Will You Give Jesus the Hard Things?

As Christmas time approaches, we sit down again with our children to share the Christmas story with one another. Our boys have often heard this story, so sometimes I am challenged to help them see the story with fresh eyes and real application.

As we opened our advent calendar one day, and watched an accompanying clip of the movie, "The Nativity," related to the wise men bringing gifts, we began talking about why we give gifts at Christmas. One of our boys, ever supplying the Sunday School answer, said, "Dad, we already know this! The wise men brought gifts, so we give gifts. And Jesus was the greatest gift of all."

I answered, "That's true, but the wise men weren't the only ones to bring gifts. Think of Mary. What did she give? Well, she gave God her body to carry Jesus for nine months and give birth to him, all in a culture where being pregnant out of wedlock could mean your death. That must have been a hard gift to bring to God. Or think of Joseph. What did he give? He willingly brought Mary into his home as his wife, protecting her, and brought her over 100 miles during the census right before Jesus was to be born. That had to be hard, too."

Then I asked them, "What hard gifts have we been challenged to bring to God over this past year?" As many of you know, this year has been a big year of transition for us, and that's meant giving up many things. The boys sat back and thought for a bit. Then things began to come out: giving up our dog; moving to a new place; losing contact with some friends. We took some time to write those things on slips of paper and put them in a gold-wrapped box under the tree that represents our gift to Jesus. All of these are things that we gave to God as we wanted to obey him. But just like Mary and Joseph's gifts, God takes our hard gifts and uses them in amazing ways for His Kingdom. That doesn't make them suddenly easy gifts to give, but that makes them worth giving. Because He's worth it all.

What gift have you given God this year? Has it been hard? Here's to seeing God as worth of all we have this Christmas, and recommitting to surrendering all to him.

O come, let us adore him

O come, let us adore him

O come, let us adore him

Christ the Lord!

How Would You Translate...

To help people understand some of the intricacies of translation, we're going to give some actual examples of issues that sometimes come up in translating Scripture. Take a look and think about how you might deal with these issues!

Suppose you were working with a people group to translate the parable of the wise and foolish builders in Matt. 7:24-27. In that story, Jesus describes how when we put his words into practice, we are like a wise man who builds his house upon the rock; the rains may come, but they will not wash away the house because it is on a strong foundation. But if we ignore Jesus' words, we're like a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand; our lives are easily swept away.

However, when this people group comes to translating this passage, they get confused. "We don't understand what Jesus means here," they say. You inquire further, and you find out that in their area, the river often rises during flood season, and many houses are in danger of being washed away. In fact, if you just build your house on a rock surface, it will typically get washed away when the floods come. So what do these people do to keep their houses secure? They build them on the sand instead! The sand allows them to bury poles down deep, and these poles form the foundational structure for the house. When the floods come up, the houses set on these poles don't get washed away. (I have seen houses in the Florida area like this.)

So how do you translate Matt. 7:24-27 for these people? What would you do? Comment below with your thoughts, and I'll tell about the solution that one translation team came up with in a future post.

They Need God's Word AND Training

What does it take to reach the next generation for Christ? In the case of the Deaf in Kenya, it takes both access to God's Word in Kenyan Sign Language AND leaders who are trained in how to use it to train others.

In Kenya, DOOR has been training local Deaf leaders once every six months in how to use God's Word in Kenyan Sign Language to train and equip others. See how this training has equipped one local Deaf man to impact a generation in his area Kenyan Deaf school:

"Two years ago one of the hearing teachers at the Deaf school approached me. He wanted me to share God's Word with the Deaf children every week. As a local leader in a Deaf fellowship that meets in our church community, I accepted.

"As I began teaching, I immediately became aware of the challenge of teaching the Bible consistently to the children. I realized many of the children were struggling to recall and understand what I was teaching; this was mainly because I went back and forth teaching from different verses week after week.

