Omicron has arrived in Papua New Guinea and has been spreading rapidly throughout our community here in the last couple of weeks. The entire Boyd family here in PNG contracted Omicron over the past two weeks. However, there were no severe cases in our family, and thankfully no severe cases in the community thus far. For all five of us, it was like having a nasty cold. Although we are still coughing a bit, it seems that we are through the worst of it at this point, and we are all able to be back at work and school.
Speaking of school, it has been interesting for Martha and the kids over the past couple of weeks with nearly 30% of the student population out of school on some days as Omicron was surging. It put an extra heavy load on teachers like Martha, who have had to spend hours each day preparing assignments for the kids staying at home. Of course, Martha and the kids also missed some days of school as well, but everyone is looking forward to the coming week in which things will start returning to normal.
As for me (Adam), I was able to keep working on the translation at home even through my Omicron infection, but I had a to miss a couple of days of basketball practice. (This term I am coaching the Middle School boys basketball team.) We started out the term with nineteen players, but on Monday of last week we only had nine because so many were out sick! Then I myself was out for the next two practices. Thankfully, I didn't get sick until after the community men's basketball game with the High School team. Jacob and his team did really well and beat us community men!
Jacob shooting a three-pointer against the community men's team
Please keep us in your prayers as we are truly entering the home stretch of the Enga New Testament translation. Lord willing, any significant revisions will be finished this month, and we will then spend April, May, and June making very minor tweaks as we do our final read-throughs. Pray that nothing would hinder our work.
We are so thankful for your continued prayers and support!
In Matthew 6:22, Jesus makes the following statement: “If your eye is haplous, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is poneros, your whole body shall be full of darkness.” English versions differ on how these two Greek words in red should be translated. The word haplous is generally translated as healthy, clear, or good. The word poneros is generally translated as unhealthy, diseased, or bad. These translations give the impression that if a person's eye is physically in good condition, then that person's whole body will be full of light, but if that person's eye is physically in bad condition, then that person's whole body will be full of darkness. I don't know about you, but I have trouble processing the meaning of those translations and applying it to my life. Does it mean that I need to be especially careful not to miss an appointment with the ophthalmologist? Since I need glasses, does that mean that my body is in danger of being full of darkness? What about people with cataracts? Are they condemned to eternal darkness!? But the translation in the King James Version set my heart at ease: “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” In this verse the King James Version provides a much more literal translation. And although the meaning was still not entirely clear at first glance, I realized that having to wear glasses or even having a cataract will not put me in danger of my body being full of darkness (at least not in a spiritual sense).
The Greek word haplous is the opposite of the Greek word diplous, which means twofold or double. So what Jesus is literally saying is “If your eye is single.” Personally, I like to translate it like this: “If your eye is singular in focus.” In other words, if your eye is singularly focused on God, your whole body will be full of light. So Jesus is teaching his disciples to keep their focus on God and not to allow their attention or their loyalties to be divided. In this particular context, Jesus is speaking about money, and so the more specific application is that we should not worry about how we will get money to provide for the necessities of life. Jesus is telling us to keep our eye singularly focused on God, and God will take care of the rest and provide for all of our needs. As a result, we can freely give our money and possessions to advance the work of God's kingdom, trusting that God will provide for us.
Is your eye evil because I am good?
Jesus goes on to say, “If your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness.” The concept of the “evil eye” was well known in biblical times. It represents an eye that enviously covets what belongs to another. In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. In this parable there is a master of a house who goes to the marketplace at various times throughout the day to hire workers to work in his vineyard. And at the end of the day he pays the same wage to them all, even to the workers that had only worked for an hour. When the workers who came at the beginning of the day start complaining, the master of the house says to one of them, “Is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matthew 20:15). These workers enviously coveted more than what they had agreed to work for, and they were upset by the master's generosity. Consequently, the master of the house suggests that they have an “evil eye.” Thus, when a person has an “evil eye,” he or she is in the grips of greed and covetousness, thinking only of himself or herself. As a result, that person's whole body will be full of darkness. Again, most English translations do not translate Matthew 20:15 literally. Instead of rendering the Greek as “Is your eye evil,” it is translated as “Are you envious,” or “Are you jealous,” or something similar.
