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In Training with New
Tribes Mission for Tribal Church Planting and Bible Translation |
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George & Ginny
Olson
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This page best viewed using Microsoft Internet Explorer If you are using another browser and some of the layout on this page
looks corrupted, click here for the text only
version. As I sat
down to write this quarter’s newsletter, I was trying to think of some
wonderful exciting adventure that has happened to us since Jungle Camp that
would get everyone’s attention. So I listed the things we have been doing
since then… ·
Summer – helping prepare a missionary training program for ·
Moving – Packing things up again into the trailer, having the car die
3 days before we were supposed to leave, 12 hours to Missouri, getting a
hundred chigger bites our 3rd day here, life on beautiful Lake of
the Ozarks… ·
School starting – phonetics class, making stops, fricatives,
affricates, laterals, flaps, and trills; international health class, giving
& giving practice injections, how to avoid tropical diseases, how to
start a health clinic in a tribal village, afternoon work with NTM’s only
technical engineer… Nothing stands out as super exciting, though a lot of
things are very interesting! So I will pick a few things from above and tell
you about what the Lord is doing in our lives! I am
certain a story of jungle camp adventures would be far more thrilling than a
story about making voiceless unaspirated stops (one part of phonetics)!
However, we can see the importance of this sort of course. Making the right
sounds in a language not only can help one to sound more natural (though we
will never sound completely like a native speaker), but it also really helps
in comprehension. Take, for
example, the “glottal stop.” A glottal stop is simply when you use your vocal
cords to stop the flow of air as you speak. In English, we always say a
glottal stop whenever a word begins with a vowel, but never in the middle of
a word. If a foreign speaker says something in English without the glottal
stop, we often don’t even notice the difference, and it does not change the
meaning. Consequently, there is no letter
for a glottal stop in English. However, the Toabaita people of the |
Click here to view
more pictures of NTLI in Missouri from Webshots.com! |
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Another
class we are taking is “International Health & Wellness.” This is all
about how to set up a medical clinic in a tribal village, as well as avoid
the unpleasant tropical diseases which abound in many areas of the world. We
had to learn to suture and give shots, which is no big deal if you are a
nurse or a doctor, but is a big deal for us non-medical people! Ginny gave me
a shot, and then I was able to give her a shot back. We both said it didn’t
hurt. J Our next
big class this semester will be grammar. Keep in mind, this is not learning
the particular grammar of any particular language, but a class in which we
are given the tools to help us break down the grammatical structure of
whatever language we will have to learn. In this class we will study on
average 3 different languages every day. We will be given about 12 different
sentences from a given language which will represent one portion of the
grammatical structure of that language. From these 12 sentences, we will be
taught to recognize a pattern which will clue us in to how to express
thoughts in that language. This is the puzzle solving portion of our classes,
and we are looking forward to it with great enthusiasm! For an example, I
have included a sample grammar puzzle with this newsletter. Be the first of our
readers to solve the puzzle, and win a free NTM video from us!! In our
last major activity, we will be applying the tools we have learned to study a
national language with a native speaker of a different language who lives in
this area. It is surprising how many native speakers of other languages live
in this area around the |
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One last
thing – I (George) did well on the grammar assessment test, which means our
plans will be to continue through the extra semester of more in depth
schooling, and finish in December of 2005, rather than May of 2005. It is an
extra semester, but it also is more training, which means better equipping
for ministry in the future. Our present
ministry opportunities are local – we are getting involved in a church we
found here about 45 minutes away, as well as weekly Bible studies and helping
out with kids ministries at a different church in Camdenton. Please be
praying for openness on the part of local people we will be getting to know
here so that we can assist the Lord’s work in this part of the country. As we go
through all these things, we are endeavoring to keep in mind that it is by
God’s grace, His strength, His enablement, and His provision that we are even
here and allowed to take part in His work. Many thanks to you all who also
are part of the body of Christ and are keeping us going in this work. With
God’s richest blessings towards you all, George
for all of us George,
Ginny, Isaac, Sarah, & Abby Grammar
Puzzle: Be the first to solve this and win a free NTM video from
us! Take the information given in the tribal language, and
figure out how to translate the last 4 phrases from English into the tribal
language. Send us your answer by email or regular mail, and we will
let you know how you did!
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