"As the children struggled with my teaching style, I became increasingly frustrated with my lack of training in how to teach them. The opportunity was there for me to impact the children, but my lack of Deaf teaching resources, lack of equipping, coupled with my teaching style, was ruining the opportunity.

"Toward the end of last year, I met a Deaf man [trained by DOOR International's staff] who gave me Bible portions in Kenya Sign Language. Wow! That was the beginning of changes. I now had Deaf Bible resources in my hands to teach the children consistently.

"However, I still wasn't equipped to make the most of the Bible resources. In April 2014, [DOOR invited] Deaf leaders to train in my area, and I was so happy to learn how to use the Bible DVDs. When I went back to teach the Deaf children after the April training, I observed...

• increased interest among the Deaf children
• increased understanding... they were learning God's Word in a way that makes clear sense to them
• more questions from the children during teaching times
• increased ability to memorize Bible passages

I am so thankful for the Bible in Kenyan Sign Language AND the equipping I am receiving from the training."

What an impact! The combination of God's Word and training has allowed this Deaf man to have a consistent and lasting impact on the lives of many Deaf children hungry to know God and His Word.

These trainings continue to take place in Kenya every six months. Will you consider giving to support this work? Your donation not only impacts the lives of those trained, but equips them to raise up and equip many more leaders for the gospel.

Time in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

We just returned from a whirlwind trip to Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (with a layover in Japan)! It was an amazing time of ministry, connecting, planning, and seeing some amazing sites. DOOR is looking at starting translations in several significant Asian countries, and this trip was part of helping to establish those translations.

Here are a few highlights:

Our first stop was Thailand, where I attended a three-day conference hosted by SIL International. This was a great opportunity to connect with organizations like Wycliffe, SIL, etc., who are all involved in Bible translation work.

The campus was beautiful!

Jon found some friends while exploring the campus.

On the second day we got to see some authentic Thai dancing!

Following the meetings, Jon and I had the opportunity to visit the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

A portion of the army came marching through the palace while we were there.

Some beautiful architecture!

We also had the opportunity to go shopping at the Chatuchak Market!

Yum!

Enjoying real Ramen soup!

We then left Thailand and headed to Taiwan, stopping on the way in Hong Kong for the day. We spent less than 24 hours in the city, but thoroughly enjoyed getting to see a bit of the city!

We went up to the Victoria Peak that oversees the city.

Hong Kong's money has some interesting details!

Following Hong Kong, we arrived in Taipei, Taiwan to meet with APSDA (Asia Pacific Sign Language Development Association). DOOR hopes to work in coordination with APSDA to support sign language Bible translation and church planting/leadership development in many more Asian countries.

While there, we saw Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in Asia!

Spent a wonderful time meeting some amazing Asian Deaf leaders working in sign language translation.

We also enjoyed some great meals together!

Please pray with us as we seek to see millions more have access to God's Word in their heart language, sign language, and also see them understand how God has created them to in his image, empowered by his Spirit to serve the kingdom in amazing ways!

Translation Consultants and Prayer For Visa Approval

"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16)

Dear Friends, we stand at the cusp of sign language Bible translation. The technology to record, edit, and distribute these video translations has only really come into widespread and available use in the last ten years. What used to require stacks and stacks of VHS tapes can now be held on a small thumb drive and distributed via a mobile phone app.

Numbering over 72 million, Deaf people are one of the largest people groups who have not had access to Scripture in their heart language. As more countries become aware and passionate about seeing God's Word available to the Deaf in their sign language, translation projects spring up, projects in need of experts to teach them about the translation process, guide their translation work, and ultimately give final approval of their finished product. These experts are called translation consultants.

But because sign language Bible translation is so relatively new, there are only a handful of translation consultants in the world who have fluency in at least one sign language. And only two of them are Deaf! This fluency allows them to accurately check and assess sign language translations. With 400+ sign languages around the world, we need more such consultants!

