Praise the Father of Lights

Spirit of Power

I am burdened to see so many of my generation that think that living like Jesus means being nice and going to church. This is a lie. Jesus was about spiritual freedom and relieving oppression from sin and Satan.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…

                                                                                                                        -Luke 4:18

If Jesus is our model, how then shall we live? The problem is compounded by a culture that pushes us to ignore the Spirit all together. At best many of us fall into a weird dualism, which relegates the spiritual world to a part-time position. It is no wonder that we have lost our fortitude. However, Jesus said:    

           

            But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will            be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

                                                          -Acts1:8

Is it not amazing these words “you will receive power”? The sad fact is so many of us have no concept of our true power. The dissidence comes when we are faced with some difficult situation and we choose to use our puny human power instead of God’s mighty and terrible strength.

The point of life is not doing but being.

When I first arrived in Africa, I brought with me a lesson from an older brother in Christ, Elbert Smith. Elbert taught me that my most important task is not doing but being.  

      And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he                 might send them forth to preach, -Mark 3:14 

As 2012 began, I thought that I had this scripture figured out (complete with life application), however, I am discovering that I still have a long way to go. As I wrote about what God was teaching me in a previous post, I was learning that my greatest daily need was to be with Him. I needed to be with God daily. However, ten months into this journey, I find that my mind is flooded with thoughts of doing, not so much on being. Where does this come from? Why am I so obsessed with doing things? As I take an objective look at my culture, I see that Americans come from a performance driven society. I remember my days as a forklift driver just north of Memphis. Third shift was not my forte, however, I did like working with less traffic in the warehouse. Yet, my performance grade, as calculated by the big computer, was not the best. As a man, I struggle with finding my value in life in what I do. If I do a good job, people like me, and think well of me. If my work is sloppy and poor, then people think less of me, even my self-perception is too often defined by my performance. But the truth of the faith that I affirm is not inline with my cultural beliefs. I am loved by God not because of the work that I do for Him, but because I am His son. 

Honestly, I like doing more than being. Doing makes me feel important. There are days in Kaabong when God says to me, "Robert, today I want you to just focus on being with me," my response; "Is that all?" What a poor view I have of my own sonship! 

Holding on for Dear Life...

           The past few months have been a whirlwind. Our team has experienced our greatest highs and lowest lows. The first six months in Africa were difficult to say the least. We came here with the vision to be salt and light but most days we felt like we were only surviving. Life in the bush takes a tremendous amount of effort. At the end of each day our team was spent. Not that good old tired feeling, but the one that makes you sick and desperate. I knew that we could not last long in that state. But, for a season, a servant of The Most High can take a lot and not be crushed, so we pressed on with little rest. My mind began to wonder; What is our purpose here? Are we to burn out for HIM and make way for others, are we to plant, harvest, or water? (I ask too many questions.)

Then something happened

The Spirit moved.

            In one week, we saw a handful of young, well respected men turn away from their previous life and follow Jesus. The second day of their discipleship, more people came to the meeting saying, “We want to be baptized.” We (the missionaries), said, “before you can be baptized you have to repent, believe and follow.” I am sure they were confused at what we were saying, because the response from our two-day old Christian was, “We know, we told them all of this and they are ready.”

            The first generation of KJ believers had immediately called others to repent and follow HIM. For more stories, check out the Echelon Blog. 

Language File IX: Goal Setting

swiftmessenger-languagefiles.blogspot.com

Launching of Language Learning Blog

       In the beginning I did not know I would be posting so much on language learning. I see now that the subject needs its own blog. For this reason, I have made a new blog, not to replace Swift Messenger, but to have a separate blog dedicated solely to the art of language learning. http://swiftmessenger-languagefiles.blogspot.com/

Language File VIII: The Aerodynamics of Language Learning

         

            As good as time with native speakers can be for your language learning, time away can be equally as bad. Massive amounts of time with native speakers is best for language learning; however, this is not always possible, as we have found out. Many things get in the way of immersion learning, like meetings, doctor visits, resupply, etc. This can be a discouraging loss of momentum.

            So what can be done about this challenge? Timing can be a great asset in avoiding language regression. In order to take advantage of  limited time we will look at a concept call the “power curve.” 
           The power curve is a concept from the field of aerodynamics. The graph below shows the power curve of a turbine generator. Basically, the output of our generator increases as the input (wind speed) increases, until the maximum output is reached. At this point, the rate of output decreases. This is called the Power curve.    

