“Throwing” words around

October 26th, 2009

Chaz writes: When we still lived in Colombia, one day we took some Emberas to a nearby upstream from the city. I took advantage of the occasion to learn some new words. I picked up a rock and tossed it high over the river and asked one of the men what I had done with the rock. He said “tab’arisia,” meaning ‘tossed’ or ‘lobbed’. Then I got another rock and threw it hard at one of the big rocks in the middle of the river. The man said what I had done with that rock was “b’atatasia,” the same word as shooting a gun.

Years later when I applied these findings to the David and Goliath story in 1 Samuel 17, I said that David “b’atatasia” the rock with his sling at Goliath. Wait a minute, no, that’s wrong, says the final revision committee. The right word for that is “tab’arisia.” What? Lobbed? Tossed? No, I said, he shot that rock hard and it killed the Philistine. No, they said, the word you are talking about means shooting with a rifle. Oh, well. Colombia speech is different from Panama speech. Or did I just get the words wrong in the first place?

Then we moved on to 1 Samuel 18, where Saul begins to exhibit jealousy towards David and tries to spear him to the wall of his palace. The word we had, “su-”, means to poke or spear. However, Saul threw his spear across the room, so that required a different word, which is made up of the root for “bump”! It didn’t make sense, but Cesar, an older man, has an excellent vocabulary and came up with that word. The rest of the committee quickly agreed with him. However, in a later chapter Saul tries to thrust his spear to pin David to the wall and that required a different word yet. In chapter 26, when David has the opportunity to spear Saul in his sleep, our original attempt was OK, as long as a suffix was added that indicates a punctiliar action.

We are done with 1 Samuel, but it always takes checking a translation with native speakers who didn’t help with the drafting to be sure it sounds right and the meaning is clear.

Helga’s mother and grandmother

October 23rd, 2009

Here they are a few years ago:

They died one day apart from each other, on August 31 and September 1, 2009. Please go to our photo gallery (link at right) to see 2 photo albums in their memory, under the grouping “2009″.

Tomas

June 30th, 2009

At each Wednesday evening prayer meeting I attended at the Piriati Embera church, a request always went up for a certain Tomas, who was in ill health. I finally met Tomas a couple of months ago. It turned out he was an older brother of Cornelio and Bienvenido, who have both worked on the Bible translation with us. Tomas appeared to be in good health although he often complained of pain in his chest and his family said he never slept well. The coughing at night was incessant.

A couple of weeks ago it was finally decided he should go to the regional hospital an hour away, where tests were performed. It turned out his heart had damaged tissue and had been that way for along time. Some medication helped him sleep better but after a follow-up visit he was transferred to the main government hospital in Panama City. Tests there revealed that he really needed a heart transplant or valve replacement, something we were not sure was even done in Panama. Even if it was done, to get authorization for such a procedure could take weeks.

Last Monday, when I arrived back in Piriati, Cornelio said Tomas seemed to be a little bit better. His wife, some of his children and Cornelio had visited him on Saturday. After we finished work for the day, I walked as usual to a certain spot to locate the cell phone signal and call Helga. While walking I ran into one of Tomas’ sons, who seemed especially upbeat. We talked briefly and when I found my spot, he walked on. Just as I was finishing my phone conversation, a young woman walking alone in the other direction was saying repeatedly, “My uncle died, oh, my uncle died…” I began walking back to the house where we stay and I saw her walking toward Tomas’ house. From the road I could hear people weeping and mourning. I stopped at a little store on the way and asked who had died. The people sitting outside said it was Tomas.

It turned out that one son had left that same morning to see Tomas, and when he came to his hospital room the bed was empty. He asked where his dad might be, but he was not told until late in the afternoon that he had died.

People began gathering around Tomas’ parents’ house, across the road from the store. Two of his sisters were wailing uncontrollably. The house is mostly an open platform, so many just leaned on a rail and looked on. One of the sisters wailed in Embera for almost two hours, “Oh, my brother! Oh, my brother!” Amid the weeping, occasionally one woman would let out high-pitched screams. Doug told me to be prepared for this to go on all night. Fortunately for those who wanted to sleep, it did not.