Matthew 6:22-23 provides an excellent example of why the work of Bible translation must always be done in consultation with the original Greek and Hebrew text. When we first translated this text into the Enga language, we did so from the English translations. As a result, we ended up with a translation that focused on the physical condition of the eye. However, when I reviewed the Enga translation against the original Greek, I informed the Enga translation team that the Greek actually says single and evil. After learning what the original Greek actually says, the Enga translators easily related the words of Jesus to the following equivalent expression in Enga: “If you live having only one eye burning/shining, you will live having your whole body full of light. But if you live having two eyes burning/shining, you will live having your whole body full of darkness.” They then went on to boldly declare: “People will understand this!” In Enga, the metaphor of “having two eyes burning/shining” is a close equivalent of the “evil eye.” Such a person enviously covets what belongs to others. On the other hand, a person who has “only one eye burning/shining” is sincere and generous, with no ulterior motives. It turns out that the Enga language is better equipped to handle what Jesus taught in Matthew 6:22-23 than the English language is! But we could only see that by directly consulting the original Greek text.
Matthew 7:29 says, “for [Jesus] was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” One of the ways that this comes across in the Sermon on the Mount is by Jesus’ refrain, “You have heard that it was said … but I say to you.” When Jesus taught, he did not rely upon the authority of others, but on his own authority as the Son of God.
While statements like that portray the authority of Jesus in English, the Enga language has additional subtle features that demonstrate the authority with which Jesus spoke. Enga uses various suffixes to indicate whether the speaker saw something with his own eyes or whether he is reporting something that he did not see with his own eyes but only heard about from the reports of others. These sorts of suffixes are used especially when speaking about events in the far past. For example, in Mark 10:1-11 Jesus is talking about divorce with some Pharisees. In verse 3 he asks them, “What did Moses command you?” The Pharisees reply, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” In Enga, the reply of the Pharisees contains a suffix that indicates that the Pharisees themselves did not witness Moses saying this, but that they are reporting what they have heard. But when Jesus responds, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment,” and continues on with his reply, the Enga contains a suffix indicating that Jesus himself was an eyewitness of what Moses said. As the Son of God, Jesus is eternal and omnipresent, and so he does not make statements on the basis of what he has heard from others. Rather, he speaks on his own authority. That is why in John 8:58 he says, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
We are thankful for the subtle ways we can emphasize the authority of Jesus in the Enga language. With the use of one small suffix, Jesus can assert his authority whenever he speaks about events in the past, which is something the scribes could never do.
Jesus taught as one who had authority
Translation Progress The features of the Enga language that I describe on the previous section have taken me nine years to wrap my brain around. There is one suffix in particular that I have asked about repeatedly without receiving satisfactory answers. However, it can be difficult for a person to explain how their own language works, especially when they have never received any formal education in their own language. For example, imagine if a non-native English speaker were to ask you, “Why do you say ‘went’ instead of ‘goed’?” Would you be able to explain why? Most English speakers would know that ‘went’ is correct and ‘goed’ is incorrect, but very few could explain that ‘went’ is actually the past tense of ‘wend’, which was co-opted as the past tense for ‘go’ since ‘go’ never had its own proper past tense (even in Old English). In the same way, when it comes to evidential suffixes, Enga speakers know what is correct and what is incorrect, but they find it quite difficult to explain why one way is correct and the other way is incorrect. Thankfully, after my persistent questioning, one of the team members was able to explain the suffix to me. This visual evidential suffix is just one of many minor points of grammar that we as a team have finally wrapped our brains around after many years at the translation table. So although we have consultant-checked all of the books of the New Testament, we are now methodically reviewing some of these finer points of grammar as we aim to complete the Enga New Testament over the next few months.
Bella, with a friend, in her folklorico dress
Quinceañera Two days ago on December 30, we were able to host a quinceañera for Bella’s fifteenth birthday. In many countries in Latin America, it is customary to have a special party for a girl’s fifteenth birthday. A quinceañera is somewhat similar to the concept of a Sweet Sixteen party in the United States. And perhaps we could even call a quinceañera a “Festive Fifteen.” Thanks to our dear friend Roberta, we were able to get Bella a traditional folklorico dress shipped in from America (right before the postal service was suspended due to COVID). We were also able to get a piñata shipped in from Australia. So Bella had her entire ninth grade class over, and they had a great time enjoying traditional Mexican music, hitting the piñata, and singing fun and silly karaoke songs. It was a great night, and we can’t believe our Bella is now fifteen years old!
