will be behind me. =)

Wednesday, I celebrated a quarter of a century of life. Thank you to those of you who sent cards, called, texted, or emailed. =)

Thursday, during my very last class of the day: Ethnographic Methods, the tornado sirens went off and we all stepped outside our "basement level" classroom and congregated in the hallway where we finished up the lecture. An hour and a half later, we were given the all-clear and walked to supper under a beautiful, clear blue, cloudless sky. North Dakota weather = odd & spastic.

Friday evening we put on the returning students' "Skit Night" which was themed after High School Musical and re-written with ridiculously nerdy linguistic-y words. If I hadn't been in the final scene, I'd have video-ed it for ya'll to enjoy... alas. But fun.

Thank you all for your prayers, little notes here and there, and encouragement! The stress level is surprisingly low despite a busy schedule. I'm thankful.

Enjoying Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest" devotional lately... longing for a steadfast heart and a calm, confident spirit. Feeling His arms around, even in my weakness and insufficiencies. His constant love is a beautiful thing.

Hello, Summer

I'm here! Pulling onto the University of North Dakota campus last night and seeing a bunch of familiar faces from last year felt like Deja Vu! Fun. I'm getting settled in and awaiting my roomie's arrival! Thrilled to see some friends from last year and others who I knew from other places.

Tomorrow, the adventure begins at 8:30am with Orientation & Registration. =) Please pray for strength & complete trust/dependence in my walk with the Lord. I'm excited to be here, but bracing myself for the intensity of last year. Pray I will let go, relax, and let Him do it all in and through me, as I rest in Him. I want this to be a defining time in my relationship with Christ, of growing, trusting, and leaning into Him in the pressures of life. I want to come away with my heart further entwined with His... and my love for Him, deeper.

My prayer for the summer... Lord, bring this verse to LIFE is us and make us each to walk in it's reality DAILY, by Your undeserved grace upon grace!
"I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader of anything else--not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself." (Ephesians 1:19-23, NLT)

a day from the (home) office

Steaming mug of green chai tea on my left... uplifting tunes pumping through my headphones via pandora... staring out the window over my laptop screen... and spending the day catching up on email correspondence,  organizing, and record-keeping after a weekend up in Lincoln City, along the northern Oregon coast. Beautiful.

Struggling to maintain an eternal perspective lately, as the ever-growing "to do" lists loom menacingly. Lord, change this Type A heart! Would covet prayers for focus and keeping Jesus my ONE priority, allowing His Spirit and Truth to reign in each moment, while still being faithful in the daily things that need to be seen to.

Reading in John lately... back to the basics. =) Also, praising Jesus for 17 new prayer partners from sharing times this last week! Looking ahead to SIL-UND and resolving to make this week a lighter one, work-wise, in preparation for the upcoming 9 weeks of insanity. =)

And... with that... back to my day of relaxed office-work.

How do you say "Amen"?

I'm sorry, but there are no captions for the "signing impaired" on this video. BUT...you can skip forward to 1:09 minutes in and watch Deaf believers from a smattering of different countries show you where they're from and how they sign "Amen!" Very cool. Enjoy!

Did YOU know...?

... that there are 2000 languages around the world that STILL don't have the Bible? Most people don't. These three men want to change that.

Vision

"Vision is seeing what everyone sees, thinking what no one else thinks, and doing what no one else does." 

"If your vision doesn't scare you, then both your vision and your God are too small."

~Brother Andrew

WordAlive! Magazine (Summer 2009)

 

Click on the magazine to read excerpts. 

Videos!

Note the news videos now posted in my quick links section.
Informational & Inspiring! Check them out!

transparency

I've begun listening to a sermon series called "Radical: What the Gospel Demands" by a Pastor David Platt in Alabama. Good, challenging messages from Luke 14:25-35 on hearing the demands of discipleship, counting the cost, and responding to Jesus' terms.

It's Luke 14:28a that resounds in my head, "But don’t begin until you count the cost...." with the stories of the builder who didn't first stop and think of what it would cost and the king who went out against an enemy force without first assessing the strength of his army.

So I headed into this week with these truths simmering in the back of my mind, along with similar passages of Scripture. I'm on a Partnership Development stint in Northern California, and it's been great re-connecting with old friends and acquaintances. But inevitably, time marches on... we head varying directions in life and friendships grow, change, or fade. This is simply life and rarely, if ever, bothers me.