The traditional Embera manner of preparing for a burial is to keep the person’s body in his house, in the middle of the platform or main room. The person responsible for the burial arranges for coffee, some food, and vodka or some other alcoholic drink to be consumed as the men of the community work on making a casket, seemingly stretching the job out over the course of the whole night. Others sit around the house conversing quietly. As morning approaches, the pace of the work quickens so burial can take place by sunrise.

Because Tomas had died in Panama City, the family needed a day just to get the body out of the morgue, get the death certificate, buy a casket and get a permit for transporting it. Doug, Cornelio, Bienvenido and a couple of others left at 4 AM on Tuesday to take care of the arrangements. Doug brought the casket back after 5 PM. People followed the vehicle down the road to the church, where they unloaded the coffin and placed it on a table. The church was packed; most of the fifty or so seats were occupied even before Doug arrived. Cornelio’s wife and a niece led the service, which was unusual– even Embera Christians do not normally have what we would call a funeral service. They led a number of songs and some passages from the New Testament and Psalms had been selected to assure those present that Tomas was forever with the Lord. He himself had this hope. “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope…For the Lord himself will come down from heaven…and the dead in Christ will rise first…And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” (Paul, from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Then, unexpectedly, Cornelio arose and assured the believers present that they would see Tomas again. He also warned the non-believers that they had now heard what was necessary in order for them to see Tomas. He also shared what Tomas had told him privately: Tomas knew he was dying but he would tell his family when they visited him that he felt better. He did not want people to mourn for him, since he would be in God’s presence.

Then the coffin was taken back to Tomas’ family’s house, so they could have some time alone. Later in the evening, it was moved to the community building, a covered pavilion up the road. Coffee and bread were served (apparently alcohol was not) and people sat around the edge of the pavilion talking in small groups. The plan for most was to stay there all night. The mood seemed more upbeat. I spent a lot of time talking with Limber, one of Tomas’ cousins. He told me about the time back when they feared spirits. They were required to stay in the family’s house where all had gathered. If you left the house, you would feel rocks hitting the back of your legs; that was the spirit of the dead throwing them at you. “But,” Limber continued, “we found out that that was a lie, because when we believed God’s word it never happened again.” Matthew the Evangelist, quoting the prophet Isaiah (9:1-2), wrote, “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16).

I finally went to bed at 11:30. The next morning we were still waiting for word on the burial procession. They had to wait for the cement to dry on the above-ground vault that was being constructed. After lunch I decided to take a short nap. I had perhaps caught a portion of my forty winks when I heard a woman screaming. I looked out the window and two young men were taking one of Tomas’ sisters back to her house. The procession was beginning. I am guessing that she was trying to keep the casket from being taken to the cemetery. I got up to go along.

The cemetery is down a trail, across a creek (swollen by rain), along the edge of a rice field, across another creek and up a steep hill. The dozens of people on the procession, the horses used to take the cement to the site, and the rains made the trail very muddy. At the top of the hill the casket was placed inside the vault (basically a box made of cement blocks). People crowded around to have one last look at the casket or to touch it once more. Then the workers needed to put the wooden cover on the vault and give it a cement seal. So they asked people to start moving away. One of Tomas’ sisters turned and began walking away saying, “I got to touch him! I touched him!” Whenever the rains let up, groups of people walked away. When perhaps fifteen people were left, Cornelio asked someone to give a prayer of thanksgiving. After more people left, Corozo, an older man, said, “My mom and dad are buried around here somewhere, but it’s been so long I don’t even know where it is anymore.” The cemetery is not regularly mowed. In order to climb to the top of the hill I had used some rocks as steps. Only then did I realize they were probably grave markers!

As the workers smoothed the cement on the cover, we discussed burial practices. Traditionally, Emberas are buried with their head toward the east. One man said that if you don’t like the person you bury them with their head to the west. Another man, who is part Wounaan (a group related to the Embera) said that Wounaans bury with the head to the west so when they sit up in the grave they are looking toward the rising sun. You don’t want to wake up and see darkness. After that conversation, two of the men and I walked back to the village.

The Embera final revision committee

March 28th, 2009

Here are some brief sketches of the members of the Final Revision Committee for the Northern Embera Schripture translation project, along with their pictures.

