Christ Church

An uneventful but long trip

Bakwe' Mission on

I left Idaho on the 19th and arrived in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire last night, the 21st (my birthday). I was happy birthdayed by all the familiar sights, smells and sounds as I walked out of the airport and made my way to the guest house by orange taxi. Oh the smell of diesel exhaust and the friendly honking of car horns! I love it!

Spending the night in Geneva helped with the jet lag I guess; I feel pretty good. The real reason for going via Geneva was because it was almost $1,000 cheaper than going direct. Go figure! Anyhow, I’m here and ready to work. Got some groceries and worked on preparing for our translation checking session this morning. Côte d’Ivoire is 7 hours ahead of Moscow, Idaho.

Read Full Article

Abidjan and Touadji here we come

Bakwe' Mission on

Five days left until I take off for Côte d’Ivoire for about a month of good intense work with my Bakwé colleagues. This time out we are going to spend about three weeks in Abidjan. I’ll be doing Scripture checking for two weeks. When Benjamin and Scott (two young men from our home church) arrive, at the end of the month, they will be working on audio Scripture recording and setting up the computer equipment we are bringing out. Kjell (a previous consultant for the World Bank, and resident of Côte d’Ivoire for three years) will arrive the second week of September and then we all will drive to Touadji and spend about a week there. Kjell will be running a small business seminar for our volunteer literacy teachers while we all work on other important stuff.

We are praying for productivity, health, safety on the roads, and that we may be an encouragement to the saints in Bakwé land. Keep checking back here for both pictures and news updates.

Read Full Article

Bakwé Flashcard Parties

Bakwe' Mission on

My daughter, Noai, has been organizing Bakwé flashcard parties to make and laminate flashcards for our Bakwé teachers who teach Bakwé reading and writing over in Côte d’Ivoire. The turn-out has been great! Good fellowship, lively conversation and jesting, and African music! We now have almost completed the first Bakwé Reading and Writing Primer and should have ten sets of flashcards made up by the time I leave on my next trip. A big thank you to everyone who has been able to help out!

Read Full Article

Harris Choir Music

Bakwe' Mission on

Here is a song, ‘Ba pa -na ‘jü ‒sukuli, from the Harris Church choir of our village Touadji-II. We recorded this during our trip in June ’08. Perez, our Bakwé colleague, is the choir leader and the faint voice you hear leading the song. This song is an exhortation to put your children in school. The rattles are the only instrument that you hear, made from a medium sized gourd and covered with a net-webbing of shells. Perez is the one playing them. One hand holds the strings attached to the shell webbing, and one hand holds the gourd handle and pulls.

I love the harmony!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | RSS

Read Full Article

What’s happenin’

Bakwe' Mission on

June is here. The old body knows its alive with the the nose sneezing and running. But its great! My bees are bringing in the nectar! Lisa’s garden looks beautiful! The flowers are busting out everywhere and some of the early crops –the spinach and first batch of lettuce — are already done. Now the strawberries are ripening and the zucchini are six inches long!

In the office I continue to work on the translation of Acts along with other Bakwé related work. Check out the “Ministry” pages of the web site and you will see some more content about the translation process, as well as a list of most of our Bakwé publications. I also have been working on getting ready for my trip out to the Bakwé in August/September. Part of this preparation includes meeting with the men who will accompany me and planning out what we want to accomplish.

Benjamin Nieuwsma will come out again to train my Bakwé colleagues in audio recording. His goal will be to record all the Scripture we have translated so far in audio format. Scott Hieronymus will be coming out for the first time and helping troubleshoot and set up computers and an office network. His goal will be to set things up so that the team can return to original settings without too much help. Dr. Kjell Christophersen will come out again to run a follow-up small business seminar with our Bakwé micro-entrepreneurs. Part of what he will be doing will be evaluating how the first three projects went.

We’ll be keeping you posted via this blog while we are over there, so keep checking back for more info and pictures. Have a great June!

Read Full Article