The Need for Cultural Humility
I had an interesting conversation with a couple at church a few Sundays ago. They both were born in Africa, but have lived in the US for a number of years. In discussing children, they told me that they were concerned about raising their daughter in America because of the dangers here. Without a second thought, I knew exactly what they were talking about. As Americans we have become accustomed to comfort, such that we think we deserve it. We have grown cold to the suffering of those in the majority world, and we are greatly tempted to live only…
African Traditional Religion Keeps Them Poor
Missionaries are generally disliked by the secular linguistics/anthropology community. Why? Because missionaries do not come to the field as neutral observers, but with a desire to see change. Missionary linguists do not come to merely preserve and describe languages, but to see the Bible translated and then confront the culture. And Dave and I desperately want to see the Bakoum culture confronted and changed. Do not get me wrong, there are aspects of Bakoum/Cameroonian culture that I love and miss. I love the brightly colored cloth custom made into form-fitting, eccentric dresses. I love walking down the street and seeing…
How Does it Feel to be Back?
Imagine waking up one day in your own bed, next to your own wife, but all of your walls are white, when yesterday they were eggshell. And you are not 100% sure that they have changed, but they just feel different. You go to work and to church and on the way you see buildings that you could swear were not there the last time you passed. You see your friends and co-workers and some of them look a little bit older, some a little heavier, some a little lighter. All of the children are taller, more grown up. And…
[VIDEO] Four Years, Two Languages, Still So Much to Do
I am sure that many of you have seen the new video in our most recent newsletter, but I wanted to post it here as well. And, just for memories sake, I also have posted the video we did at the end of our time in France as well. These two videos represent the last four years of our lives. It has been a tough climb but we are so thankful to see fruit of our labors and the grace of God throughout. Now onto bigger and better things! End if First Term in Cameroon:Year in Review from France:
From the Bush to the Burbs: MK Re-Entry
We are set to arrive in the States in just 9 days and as we talk to our children about American culture, we have realized that it may be helpful for our friends in America to understand a bit of the culture that they are coming from. I used to think of them as American. They are being raised by American parents, we speak mostly English in our home, and even occasionally watch an American movie all together. But then, we had a homeschool teacher show up in August who later shared that she had no idea how many cultural…
Then and Now: How our Perspectives Have Changed throughout our First Term
In just a few days, we will be packing up to leave our village so that we can spend 16 months in the States completing our MAs in Applied Linguistics / Bible Translation. As we pack up our suitcases, we are reminded of the thoughts and feelings that we had when we left America 4 years ago. We are coming to realize that many of the perspectives that we held to on the plane ride over have changed. For instance, we now realize that… Language Learning is a Beast. On the plane ride over, I was sitting next to a…
To My Son, on the Day of his Baptism
Today was one of the happiest days of my life. Our 7 year old son Kaden has announced to a large, boisterous crowd of people that Jesus Christ was his Savior and Lord! I invited pretty much everyone I knew to his baptism and was overjoyed to see friends steeped in animism walk into church to listen to Kaden read his testimony. We listened to a sermon and then people from our church walked through the dusty streets singing praises to the Lord all the way to the river. It was an incredibly joyous time. I praise God for his…
When the Church Does Not Look Like You, and When it Does
Walking into one of the first church services we attended in France in 2013, I saw a large bearded man holding the door open. As I approached, he grabbed my hand and moved his face directly next to mine so that our hairy cheeks almost touched. I learned later that this is an intimate greeting that the French call the “bise,” a small air-kiss on each side of the face (although with one man it was straight up a kiss on each cheek). I had heard of such greetings in France, but I was not expecting to receive the bise…
Is Happiness Essential to the Missionary Call?
When considering employment, we often look at all the benefits and make a choice based on what job has the most to offer us. We take into account the salary we would receive, how much vacation time we would be allotted, how well the job would work with our family life, and things like medical benefits. We put all the variables side and by side and then choose a job based on what bests suits us.For those considering missions, our list of variables is a little different. Even though things like vacation time or medical benefits may not make it…
In a Country Where Abortion is Illegal
If you knew some of the things that happened here in Cameroon, you would be so angry. There are injustices here that, just to be honest, we would never see in the US. And if they did happen, it would be in the news and people would go to jail. I doubt that this is particularly surprising to most of you. We tend to think that unjust things happen in third-world countries. But have you ever considered that the practices of your nation are shocking to someone in the third-world? I am not talking about just culture shock, but real…