Cornelio is 42 years old. He has an education degree and is the best editor we have on the committee. He has been a serious Christian for about four years. He is married with one son, though his wife, Eloida, has older children also from a previous relationship. They live in the village where the committee works and they feed Doug and me all our meals. Cornelio’s brother, Bienvenido, was president of the Embera church association for 10 years and helped draft several Old and New Testament books.

Elvira is 49 years old. Her husband Rogeio married her about 35 years ago because she was one of the only Christian girls available. They have 3 sons, one of whom was recently married, and a daughter, Feliznita, who does some of the back-translations into Spanish for our consultant. Elvira lives with Cornelio’s family when working with the committee (they are related by marriage) and goes home on weekends to her family on the outskirts of Panama City.

Plinio is about 35 years old. He and his wife have 7 children, including a newborn. They are from an area close to the Colombian border. The church in their village selected Plinio to receive in-depth Bible training and then to serve on the final revision committee. Theirs is the only functioning congregation on their river system.

Felipe is about 30 years old. He and his wife have 5 younger children. He lives in the same village that Elvira is originally from. The church there is key to widespread use of the translation.

Abundio is about 50 years old. He and his wife have 5 children and several grandchildren. When my partner Doug went to live in an Embera village, he stayed with Abundio’s family at first. Abundio also worked with Doug on the original drafts of many Old and New Testament books. The church in his village is well-trained but has had division over leadership issues.

Each of these committee members brings a different perspective to the table and together they help the translation become accessible to as many Emberas as possible.

A trip up the Chagres River

October 29th, 2008

This past Saturday Chaz and Helga went up the Chagres River as tour helpers with a group of local photographers. They were with Panama Photo Workshops, run by a friend of ours named Tito Herrera. He asked Chaz to help organize this photo tour to an Embera community, so it was arranged to travel up to Parara Puru. This is the same village we’ve gone to several times, including three times with the children’s group from our local church. The last time Chaz was up there he talked with several people about reading the Scripture and having some Bible study sessions. There was interest and even enthusiasm on the part of some, so he was looking for a good opportunity to go up again. Accompanying the photographers was the perfect chance. They spent a couple hours going up to explore and photograph a waterfall, so Chaz took that time to read through the first few chapters of Genesis with a group of about six.


Reading together


They got through the first 3 chapters of Genesis.

This young man asked Chaz to please come back any time, because he has a drinking problem and would like to keep studying the Bible.
This young man asked Chaz to please come back any time, because he has a drinking problem and would like to keep studying the Bible.


At the end Chaz was able to give a simple and clear Gospel presentation.

We had the extra pleasure at the end of the day of running into our old friends Melio and Maribel and their kids. They were our Embera friends when we lived in Gamboa. We brought them and their baby daughter home from the hospital the day after she was born. They are happy and doing well.

Maribel with Melio, Merlina and Mateo

He did it!

June 12th, 2008

Danny has graduated from high school! We were so happy to have all the grandparents and also Kirsten to help us celebrate.

Walking down the aisle
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Embera church Holy Week conference

April 5th, 2008

During Holy Week, Chaz had the privilege of attending the annual conference of the Embera church. This year the meetings were held in Lajas Blancas, an Embera community in the Darien province in eastern Panama. There were about 300 people from eight churches attending. There were sessions each morning and evening, with plenty of singing, usually a brief Bible reading and then a featured speaker from one of the churches. Sessions during the second half of the morning were offered for mature believers, new believers, non-believers, children, and youth. The youth group from one of the churches presented a drama one evening.
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The pains of childbirth

March 19th, 2008

One of the translation problems we had was in Romans 8:22: “…the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth…”

When Doug and Abundio were drafting this verse some months back, they checked the old translation first, thinking that if it was clear and correct they would use it. However, Abundio could not understand the verse. He had no idea why the woman giving birth was groaning (actually in Embera it was “screaming”). To Doug it was obvious enough. “Well, when a woman gives birth it hurts, so they scream.”
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The cayuco race

March 19th, 2008

The boys finished 7th in their division of 15 cayucos, beaten only by the 5 veteran teams and one other team they were neck to neck with the whole time.

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The cayuco race 5 years ago…

March 13th, 2008

Here are some blasts from the past to set the mood:

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Kirsten and her crew preparing for the first part of the race

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Translation problems in John and 1 Peter

February 10th, 2008

If you are anything like me, you like the Gospel of John the best because it is the easiest to understand. However, in our time checking this Gospel with a team of Embera Christians, we stumbled upon a number of misconceptions which had them confused.