While I (Adam) often update you on our work of Bible translation among the Enga people, I know that many of you also like to hear about how the family is doing. So this month, I thought I would give you a brief update on each member of the family.
Don't worry! He wears a helmet when is not posing for a picture.
Jacob Jacob is now sixteen years old and in grade 11. Jacob loves spending time with his friends, playing basketball, and going to the gym. It is safe to say that his basketball skills now far exceed those of his father. (Though his dad can still give him a competitive game of one-on-one.) This year Jacob began working at the Teen Center, which runs a hamburger and fries restaurant experience for the community (when COVID restrictions permit). Jacob has also been learning how to ride a motorcycle (which was gifted to us by a church). He enjoys cruising around center with his friends and is waiting for the day when the motorcycle is finally registered so that he can ride off center a bit. Pray for his mom!
Fiver first place ribbons on Sports Day!
Bella Bella is now fourteen years old and in grade 9. Bella is full of energy and enthusiasm, keeping herself very busy with a variety of activities including choir, piano, drama, and trombone. Like Jacob, she also began working at the Teen Center this year. One of the highlights of Bella's year was her school's Sports Day. Although she was still in eighth grade at the time, she won five first place ribbons and one second place ribbon, competing against all the high school girls up to grade 12. Bella also decided to get baptized in the local river earlier this year, sharing her testimony in front of the community.
Becoming a speed cuber
Asher Asher is now twelve years old and in grade 6, which means that he has moved from the primary campus to the secondary campus. He has been growing like a weed this year and is now five feet, two inches tall. Won't be long before he passes up his mom and his sister! This year Asher took it upon himself to learn the Rubik's cube. He has become quite the speed cuber, consistently being able to solve the cube in under one minute. Asher is also following in his brother's footsteps by playing a lot of basketball. He has made huge strides this year and is able to complete with boys who are several years older than he is. Besides that, Asher continues playing the trumpet and participating in choir.
Teaching the book Hatchet
Martha I won't tell you how old Martha is, but I will tell you that she is doing a great job teaching English to grades 6, 7, and 8. Parents in the community keep telling us how much their children enjoy being in Martha's class. While it would be a big adjustment for anyone to return to teaching after many years away, Martha has handled it very well and is starting to find her rhythm. And although it is a lot of work, she finds great joy in teaching Middle School students not only about English, but also about life and inspiring them to be who God has created them to be.
Doing what it takes
Adam As I searched for a picture to summarize my own year, this one jumped out to me. Although the life of a Bible translator may seem exciting and exotic, most of my time is spent either staring at a computer screen doing tedious translation tasks or washing dishes. But honestly that is what it takes in this season of our life for us to do what God has called us to do and also to serve the Bible translation community. So I do it with joy (most of the time). But when I am not staring at a screen or washing dishes, I really enjoy playing basketball with Jacob and Asher or listening to Bella play the piano while belting out the lyrics to the song she is playing. And I love helping Martha do what she does so that we Bible translators can do what we do. Because if it weren't for teachers like Martha, there would be no translators like me. Speaking of which, we have a great need for elementary school, middle school, and high school teachers here in Papua New Guinea. If you or someone you know would like information about teaching here, please visit http://teachbeyond.org/PNG.
Last month I (Adam) told you that we were in the midst of finishing our final consultant check for the Enga New Testament, which included checking the books of 1-2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. I am pleased to report that we finished the check on Monday, October 11. Thankfully, I was able to fly back home to Ukarumpa on Thursday, October 14. It was good timing because only a few days later, Enga Province was put under even tighter COVID restrictions. Even as I write this, I am in communication with the Enga translation team as to how we should proceed with our work, as public transportation is limited and there is a curfew in place requiring people to leave town no later than 3 p.m. Trying to finish up a New Testament translation is difficult enough, but doing so in the COVID era can really try one's patience!
Although we have finished our final consultant check, we still have some work to do to prepare the translation for publication. As we have been working on the translation over the past eight and half years, there is much that we have learned along the way. The translation team members and I are just now reaching the point where we feel like we have a good handle on the Enga translation process. We have learned so much along the way, and we will be taking the next few months to make minor improvements to the translation, especially to the books of John and Acts, which are the only ones that we have not yet reviewed in depth. Thankfully this process will only take a few months, and we are still planning on having our edits finished by April so that we can begin recording the Enga New Testament at that time. In the meantime, please pray that our work will not be hindered by COVID restrictions or other potential roadblocks. Please also pray for patience and endurance.
