Palawanos

Fire & Ice

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Tomorrow, Bill is heading to our training center in Missouri where they teach our missionaries how to learn the language and culture of Unreached People Groups. He will take 3 days to update the staff there on the latest version of the CLA (Culture/Language Acquisition) program his team is developing.

He’ll also be meeting with a missionary who will be joining his CLA Development team full-time. We’re thankful for how this will enhance and speed up the project.

Fire

Taal volcano erupting
Taal Volcano

The Taal volcano in the Philippines is erupting. It is near where we studied Tagalog in Lipa City in 1982, so several of our former teachers live still in the area.

Two Palawano young people, a brother and sister named Risyal (“Resh”) and Melanie, are currently attending a Bible institute just outside the 11 mile “danger zone.” They are close, but safe, although they and their classmates are constantly having to clean up ash and concrete-like wet ash on their campus. Their school is also serving as a relief center, collecting and delivering clothing, water and hygiene kits to those who have been affected by the volcano.

We’re proud of them, and thankful to the Lord that he has them there, and for how he is using them to help others in His Name.

Pray for the safety of Resh, Melanie and their classmates. And pray for the relief efforts of their school.

Ice

Winter Storms

This morning, as the latest winter storm hits the US, American Airlines notified Bill that his flight plans might be “affected” because of ice and wind tomorrow. They are offering free flight rescheduling. That’s nice of them! But changing his arrival date will mess up several of his planned meetings. So we’re going to push ahead and ask the Lord to keep the skies clear in Springfield, MO!

Please pray with us to safe and unhindered travel tomorrow!

Coming Soon!

Be on the lookout for our next update. Bill just received the first trial version of the new CLA App! He’s testing it out and looking forward to giving a report.

What Are We Doing Lately? Lots…

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THE  PALAWANOS  NEED  MORE  TEACHING…

   …WE’RE  HELPING  WITH  THAT

WE’RE STILL INVOLVED WITH THE PALAWANOS

  • Ongoing ministry after 33 years of ministering to the Palawanos and translating the New Testament for them
  • Recently put the Southwestern Palawano New Testament (written and audio) into an Android app
  • Annual trips to Palawan for Bible teaching seminars to supplement our partners’ teaching
  • Working with our missionaries who are mentoring the youth: Bible study materials and online discipling
  • Helping missionaries learn Central Palawano and put our New Testament into that related language

 

 THE  WORLD  NEEDS  MORE  MISSIONARIES…

   …WE’RE  TRAINING  THEM

WE’RE TRAINING A RADICAL NEW GENERATION OF MISSIONARIES

  • Teaching language learning and Bible translation at Radius across the border – come along sometime!
  • These are young people who want to go to all the hard places to reach the Unreached
  • Serving as a language learning consultant for them as they get out on the field

 

MISSIONARIES  NEED  LANGUAGE  FLUENCY…

   …WE’RE  HELPING  THEM

WE’RE HELPING MISSIONARY LANGUAGE LEARNERS—AND THOSE WHO HELP THEM

  • Developing the DIY language learning materials all our missionaries around the world will use to be able to communicate the Gospel clearly and to disciple the Unreached
  • Teaching and leading language coach workshops in the USA, Thailand, Latin America, and more to come…
  • Doing online language coaching via Skype

 

NON-WESTERN  MISSIONARIES  NEED  TRAINING,  TOO…

   …WE’RE  PROVIDING  CULTURE-SPECIFIC  TRAINING

WE’RE WORKING TO DEVELOP THE TRAINING FOR NON-WESTERN MISSIONARIES WORLDWIDE

  • SE Asians including Filipinos, Chinese and Indians, etc., want to reach the Unreached
  • Two recent trips to Asia Pacific to help local believers reaching other tribes
  • An upcoming trip to South Asia to help our missionaries to begin training local Christians as missionaries

 

THE  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA  IS  REACHING  THE  UNREACHED…

   …WE’RE  TRAINING  THEM

WE’RE HELPING CHURCHES REACH UNREACHED PEOPLES… RIGHT IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

  • Training language learners so an immigrant Unreached People Group can be reached in their heart language

 

WE  NEED  HELP  TO  KEEP  GOING…

   …OUR  PARTNERSHIP  TEAM  IS  STANDING  WITH  US

WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!