                     

                        

I believe this same concept is true of language learning. I call it the “progression curve.” Basically, learning will progress at a constant rate in conjunction with the effort applied by the learner. Learning progresses for weeks or months, depending on the learner’s capacity. However, every learner reaches a point when the rate of learning slows in relation to effort exerted. This slow rate of learning can continue for some time and the results are discouraging. So how do we beat the progression curve?

         

            The answer lies in timing. If the learner maintains a high level of self awareness, he or she will know when it is time to take a break and re-set their graph so to speak. This can be extremely difficult early on, but with time, the learner will know when to press on and when to take a few days off.

You can take advantage of the progression curve. If you know that in a few weeks you will have to be out of the speech community for a meeting or vacation, make the appropriate adjustments to your learning schedule. Break out of the routine and take some big strides forward. Work harder than you would normally would. By supercharging your learning, you can plan to finish your sprint just before you hit the progression curve; then, take a break. When you return to your routine your mind will have processed what you previously took in, and your brain will have room for more. This will allow for your learning to continue moving forward avoiding the progression curve.   
      

                 

Language File VII: Moving Forward

As we moved forward different members of the team had different experiences and many challenges arose. The greatest issue is TIME. Time is the key ingredient in the language-learning recipe and we are lacking in this spice. If time is not there, no approach will work. The challenge is finding time in the course of an extremely busy day, not to mention a personal energy crisis due to change of nutrition and cultural stress. However, there are not language schools for learning Karamojong and no place to study the language outside of the language community. The situation is not easy, but neither is it a true disadvantage. I am a firm believer that any language should be learned with in the context of a language community. This approach couples language and culture into one learning process.

Is it possible to learn a language apart from culture? Yes, this is one of the dangers of language schools. Is it possible to learn culture apart from language? Yes, this is very common on the mission field due to the use of translators. However, the goal of any language learner should be to learn language and culture in complementary progression. For our team, language learning must be done in the context of ministry and life in Karamoja (the homeland of the Karamojong). The simplest task can become a day’s chore in the bush. The demands of life do not afford the luxury of six hours a day dedicated purely to language study. So what can we do? We can do a lot! I have answered the challenge by not separating language from life, but by integrating the two. When my day starts, my language learning starts. 

Language File VI: Week-One

          Based on the needs of the team we decided to have one tutor for one learner. The tutors had been selected and trained based on the needs of our learners. Or first task was learning the greetings. I chose to use a very simple question and answer model loosely based on the LAMP manual. The process, as described in post IV, was mildly successful. Problems arose when our tutors did not follow the “lesson plan.” When the learners asked questions the responses were not always constant with the pre-planned lesson.  LAMP does have limitations and we found them. If the tutor cannot read, it is hard for the tutor to remain consistent. The tutor might give an appropriate, yet, unexpected response. On the other hand, if the tutor can read, he or she might be uncomfortable moving off the page, so to speak, in answering questions not written in the lesson. All in all, the question and response drills can be stressful for both the learner and the tutor. It was simply too much to bite off at one time. I am realized the problem and cut my greetings by a half. Instead of learning sixteen phrases, I focused on learning these eight:  

How are you?                                                  Ikoni ai?

                         I am fine.                                                         Ejok.

 My name is Robert.                                          Erai ekakiro Robert.

What is your name?                                           Ŋai ekon kiro?

My name is JB.                                                 Erai ekakiro JB.

Where do you come from?                                 Ai Ibunitor iyong?

From Lomusian.                                                Abunit ayong aLomusian.

How is Lomusian?                                             Ekoni Lomusian ai?

It is good.                                                         Ejok.

I used these eight phrases to get over my feelings of insecurity. The first week was coming to an end and I needed to feel like I had a handle on something. Instead of beating myself up over not completing the lesson, I chose to change the lesson, make it easier, and move ahead. These first phrases were the beginning of my language core (which we will discuss later). Every day I used every phrase as many times as I could. Sometimes, I would understand the response, sometimes not. But, it was ok, I was saying something more than, “do you speak English.” It took me several days to get this thin base, but when I did, I felt as if I could more forward with confidence.      