Three young girls singing a song in church before my sermon
Sermon on the Radio When I visit Enga I am often asked to preach a sermon in the local church that we attend. I always try to preach in the Enga language. Because my extemporaneous speaking skills in Enga leave much to be desired, I generally write out the sermon in advance so that I have exactly what I want to say in front of me. And because Enga is not my native language, I have to keep things basic and simple.
When I was asked to preach this last time, I felt the Lord leading me to share from Ephesians 5:22-33, which we had just finished checking a few days prior. The topic of the sermon was how men should treat their wives and how women should treat their husbands. It gave me an opportunity to address some common marital problems that are often not spoken about or acknowledged in Enga culture, especially with respect to how men treat their wives. At the end of the sermon I was able to pray for the men and women separately, and ask the Lord to bring healing, especially for the women.
Because this was such an important topic, I decided to record my sermon so that I could post it on the Enga Bible Translation Facebook page for others to hear, which I did later that day. To my surprise, two days later a representative from the local NBC radio station in Enga was at our translation office asking for the sermon so that he broadcast it on the radio. I have since heard from one of the translation team members that the sermon has been played multiple times over the radio. I suppose a foreigner preaching in Enga is a bit of a novelty, so that even a basic, simple sermon like mine is deemed worthy of being played on the radio. I am happy to have it played if it means that some men will reconsider how they treat their wives.
Thank You! Finally, I just want to express our deepest gratitude to you all for supporting us in this work through your prayers and financial gifts. You are truly a blessing to us, the Enga translation team, and the people of Enga!
Greetings from Enga Province, where I (Adam) am in the midst of our final consultant check for the Enga New Testament. I am here for three weeks by myself as we check 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.
While the check is going very well so far, I wasn’t sure if I would even make it here. Last weekend (Sep. 25-26), I was serving as a counselor for the annual youth retreat in Ukarumpa (which Jacob and Bella attended). It was an intense weekend with a full schedule. I was scheduled to fly out to Enga first thing Monday morning, Sep. 27. On Saturday, Sep. 25, however, we received news that our province was imposing new restrictions on Sep. 30. These new restrictions would make return travel to Ukarumpa more difficult (but not impossible). I had very little time to decide whether or not to cancel my trip. Not knowing how long these restrictions might last and having a strong desire to finish this final consultant check, I decided to press on and come to Enga anyway. And three days after arriving I found out that we had been granted travel exemptions that will make my return trip easier.
During our first week of checking we were able to complete 1 Corinthians, which is great progress. I give credit not only to the translation team, who have done a great job in preparing these books, but also to Pastor Joe Perai (pictured below), who is helping us with the check. Pastor Joe is a highly gifted individual with an incredible ability to read Enga, process the meaning, and translate it back into Tok Pisin on the spot. Having him involved in this check makes my job so much easier. He is not one of our translation team members, but he is a member of the community who is reading the translation for the first time and helping us make sure the translation is clear, accurate, and natural. He has already suggested many changes to help improve the translation.
Pastor Joe Perai
Translation Progress Once we finish this consultant check, we will have finished the consultant checking process for all the books of the New Testament! It is the last major hurdle for us as we draw near to completing the New Testament. We still have some final checks to go through, but at this point they are relatively minor. As of now, our plan is to completely finish the checking process by March 2022 and begin recording the Enga New Testament in April 2022. Please pray that nothing would hinder our progress.
Encounter As I mentioned above, last weekend (Sep. 25-26) was the annual youth retreat, which is called Encounter. Nearly all of the high school students from Ukarumpa International School participated in this event, which included times of worship, powerful messages by our guest speaker, prayer, quiet time, games, and other fun activities. As the weekend progressed the kids seemed to be more and more open to the Holy Spirit, culminating with a powerful time of prayer on Sunday night. Many tears were shed as students were hugging one another and experiencing a great sense of unity. One ninth grade girl commented to the group, “It is good that this retreat is called Encounter, because that is exactly what we have experienced.” I thoroughly enjoyed being a counselor for Encounter and was sad that I had to leave early to get on a plane to come to Enga. Needless to say, I was quite tired for the first few days after my arrival in Enga.
