Grammar: Boring or Fascinating?

One of the courses that we teach at the Missionary Training Center is grammar. In school, English grammar was never my favorite subject. In fact, I thought that it was rather boring. But now I find grammar fascinating as it relates to learning languages.

Recently, I read a letter from a missionary in Africa that demonstrates the importance of grammar.

Missionaries discovered that the verbs for a particular African language consistently end in one of three vowels, i, a, and u. But the word for 'love' was only found with i and a. Why no u?" they wondered.

In an effort to truly understand the concept of "love" in this African language, one of the missionaries began to question the translation team which included influential leaders in the community.

"Could you dvi your wife?"

"Yes," they answered, "that would mean that the wife had been loved, but the love was gone."

"Could you dva your wife?"

"Yes," they responded, "that kind of love depends on the wife's actions. She would be loved as long as she remained faithful and cared for her husband well."

"Could you dvu your wife?"

Everyone in the room laughed.

"Of course not!" they replied. "If you said that, you would have to keep loving your wife no matter what she did, even if she never got you water and never made you meals. Even if she committed adultery, you would have to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say dvu. It just doesn't exist."

The missionary sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, and then he asked, "Could God dvu people? There was complete silence for three or four minutes; then tears started trickling down the weathered faces of the elderly men of the tribe.

Finally they responded, "Do you know what this would mean? This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, while all that time we rejected His great love. He would be compelled to love us, even though we have sinned more than any people."

The missionary noted that changing one simple vowel changed the meaning from "I love you based on what you do and who you are," to "I love you, based on who I am. I love you because of me and not because of you."

God encoded the story of His unconditional love right into this African language. For centuries, the little word was there—unused but available, grammatically correct and quite understandable.

(Adapted from a letter titled One Little Vowel, published to staff of Wycliffe USA on 30 July 2012.)

It is amazing how languages work. When God confused the languages, He did a fantastic job. While some concepts are difficult to translate from one language to another, nevertheless it seems that God designed every unique language so that the message of the gospel could be communicated with all mankind. It is the job of the missionary to discover how that message can be communicated to the speakers of any given target language. And it is our job at the Missionary Training Center to prepare the next generation of missionaries to effectively communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to those who have never heard.

Bob

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"There is no reserve in God's love; he has given the best in heaven for the worst on earth, and in this way has rebuked distrust and established confidence. If we only want what God gives us we shall be perfectly happy. Nothing is of real value to us that we cannot take from our Father's hand and thank him for." — Selected

Does Anyone Notice?

Have you ever wondered if anyone ever notices the little things you do for others? I can guarantee you that someone does!

Matthew 25:37-40 says:

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?" And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."

Recently one of our missionary ladies had an interesting discussion with a tribal believer about this passage of scripture. After talking about these verses, her tribal friend said, "I think when God wrote that, He was thinking about me."

When asked why, the tribal lady said, "God really does know all things. He knew when He was on the ground that this time of judgment would come up and the Holy Spirit wrote it all down through Matthew to tell us about it. But, He also knew what we would think and say when we heard His thank you talk like that. As soon as you read those passages, I thought to myself, 'When did I ever see Jesus on this ground and do anything for him? He was here so long ago. Why does he talk like we did something for Him?' I thought like that and then you read the next verse that says that the righteous ones, they asked the same exact question and then the King explained it to them. And now, He has explained it to me, too, because we read it just now."

God continues to build and strengthen His church in Papua New Guinea. This tribal lady is just one example of what He is doing around the world.

Our King most definitely takes notice of the things you are doing for others. One day He will say, "Well, done good and faithful servant."

In the meantime, I too want to express my thanks for all those who pray for me, send me messages of encouragement and contribute financially to my ministry. I am truly blessed with a wonderful team partnering with me in this ministry. Many thanks to all those who are helping me in this ministry of preparing the next generation of missionaries to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

Bob

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"He Delights In Me"

Song of Solomon 7:10 "I am my beloved's and his desire is toward me." This, we may truly say , is the highest note in the Song of Songs; and yet, we may as truly say it is the lowest. Now the soul is done with itself, and entirely occupied with Christ. It expresses, we believe, the highest apprehension of Christ. "His desire is toward me" –He delights in me. Consequently, self is lost sight of. Grace has done its perfect work -the soul is established in grace. This is the perfection of beauty in the people of the Lord; and always that in which He delights…The bride is all beauty and perfection in His sight; she is clothed in the comeliness of grace. She knows this, and this is the perfect rest of her heart.

"His desire is toward me." Higher than this the soul never can rise… It is finding all in the love, the changeless love, of Christ. This must ever, and only, be the heart's deepest joy and sweetest peace. Oh! Happy state for a poor sinner saved by grace to be in, and to be in now! To find all its fresh springs in the love of Jesus!