Language Learning V: Day-One

Let the learning begin! Our fist day of class was full of excitement and STRESS. I have learned to not underestimate the amount of stress that goes along with language learning. Each learner had a personal tutor and I am sure that the tutors were going through similar emotions. Our first few days were based around learning greetings using the simple question and response described earlier. Honestly, from a purely scientific perspective I do not believe that the greetings are the best place to begin learning a language. Often, greetings implement complex sentence forms. In learning greetings the learner runs the risk of getting way a head of himself. However, learning a language is much more than scientific, there I said it.

There is an equally important HUMAN factor. The our-number one goal in learning the Karamojong language is to communicate to the Karamojong people. For this reason, greetings are the best starting point. If I walked up to a young man as he is keeping his sheep and began to recite the basic phonology of his language it would be uninteresting and weird to say the least. However, if I were to walk up to this same Shepard and say, “hello, how are you” I would not only spark the young man’s interest but he might even respond!

The Word Of Life

 

                                                                                            The greatest thing that I have learned in these first three months in Africa is a profound dependence upon the Word of God. For my entire life I have known that the Scriptures are important. However, this has not kept me from neglecting the discipline of communing with the Word. The reality in my brain failed to penetrate my heart. Yet, this all began to change a few years ago. Knowing that my life needed the word of God was not enough. Somehow, I felt that I could live without it. Maybe it was that so many of my "Christian" friends lived without the Word of God and they seemed to do just fine. I had bought into a lie. They were not fine.                              Any christian that neglects the God's Word is disobedient.  

            I remember talking to a dear friend of mind named Mowgli. I remember telling him, “We do not study Scripture because we think that it will make our lives better, but out of devotion to God.” In answering Mowgli’s question the Spirit spoke to me. Had I not been guilty of this very mindset? I had looked to scripture to improve my life and fix my problems instead of seeing devotion to His Truth as my reasonable act of service. The blessing is a byproduct. If the blessing is our goal we are reaching in the wrong direction. Christ must be focal point, not ourselves.         

Language fiIe IV: Tutor Training

Our steps were loosely based on the LAMP method and proved effective. Fortunately, the writing system of Karamojong is written almost how it is pronounced. This was a great advantage, not all of our language helpers could read their own language. The student would make and attempt and then the tutor would correct their pronunciation. The student was then instructed to repeat after the tutor in a type of mimicking exercise. 

The mimicking exercise would go back and forth several times until the learner’s pronunciation was acceptable. (And then the MAGIC would happen.) The acceptable pronunciation of the learner would trigger the response. The learner had asked a question, the question was understood, and a response was given. The next step is liken unto the first. The learner will then mimic the response of the tutor until he or she achieves acceptable pronunciation. (Then the MAGIC happens again!) The tutor will then ask the question and the learner will give the response. If the pronunciation is acceptable the achievement will be celebrated with a word of affirmation or a thumbs up, if not the process continues.            

Language File III: Finding Tutors

Upon arrival, we had the pleasure of meeting a young man named JB. JB was given the opportunity to study in the capital and has a good command of English. As a bilingual Karamojong (one of the few) he has been a great help to the team as a cultural adviser, translator, and friend. JB was the natural choice to help us with the recruiting and training of language tutors. I informed JB of our plan for learning language and asked for his help.

JB became our language coordinator. His responsibility was the hiring of language tutors and translating for me in the training of language tutors. We hired tutors at the common labor rate for the area. The tutors viewed the job as much easier than "labor" and found the opportunity agreeable. In a few days we were up an running. The training of the tutors was simple and direct. We started with a basic question and response approach based on the documentation we had done earlier.
Greetings were first, which fit our situation and the local culture well. Much time was spent explaining what we were trying to accomplish and what was expected from the tutors. Also, I tried to build the confidence of the tutors. I got the feeling early on that the tutors felt as if they would not be able to help because that had not "been to school." I encouraged them that what we needed were people willing to help and who spoke the language. I told them that they were the exact people for the job.

Language file II: The Situation

We are faced with a formidable challenge and a unique situation in learning the Karamojong language. Few outsiders, African or otherwise, have learned this ancient and beautiful language. Much of the linguistic analysis of Karamojong was done by early Italian missionaries, there has been little language documentation done in the past twenty years. For this reason, our first order of business was to produce a recording of useful phrases. This material can be found on our website.

After the initial documentation and some planing, I decided the best approach would not be the traditional barefoot method, but a more structured environment provide by language tutors. However, there was one problem, there were no language tutors. This obstacle was easily overcome by the recruiting and training of a few willing locals.