This time it's different.

And Praise God it is so, because the reality of my moving overseas is finally starting to sink in. And, friends, I'm just beginning to realize, and feel, that it will have a cost.

For years, I've loved David Livingstone's quote:
"Lord, send me anywhere, but go with me;
Lay any burden on me, only sustain me;
Sever any tie, but the tie that binds me to Thyself."

Yet, two nights ago, as I was blindsided by the realization that I'm leaving, that my friends and family will go on with their lives, milestones and big life changes will happen, and things will be different when I come back... I could not find any corner of my heart that could pray that last line and truly mean it.

Immediately, the Lord brought comfort in the form of Luke 18:28-30 -
Peter said, "Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You."
And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much as this time and, in the age to come, eternal life."

Still.

It comes back to a lesson He is ever, patiently, weaving around my soul. Of loving. and letting go. yet loving still. and refusing to not love because it will mean grief/hurt/pain/separation. It is a natural human tendency to react and pull away from pain - God's physically designed us that way. So it is counter-intuitive, in a way, but it is the reality of His Love and the Cross.

So... when everything in me wants to pull back, protect myself, and put up a wall around my emotions, He says: "No. Love more. Love deeper. Be vulnerable and transparent." I have no excuses left, over the cost, when He silently points to the Cross.

hard to grasp this in theory. even HARDER to walk out.

But Galatians 2:20 says, "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

there really is nothing else to say. it's not my life, my heart, my decision. It's His. I am His.

As I sat down to type this, Kutless's "I'm Still Yours" started on my playlist on here:
"If all my world was swept away, would You be enough for me? Would my beating heart still sing? If I lost it all, would my hands stay lifted to the God who gives and takes away? If You take it all, this life you've given... still my heart will sing to You. ...I'm still Yours."

He was, is, and always will be, Worth any cost.

... well, she's willing ...

"I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China. I don’t know who it was. It must have been a man—a well–educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing. And God looked down… and saw Gladys Aylward. And God said, ‘Well, she’s willing.’" – Gladys Aylward

እወድሻለሁ

Yesterday, I wrote to my sponsored child in Ethiopia. My college roomie and I started sponsoring precious, little Karot in 2003. She's now a beautiful young woman who's just entering her teens. In closing the letter, I googled how to say "I love you" in her language, Amharic: እወድሻለሁ

This has really made me stop and think about Bible Translation in a new way. Imagine never hearing your sweetheart say "I love you" in your language. He/She might say "Ik hou van jou" or "te iubesc" or "j'taime" or hold up the "ILY" handshape. But imagine never, ever, having him/her say "I love you" in the language of your heart. Not once.

The Bible is one of the primary means by which God communicates His love to us, from His heart to our hearts. But today, 350 million people, representing 2,252 minority languages, have never heard God say "I love you" in their language because they have never read a Bible in the language that speaks to their soul.

"In my country, the English language is widely known and used. But when a young man wants to say 'I love you,' he says it in the local dialect, not in English, because it is his soul speaking to her soul." -Nokano Speaker (Philippines)

God can use any skill

(Mute my music player for best viewing.)

"The greatest missionary...

...is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner." 

- William Cameron Townsend

Dedication Celebrations!!!

Praise Jesus!

This month, 32 Sign Language Bible Stories will be dedicated in...
... Kenyan Sign Language. January 16-17, 2010.
... Kerala (India) Sign Language. January 30-31, 2010.

The spiritual battle is underway. Please pray for protection over all those gathering for these celebrations, and for His Word and Truth to penetrate hearts of those who will be "hearing" it in their heart language for the first time!!

"So the Word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing." (Acts. 19:20)

TIU 2010 in pictures

Roadtrip!!









 Language & Linguistics = Scrabble ;)

A beautiful view in Kent, WA

Linguistics Classes!

 Monolingual Demonstration

 Simulations

Learning Tok Pisin (the national trade language of Papua New Guinea)

Hearing stories

Ethnic Food!

Bonding time

Being inspired...

... blessed and encouraged by dear friends

And with that we say: "CHEESE!" ;)






Driving home to Keith Green, this chorus stood out among the rest and is my prayer for the week:

"I want to take Your Word and shine it all around
       But first help me just live it, Lord.
And if I'm doing well, help me to never make a sound,
      Except to give all the glory to You."

                                  ~Keith Green ("O Lord, You're Beautiful")