Jacob, Bella, and I playing games at Encounter
COVID The Delta variant has now arrived in Papua New Guinea and is spreading rapidly. Since arriving in Enga I have heard many reports of people dying. While the translation team members and I are fully vaccinated, we know that there is still a chance that we can contract a less severe case of COVID, which would not put us at great health risk but would impede our work. There is also a chance that the government could impose restrictions on public transportation, which would make it difficult for us to get to work each day. Please pray that God would allow us to stay healthy during this time and that our progress would not be hindered by any government restrictions. We are so close to finishing now, yet it seems like there are so many things that could potentially stand in the way. But your prayers are powerful and effective!
In the summer of 2010, our family was at the University of North Dakota, where I (Adam) was taking my first round of linguistics courses to prepare for Bible translation work. Overall I did well in the coursework, bu there was one quiz in my Phonetics class that I completely bombed. That quiz was on tone. I had to listen to different words being pronounced and then say whether the tone was rising or falling or high or low or level, and so on and so forth. Throughout high school, college, and graduate school, I don't think I ever did as poorly on a quiz as I did on this one. I just could not hear the differences. (Those who have heard me sing are probably not surprised that I did not do well on the quiz!) And I thought to myself, “I sure hope that I do not end up working in a tonal language.”
Well, the hope that I would not work in a tonal language was shattered when I agreed to work with Enga (although my hope was not shattered completely). Enga is a tonal language, but its tonal system is not quite as complicated as a language like Mandarin. Mandarin has four tones (level high pitch, rising, falling then rising, and falling), and each syllable of a word has one of those tones. So, in Mandarin, tone is associated with the syllable. In Enga, tone is associated with the word, not the syllable. Each word has its own tonal pattern, and there are only three main patterns: level, falling, and peaking (that is, rising then falling). This makes life a lot easier on a tonally-challenged person like me. I still have difficultly hearing the differences, but thankfully I can record Enga speakers and then use software to chart the pitch and see what is happening.
A graph of the level-tone word “yuu” (ground)
Now for a language to be considered tonal, a word's meaning has to be affected by the tone. This means that you can have the same letters in a word, but the tone with which those letters are pronounced changes the meaning. For example, the word dii in Enga changes meaning depending on the tone. If dii is pronounced with a level tone it means fruit. If dii is pronounced with a falling tone it is the command give. If dii is pronounced with a peaking tone it means you gave. So, to communicate correctly, you must pronounce each word with the correct tone. This is particularly important for some words. For example, when the word kenge is pronounced with a falling tone, it means name. But when it is pronounced with a level tone, it means buttocks. So, you have to be very careful when you are introducing yourself to someone and saying, “My name is…” Otherwise you might inadvertently be telling people what your buttocks is called, which would be quite embarrassing (not to mention strange)!
A graph of the falling-tone word “kenge” (name)
While a foreigner like me often has difficulty remembering which tone pattern to use for each word, it comes quite naturally to Enga speakers. As we translate the Enga New Testament, we do not mark the words for tone, because ninety-nine percent of the time, the context is sufficient for determining which word is intended. When context is not sufficient, we can usually figure out another way to say the same thing to avoid confusion. The only case that consistently causes problems is the phrase epena lao, which can mean tell to come or say it is good. There is no good work around for that, and when we record the Enga New Testament next year, we will have to be sure that we are always pronouncing the word epena with the correct tone.
A graph of the peaking-tone word “akali” (man)
You can see from the graphs above that the tone patterns are not perfect. In other words, the level tone is not perfectly level, and the falling tone does not fall at a perfect angle, and the peaking tone does not rise and fall at a perfect angle or with perfect symmetry. Nevertheless, the three patterns are clearly distinct.
So, do you think that you can do better on a tone quiz than I did in my Phonetics class at the University of North Dakota? I have prepared a short video for you so that you can test your skills. Click on the video below to take a very short video quiz in which you will hear three different Enga words. You will hear each word three times, and you will have to decide if it is level tone, falling tone, or peaking tone. After you hear each of the words three times, you will then hear the words again while also seeing the graph of the tone as well as the answer telling you which tone it is. Click below to give it a try.
Well, hopefully you did better than I did on my tone quiz. Please pray that God will use this tonally-challenged person to use the right tone of voice as I communicate with the Enga people.