If you're a hearing person, it's not hard to find a masters level program in Bible translation, linguistics, or theological studies. But if you are Deaf and struggle with spoken language, there is no formal program in the world that teaches (in sign language) the exegetical and linguistic principles a translation consultant must know well. How can we train Deaf men and women to serve their language communities as translation consultants?

DOOR's Intensive Deaf CIT Program

DOOR has developed a program for our Deaf consultants-in-training (CITs) which provides this background. Based on a curriculum from Serampore College developed for mother-tongue translators, DOOR's program has adapted this curriculum to a sign language format geared toward Deaf culture and information processing. This program begins mid-October of this year (2014) with a 6-month intensive training on DOOR's Kenya campus.

But we need your prayers! Of the participants slated to come, two of them are having visa issues in their home countries. These delays may take up to a month or more to resolve, and the program begins in just a few days. Please pray for these two men to receive their visas in the next few days, and for them to be able to complete the training with the other CITs.

Please also pray for all of the Deaf CITs involved in this training. This is an important step in getting them to a level in which they can give final approval on sign language translations. They are very excited to begin, but there is a lot of work ahead. Pray for encouragement, perseverance, wisdom, and funding.

We are confident we will soon see Deaf translation consultants leading the way in sign language Bible translation. As many of us like to say, "Deaf can do anything hearing people can do, except hear!"

Family Pictures of our Kenya Trip!

Rob, Mason, and Elliot took a trip to DOOR Africa's translation center in Nairobi, Kenya at the end of September! There Rob had a number of meetings with staff, assisted with preparation, and participated in the celebration of seven sign language translations! Click here to see more specifics of the celebration.

Excited to be on a plane trip! 

The Egyptian desert from the plane window! 

Finally arrived in Kenya (after 18 hours in the air)! 

Mason and Elliot attended a friend's birthday party. The theme: Minecraft! 

We attended a Deaf church in the area on Sunday. 

Here the speaker is signing the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4. 

We crossed a bridge almost out of an Indiana Jones movie! 

An image of Africa made of glass from a local glass factory. Where's Kenya? 

Crossing back over the bridge 

A birthday celebration on the campus in the cafeteria with the DOOR staff 

The BEGUT team celebrating their last team worship time together. 

A behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes on in the cafeteria kitchen! 

One of DOOR Africa's staff, Jared, during the sign language celebration! 

Enjoying a meal together! 

Part of the celebration involved a ceremony honoring the current president, Mike Buus, and his wife, Linda

 A trip to Nairobi is not complete without visiting the Giraffe Centre!

Saying goodbye to good friends!

September Celebration: God's Word Now Accessible to Millions!

On September 20, DOOR Africa's translation center celebrated an amazing accomplishment! The campus had seven language groups translating the Bible into their sign language: Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Kenya. All of these translations reach a pivotal milestone, and have collectively granted Scripture access to over 3 million Deaf people!

• Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania (together called "BEGUT") all completed the translation of 110 Bible stories in the series "Know God How?" (evangelism), "Follow God How?" (discipleship), and "Serve God How?" (church planting). This series of 110 stories give people groups a foundation by providing a survey of Scripture and highlighting key stories in that survey.
• Nigeria completed the translation of the first 32 of these Bible stories in the series "Know God How?"
• Kenya completed the development of translator and Bible study notes to accompany the 110 Bible stories in the three series above. These translator notes are incredibly important in assisting future translations; they describe exegetical and sign language linguistic issues in the texts, why certain passages were translated the way they were, etc.

The celebration was an emotional time for the BEGUT teams as well, as after the celebration they headed back to their own countries. They have told me that they will miss the environment of DOOR's Africa campus, where sign language is the primary language of communication, where they learned their value to the Kingdom as believers and as translators, and where they made such close bonds with other translation teams. Please pray for them as they get settled in their home countries again.

Click here to see some video highlights, too!

All seven teams celebrating with a song following the Scripture presentation

DOOR President Mike Buus being presented with one of the BEGUT translations

Board Chairman Clare De Graaf being presented with the Kenya DEEPs translator notes