To be able to say, "He knows me thoroughly; He knows what I am in myself, what I am in Him, yet nevertheless, He not only loves me, but delights in me." There is nothing beyond this…This ought to be the key-note of all our praise.

And should the song of His love ever become feeble on our lips? Surely it should become stronger and stronger as we near the bright realms of Glory, where the same Jesus, and the same love, shall be our happy song forever.

-A. Miller

The Principle of Discipleship in 2 Timothy 2:2

The Apostle Paul told Timothy, "the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:2)."

A number of years ago a church was planted among the Dinangat people of Papua New Guinea. Following the principle that Paul taught Timothy, Dinangat Bible teachers have learned how to reach their own people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Today they are laying the foundation to share the gospel with a neighboring village.

It took only one quick slash from a large machete. Suddenly the branch that moments before had been fastened to the tree for life and nourishment, was effectively dead because of its abrupt separation. Using that as an illustration, the Dinangat Bible teachers demonstrated the separation from God that took place when Adam and Eve sinned. When their neighbors saw that branch suddenly and permanently cut off, they were reminded that they were cut off from a holy and righteous God because of their sin. Even though the branch was still green and pliable, no one doubted that once it was separated from the tree, it was dead. The wilting branch was hung in the Dinangat teaching area as a reminder of the lesson on man's separation from God.

The power of that illustration has caused various members of the village to come to the Dinangat Bible teachers, troubled and burdened about their sin.

"I am just like that branch," one of them told the Bible teachers. "Because of my sin, I have been cut off from God. You say there is a promised Deliverer. Can you ask Him to somehow join me back to God?"

The Dinangat believers are excited to share the Good News about Jesus. They explain joyfully to these people that, as they come to hear teaching from God's Word, they will learn how to be joined back to God.

Please pray for this outreach among the Dinangat people. Pray that they will be drawn to the Lord and place their trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ! Pray also for the Dinangat Bible teachers as they teach the gospel to their neighbors.

Pray for us at the Missionary Training Center as we teach faithful men and women to take the gospel to unreached people groups.

Bob

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STORMS OF LIFE
John A. Owston

The problems of life have the potential of being either bane or blessing to us. Even though we may sometimes be like Habakkuk – not completely understanding God's purposes – difficulties can be the means of developing and maturing our faith. An untested faith may be genuine, but it can never be equal to a faith that has gone through the storms of life.

And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Taking the Gospel of the Risen Christ to Those Who Have Never Heard

The good news we bring to lost men and women is the gospel of the Risen Christ. There would be no gospel if Christ had not been raised from the dead. The apostle Paul wrote, "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:17)."

Years ago a liberal preacher in an Easter message said, "The body of Jesus still sleeps in a Syrian tomb, but His soul goes marching on." But that is not the gospel of our Risen Lord! We do not proclaim a message of a dead Christ, but of a living Christ who sits exalted at the Father's right hand. He lives to save all who put their trust in Him. He lives exalted at God's right hand, and He is "able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him (Heb. 7:25)." This is the message that we take to the ends of the earth.

A former student of mine works with the Dinangat people in Papua New Guinea. A number of months ago, he told of another tribal village who had heard the good news of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. The following are quotes from some of the new believers in that village.

Simon: "I am very happy. I have heard God's talk and I believe it."

Jerry: "I am a sin-man. But all the sins I have done before and all the sins I will do in the future, Jesus died for them. He showed us the road to Heaven. He died for my sins."

Michael: "I am going to Jesus. I am hanging onto Him alone."

Maikalus: "I used to follow another religious way for years, but now I have the gospel. Jesus died on the Cross for my sins and His blood ran down to the ground."

Not that long ago these people were steeped in animistic beliefs. They were in complete darkness and had no idea Who God is. Praise God that the message of a Risen Savior was brought to these precious people and that many turned to God's free gift of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Christianity Stands or Falls with the Bible

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16)

Christianity is based on a book. It centres in a Person. It expresses itself in a message. It authenticates itself in an experience.

That basic book is the Bible. That central Person is Jesus. That expressive message is the Gospel. That authenticating experience is the new birth.

Think here about that basic book. Christianity stands or falls with the Bible. It is no use saying, as the liberalists or modernists do, that so long as we have Jesus we do not need an infallibly inspired Bible.

Nay, all that we know authentically about the Lord Jesus we owe, and shall keep on owing, to the Bible. To say that so long as we have Jesus we do not need the Bible is about equal to saying that so long as we have the sunshine we don't need the sun.

I have said it many a time, and am surer of it than ever, that the life and death issue of Christianity is the inspiration and authority of the Bible.

If the Bible is uniquely and inerrantly inspired, then we have certainty; we may know real truth about God, about man, about origins, about morals, about the race's future, and about human destiny on the other side of the grave. But if the Bible is not the uniquely and inerrantly inspired Word of God, then (let us be blunt) we do not have certified truth about God, about man, about origins, about morals, about the race's future, or about human destiny in the hereafter: we are only groping.

