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
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.
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
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!
Information given: Translate
from English into the tribal language:
mefetiki
means I speak
tufetiki
means you speak he saw them _____________
efetiki
means he speaks
tafetiki
means they speak I will see you _____________
mefeune
means I see
mejiune
means I saw he saw me _____________
mefetaune
means I see them
mejituune
means I saw you I speak to him ____________
efemeune
means he sees me
tudegameune
means you will see me