One man, who had participated in the check of Luke, recognized the words in John 1:15 as those of John the Baptist. I said, “Yes, you’re right.”
Then the man concluded that the “John” mentioned in verse 6 was also John the Baptist. Then he said, “So John the Baptist wrote this book? I always thought John the disciple wrote it!” Read the rest of this entry »

Cayuco season begins

January 28th, 2008

Danny is taking part this year in the annual Ocean-to-Ocean Cayuco race. A cayuco is a canoe, made in the fashion of the indigenous canoes. Some are wood, some are fiberglass and other materials. They are crewed by 4 people and the race has several categories, male/female/co-ed, sorted by age. Read the rest of this entry »

Snow in Panama

December 17th, 2007

Yes, it happened on Saturday night. Here are the videos to prove it:

Go here

Go here

Go here

Further searching in YouTube will bring up more videos by other people, both of last year’s snow day and this year’s.  This is in the category of “you have to see it to believe it”.

Happy Birthday Laura!

December 17th, 2007

Saturday, December 15, was Laura’s 10th birthday, which she celebrated in style. We have had great fun with Laura over these 10 years and we’re thankful for her belated but welcome arrival in our family! Read the rest of this entry »

Of birthdays

November 10th, 2007

November 3 was Panama’s 104th birthday and to celebrate, we all got a 4-day weekend. Nov. 3 is their Independence Day (from Colombia, in 1903) and Nov. 4 is Flag Day. In honor of that, Chaz and Helga climbed up Ancon Hill (”Cerro Ancon”), a mountain near the city and canal which houses the Canal Administration building. At the top of the hill, after a gentle climb of about 25 minutes, one is rewarded with a gorgeous view of the canal and surrounding area. Above it all flies the proud Panamanian flag. Read the rest of this entry »

Where is Chaz?

October 2nd, 2007

Right here! In a small town in the department of Cordoba (bright pink), in the northwestern part of Colombia.  (Map is taken from www.colombiaenmexico.org).

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He is spending time with three independent Colombia missionaries, also working among the Embera-Katio group. He is listening to and encouraging them in their work, and also evaluating their language ability for possible future help in the translation that Mareike is working on. Chaz said it’s a nice little town where he’s staying, overcast and hot, though not as muggy as Panama. There is a nickel mine there and the company has done a lot for the community. For a light evening meal at a local restaurant they were served ice cream fruit salads with cheese!

Chaz in Colombia

October 2nd, 2007

From Chaz:  Thank you all for praying for the consulting sessions with the Embera-Katio translation team. We checked over 250 places in the Gospel of Matthew for possible wrong meaning, potential lack of clarity, omissions and extraneous information. With God’s help we finished the check on Friday afternoon and we are all encouraged!

Pictured below are Chaz and Marion, the two translation consultants, and Mareike Schoettelndreyer, the Bible translator for the Embera-Katio project.  Also working with them are two indigenous translators, not pictured or named for security reasons.  Those of you who have been our partners for years will remember them and keep them in your prayers as well.

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Checking Luke 15-20

September 16th, 2007

Even the most familiar Bible stories can present translation problems. The account of Zacchaeus meeting Jesus is one such story. We’ve heard it in Sunday School and we’ve sung “Zacchaeus was a wee little man.” Read the rest of this entry »

Diversity and God’s purposes

September 8th, 2007

Reprinted by permission from the author Paul Frank

Linguistic and cultural diversity are often assumed to be the curse of Babel.  But we’re mistaken if we conclude that the resultant diversity of languages and peoples was contrary to God’s eternal purposes.  The scene that the Apostle John saw around the throne of God was what God intended from before creation.  Without the diversity of nations, tribes, peoples and languages, God’s purposes are hindered, not helped. Read the rest of this entry »

Panama Canal Expansion

September 3rd, 2007

Thousands of Panamanians streamed toward Paraiso, a small town along the Canal, to celebrate a double ceremony: the beginning of the expansion and the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Torrijos-Carter treaty. Go here to see a video of the Panama Canal Railway going alongside all the cars. Read the rest of this entry »