If the Bible is provenly inspired by the divine Spirit, then Christian theology is truly a science, for by it we may truly "know". But if the Bible is anything less than provably inspired, then Christian theology instead of being "the queen of the sciences", is merely religious philosophy and human speculation.

—J. Sidlow Baxter

Language Learning Challenges

When a person attempts to communicate a concept from one language to another language there is a potential for errors to occur. For example, the following sign was posted in a Norwegian cocktail lounge for their English speaking customers:

Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.

In Norwegian the phrase "to have children" has nothing to do with giving birth. It is a perfectly legitimate way of telling ladies to keep their children out of the bar. But in English that phrase has another meaning.
Missionaries are face with these types of communication problems when trying to translate God's Word into another language.

A former student wrote, "The goal is to make sure that the meaning of God's communication with man stays the same, despite the fact that each missionary will be working in a language that is not their own, possibly an unwritten one. Every language has a way to communicate meaning, but the forms are so very different."
He gave this example. "In English, if we begin a story with a character named Joseph, then the hearer knows that unless otherwise specified, every time Joseph is mentioned, it is the same person."

But in some languages, every time a proper name is mentioned, it means that there is a new character being introduced. If you didn't understand this, you could tell your audience the story of Joseph and find out when you were finished, that they understood very little of what you had told them, because they were unable to keep track of how many Josephs there were in the story.

God certainly did a good job when He confused the languages. Who would have ever thought that in some languages when a proper name is mentioned it means that person is a new character in the story.
Not only is it important for the missionary overseas to communicate correctly, the same is true for us here at home. Please pray for me to be clear in communicating as I teach phonetics and other classes related to language and culture.

We currently have only nine first semester students. This is the smallest class I have ever seen here. We really need God's wisdom in how to present lessons that were designed for larger groups. Your prayers are much appreciated.

Bob

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  Hold Tight to Jesus

 

It appears almost impossible that those who have been redeemed by the blood of the dying Lamb and loved with an everlasting love by the eternal Son of God could forget that gracious Savior; but if startling to the ear, sadly it is too apparent to the eye to allow us to deny the crime. Some other love steals away your heart, and you are unmindful of Him upon whom your affection ought to be set. Some earthly business engrosses your attention when you ought to be fixed steadily upon the cross. It is the incessant turmoil of the world, the constant attraction of earthly things that takes the soul away from Christ. While memory works to preserve a poisonous weed, it allows the rose of Sharon (Christ) to wither. Let us charge ourselves to tie a heavenly forget-me-not around our hearts for Jesus our Beloved, and whatever else we let slip, let us hold tight to Him. — Charles Spurgeon

Hope: Confident Expectation

An old hymn says, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness." But what exactly is hope? Sometimes I say, "I sure hope it does not rain today." That might be considered a "hope-so" version of hope. In contrast, some synonyms for hope are "confidence" or "expectation." To me, confidence or expectation goes beyond a mere "hope-so" mentality.

Recently I read a prayer letter from one of my missionary friends in Papua New Guinea. I was struck by the hope expressed by a tribal believer named Paska. My friend wrote:

Today I was cleaning out the shed when one of our Bible teachers came by. After chatting with Paska for a few minutes, I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He pulled a picture out of his basket. It was a picture of his oldest daughter who had passed away when she was fourteen years old. "Here's a picture of my daughter. You said you wanted to see it sometime." I looked at the picture and wasn't sure what to say. I felt sad. "Do you ever think about her?" I asked. "Yes, and I feel sad," he responded. "Did she know the Good News?" I asked. "Yes," he said, "She trusted in Christ's work on the cross for her sins before she died," he told me. "So, someday I can meet her?" I said. He got a big smile and said, "Yes, we will see her again." Hope. The believer's confident expectation of our future together with Christ. Today, in spite of the pain and sadness Paska still feels for the loss of his daughter, he is confident that he will see her again. He has hope, and it is built up and rooted in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ!

I consider it a privilege to have had a part in helping to train those missionaries who brought the good news of Jesus Christ to Paska and his people.

I am reminded that it took a team of people to bring the message of the gospel to this tribe in Papua New Guinea. And it takes a team of people to help train missionary candidates as they prepare to take the good news to those who have never heard. I am so thankful for all those who are part of my partnership team. Without the prayers and support of God's people I could not function here in this ministry.

Bob

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"The law demands strength from one who has none, and curses him if he cannot display it. The gospel gives strength to one who has none, and blesses him in the exhibition of it."

by C. H. Mackintosh

Missionary Training for Effective Church Planting

Instructors and students talk about the practical skills and spiritual preparation needed for effective cross-cultural ministry among unreached people groups.

Because of Calvary,

Bob Nyberg