  • One upcoming ministry event is our November trip to Thailand and South Asia to train missionary language learners and consultants
  • International and in-country tickets needed for Donna (Bill’s tickets already covered)
  • Conference expenses already provided—praise the Lord with us!

Full Circle

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Another Palawano Translation?

Yes. Did you know there are THREE Palawano people groups on Palawan? Three related-but-distinct Palawano languages? It’s true. For security reasons, let’s call them Palawano 1, Palawano 2, and Palawano 3.

We did the translation for Palawano 1. Some friends with Wycliffe Bible Translators did a translation for Palawano 2. But Palawano 3 needs a New Testament translation. Actually, they have one–it’s 50 years old and no one can understand it, which is sad.

Another Palawano Translation!

Yes! We’re not going to do this translation. But we’ll be helping those who will.

Some missionaries have moved in among that third Palawano group. Graeme and Rachel are learning the language, and they plan to organize a translation team of native speakers and missionaries. The plan is to adapt our Palawano 1 translation into Palawano 3, and then check it and revise it so that it communicates really well.

We’re excited about this for two reasons: First and foremost, those Palawanos will finally have God’s Word in an understandable form. But secondly, we’re very happy to see all the effort that went into our translation have a wider impact.

Helping Translators Learn Language

In a recent post Then and Now, we talked about how our ministry has shifted to an international focus, and we explained how we are no longer involved full-time with the Palawano work. But we know we’ll never be 100% done with the Palawanos. Lord willing, we plan to return from time to time to do teaching from our translation as we did last February. In the past year we put the New Testament into a mobile phone app, and we are developing Bible teaching materials for the youth.

But… we’re “all about language learning” now, right?

True. And now our new ministry of helping missionaries with language learning has circled right back to Palawan. Bill is helping Graeme and Rachel as they study that Palawano 3. “Our” Palawano 1 is similar enough that Bill can explain things to them about the grammar and vocabulary, and it is helpful. Bill is pretty familiar with Palawano 3, as well. And this is Graeme and Rachel’s third Philippine language, so they are making fast progress.

Once translation begins, the plan is that Bill will help as a translation consultant.

Pray with us that language learning would progress well, and that the new translation team will be able to start soon. Pray for Bill as he helps Graeme and Rachel with the Palawano 3 language.

And for all who had a part in seeing our translation completed for Palawano 1, rejoice with us about the added fruit of seeing God’s Word more easily put into another Palawano language.

God’s Word is life. It’s eternal. Nothing matters more than getting his Word into people’s Heart Languages.

Partnering together, we can get this done for his Glory!

 

 

Image credit: Palawan mother and child. Photo by Norm Rice, former missionary to the Palawanos.

There’s an App for That!

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Phone app

From Blow Guns to Smart Phones

The world has changed a lot in the last 33 years, and so have the Palawanos:

1983… When we first moved in among the Palawano people, many of the older men still wore g-strings; few people could read; only two of the women spoke any language but Palawano.

2012… At the dedication of the Palawano New Testament translation, one of our translation helpers was shooting video of us with her smart phone.

The Palawano New Testament is Now an Android app

For years we labored to see the Word of God in the Palawano language… in print. But we could never have foreseen this…

Yes, thanks to the efforts of a tech-savvy missionary in another mission, the Palawanos can Androidnow read their New Testament–and listen to the audio version–on their phones.

Many Palawanos now have very inexpensive Chinese-made Android smart phones. They don’t have internet, and can’t afford to make many phone calls. They mostly use them for texting and taking pictures. But now they can use their phones to grow in their faith.

The app features…

  • SEARCH… so the Palawanos now have the an instant concordance in their pocket.
  • AUDIO… the recorded version of the New Testament can be played from the app.
  • HIGHLIGHTING… each verse is highlighted as the audio plays–this will be a huge help to new readers as they follow along while listening.

BluetoothWe’re very excited as this app gets launched. Palawanos can copy it from phone to phone using bluetooth (yes, they know about “bloo toot”) so the app can spread upriver and downriver, far beyond the reach of any missionary. Even curious unbelievers might get the app and be exposed to the truth of God’s Word.

Join us!

Now we are turning most of our attention to the thousands of yet-unreached people groups around the world, providing training for missionaries from non-Western nations so they can reach others.

Partner with us so that many other peoples can have the Word of God in their hands…

…and on their phones!