Last night, we enjoyed eating and playing games with three of our Aussie colleagues. Among them, they have extensive experience in Bible translation in Australia, PNG, and the Philippines, and it's always fun to hear their stories. Plus, they make great adopted grandparents!
When today began, I knew I was going to be busy. In addition to teaching the kids, I needed to go shopping for Saturday's SITAG (Solomon Island Translation Advisory Group) Christmas party, wash some sheets, get the ingredients for supper into the slow cooker, and head to a meeting at 3 o'clock about securing some funding for the Sabers. I frequently tell the kids that God always gives us enough time to accomplish everything He has in store for us.
Just this morning, I had been praying that more Lavukal would come by SITAG so we could continue to build relationships with them and also continue to refine the Bible stories. As I was chopping pumpkin and thawing chicken belatedly in an attempt to get supper cooking before my meeting, a stranger approached the door and asked for Aaron. We visited on the porch, and I soon learned that he was from Losiolen (the village where Aaron most recently held a Translation Principles workshop) while I assured him that Aaron would be home any minute. I amazed him when I asked, "Laffi lomisa ngoliki?" (Do you want cold water?) The first time I meet anybody from the Russells, and they hear one of my very few memorized phrases, they are always flabergasted. It still makes me feel good, even though I know my Lavukaleve is incredibly limited.
Anyway, this man, whose name was also Aaron, showed GREAT interest in helping me revise the creation story. As the sun slowly sank and flooded the porch with light, he and I scooted farther and farther over to escape the heat, but he never wavered in tackling some of the hard issues. The Lavukal don't have a word for "animal", which created a problem when we were trying to craft the sixth day. So, Aaron from Losiolen came up with "mina tutula ovoloria la laketei ngoa" (which very roughly translates into all the things that God made that had life). Finally, my Aaron came home, and I went down to apologize for missing my meeting. When I came back up, the two Aarons were finishing their conversation, and I was shocked to hear Aaron from Losiolen ask me if he could finish the creation story! I was sure I had bored him to tears, but he really wanted to finish reading through the story. Whoohoo! He even expressed interest in coming and helping some more when we return to Marulaon.
Supper was very late tonight, but it has been a great day! I'm so thankful that God answers our prayers.
When today began, I knew I was going to be busy. In addition to teaching the kids, I needed to go shopping for Saturday's SITAG (Solomon Island Translation Advisory Group) Christmas party, wash some sheets, get the ingredients for supper into the slow cooker, and head to a meeting at 3 o'clock about securing some funding for the Sabers. I frequently tell the kids that God always gives us enough time to accomplish everything He has in store for us.
Just this morning, I had been praying that more Lavukal would come by SITAG so we could continue to build relationships with them and also continue to refine the Bible stories. As I was chopping pumpkin and thawing chicken belatedly in an attempt to get supper cooking before my meeting, a stranger approached the door and asked for Aaron. We visited on the porch, and I soon learned that he was from Losiolen (the village where Aaron most recently held a Translation Principles workshop) while I assured him that Aaron would be home any minute. I amazed him when I asked, "Laffi lomisa ngoliki?" (Do you want cold water?) The first time I meet anybody from the Russells, and they hear one of my very few memorized phrases, they are always flabergasted. It still makes me feel good, even though I know my Lavukaleve is incredibly limited.
Anyway, this man, whose name was also Aaron, showed GREAT interest in helping me revise the creation story. As the sun slowly sank and flooded the porch with light, he and I scooted farther and farther over to escape the heat, but he never wavered in tackling some of the hard issues. The Lavukal don't have a word for "animal", which created a problem when we were trying to craft the sixth day. So, Aaron from Losiolen came up with "mina tutula ovoloria la laketei ngoa" (which very roughly translates into all the things that God made that had life). Finally, my Aaron came home, and I went down to apologize for missing my meeting. When I came back up, the two Aarons were finishing their conversation, and I was shocked to hear Aaron from Losiolen ask me if he could finish the creation story! I was sure I had bored him to tears, but he really wanted to finish reading through the story. Whoohoo! He even expressed interest in coming and helping some more when we return to Marulaon.
Supper was very late tonight, but it has been a great day! I'm so thankful that God answers our prayers.
2 comments:
Oh that IS exciting! And good for you, for recognizing the opportunity in the interruption :D
Julie
Wow, Joanna!! God is so good!!
Blessings!
Deborah
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