A Taste from Home

We all have tastes and sights and smells that bring up precious memories, don't we? For example, I love the scent of the boxwood plant. The other day, I smelled one and it immediately evoked a sense of happiness and contentment as I recalled the long-gone summer days I spent playing with my brother in Mrs. Cox's pool.

For my kids, apparently the taste that "takes them back" is Coca-cola. Now, I can't say that I love the taste of Coke but some of my kids certainly do. They are particular, though; they don't love just any Coke. They are partial to the particular flavor of the Coke that we can buy in Cameroon (in case you didn't know, the makers of Coca-cola use a slightly different formula for different countries, tailoring the taste of their cola to the particular tastes of the target culture).

It is always a challenge to take kids to the grocery store (no matter what continent you are on!), because they are always so good at spotting the "bargains" in the store that you miss; they also tend to be very vocal in their attempts to persuade you to buy the "bargains" that they've found. Usually, I can manage to say "no" to their suggestions, but this time, it was different.

Our "Taste of Home"

Because this time, Caleb pointed out a particular treasure that he had found: Coke in glass bottles. "Mom," he exclaimed excitedly, "it's like the kind from home!" I was skeptical, but had to see for myself. Sure enough, there they were, Coke bottles that looked just like the ones we often buy in Cameroon. And at the top of the display was this enticing advertisement: "A Taste from Home: Coke from Mexico."

With an ad like that, how could I refuse? So I bought some, primarily to discover if they tasted anything like our Coke from Cameroon. And sure enough, everyone agreed: they tasted like home. And as a result, for a while I had happy, peaceful children reminiscing about Cameroon. That lasted until something else, a stress or concern or annoyance from the world around them, distracted them from their peace.

In all of this, I was reminded of how we need to keep our hearts, minds and bodies focused on our eternal home, rather than on the world that currently surrounds us. Only when we focus our attention on our Heavenly home are we able to truly enjoy this present, physical world as God intended us to. Even more than that, it is only as we turn our eyes on Him and the promise of His Kingdom that we can find true, lasting peace.

Berry Blessings

     Seeing my friend, DeAnna's web page with short, interesting stories about everyday, average activities has inspired me to renew my efforts at blog posts. We had started a series about the various Cameroonian New Testament translations that we have been privileged to support during the years of our ministry, but, after the first post, it became difficult to get all of the details we needed to continue that series. I do hope that Kevin will soon be able to acquire the necessary information so that we can continue the stories of those translations, but in the meantime, my stories will have to do.

     I love how God provides for some of the "little things" in our life. I love picking fruits (and eating them!), and there are several farms here in Maryland that allow people to come and pick their own fruit. However, just when the Maryland fruits were getting ripe for picking at these local farms, we became too busy to get out and pick them! Most of the activities centered around getting Josiah ready, both physically and emotionally, to ship out to Marine Corps Basic Training.

Don't they look yummy!

     But in the midst of all that busy and very emotional preparation, the berries right here in our own backyard were beginning to ripen too. We discovered that there are a LOT of berry bushes, of various different types, scattered about the woods on the edges of the enormous property where we are living at Liberty Church, PCA, and all of them were there, waiting to be picked! So I have thoroughly enjoyed escaping the confines of the house, feeling the summer heat, getting pricked here and there, and getting a bit of exercise too. I suppose we all enjoyed eating the berries as well!

Caleb being silly while "helping" pick berries.

     Thanks, God, for Your "little" blessings! Keep us ever mindful of them, that we would always know how blessed we truly are, no matter what our circumstances might be.

A Focus on Translation: Nzime and Badwe'e

We would like to introduce you to Keith and Mary Beavon. The Beavons came to Cameroon in January of 1976, and began working with the Nzime people. They moved into the home of Joseph Azabor (who later joined them in their translation work) and began learning the Nzime language. As they put it in a recent newsletter:

Joseph Azabor

"In 1976, Mary, Virginia [their daughter] and I began living with the Nzime people, sharing the roof and food of one family. We also exposed ourselves to their language and worldview, learning it in part. It also meant that some of them have had the opportunity to learn ours and maybe God’s, too. (We aren’t sure the two are identical.) Their way of access to the worldview of God is the translation that was our shared passion over many years."

At the Nzime Dedication

After almost 25 years of work among the Nzime people, the translation of the New Testament was completed and dedicated to the Nzime people in 2000.

During their time working on the Nzime language, the Beavons realized that there were many languages that were closely related to Nzime, and they discovered that some of these could use the Nzime translation as a starting point for their own translations.  One of these languages is Badwe'e, a language they came into close contact with when they moved, in 1981, to accommodate their growing family (at this point, they had been blessed with two sons, David and Garth), into the home of the Yangyang family, who were Badwe'e speakers. When the Nzime translation was dedicated, they began working on a translation for the Badwe'e. This New Testament was dedicated to the people in 2003.

Several others assisted them in their work among these two language groups. Mo Perin, from England, worked with them for a time, and they were also assisted by several Cameroonian colleagues: Joseph Azabor and Joseph Mbong with the Nzime; and Samuel Mpiale and 'Janvier' Ekoalea with the Badwe'e, to name a few.

Janvier Ekoalea teaching a Badwe'e literacy class

The Beavons are continuing their work among these people groups. They have worked on producing an audio copy of the Nzime New Testament as well as a catechism that is currently being used by parts of the Presbyterian church. They are also progressing on the translation of some parts of the Old  Testament into Nzime. They have also been working on Old Testament portions for the Badwe'e, and have been asked by Badwe'e believers for a catechism as well.

But there are other language groups that the Beavons long to serve as well, particularly the Njyem, another language related to Nzime. They began the process of learning Njyem in January of 2001, but were largely unable to live among the Njyem people, which has hindered their ability to effectively minister to this people group. Their hope is to soon be able to move into the Njyem area, living in the truck camper that was their home once their children had graduated from high school and returned to the United States.

We first met the Beavons when we arrived in Cameroon in 1993. When Kevin began teaching at RFIS, Mary was a member of the school board and their two sons were both students, David in 12th grade and Garth in 9th. Both of their boys were in Kevin's English classroom, and Garth participated in several of the plays that Kevin directed while he was a student.

Please pray for the Beavon family as they seek to find ways to effectively continue their ministry to the Njyem speakers. Also pray that the Nzime and Badwe'e Scriptures would be powerful and effective in transforming the lives of believers in those language groups.

The Nzime and Badwe'e New Testaments

A Focus on Translation: Introduction

A selection of several of "our" New Testaments from Cameroon

Some time ago, we decided it would be fun to figure out how many New Testament translations had been dedicated in Cameroon by translators whose children Kevin had taught at RFIS. We hoped to gather a copy of each of these translations, so that we could have a concrete record of the impact that our ministry has had over the years.

It turns out that, since our arrival in Cameroon in August of 1993, we have directly supported the completion of New Testaments in eleven different languages. If that sounds like a rather small number to you, stay tuned to this space; over the next several weeks, we'll be sharing some of the stories behind those eleven translations, which will help put into perspective for you the years of effort that has been put into finishing each of those translation projects.

To put all this in another way, our ministry has helped to bring God's Word to 985,000 people in the languages of their hearts. And there are more to come; some other New Testaments which we have directly supported are nearing completion or are awaiting publication, so that number will soon climb to more than 1 million people who now have free access to and understanding of God's Word who didn't when we began our work in Cameroon almost 20 years ago.

We were very encouraged by all this, and we wanted to give you an opportunity to "get to know" these languages groups that have been impacted by our ministry over the years. So, over the course of the next several weeks, we will be posting blog entries that focus on each of these language groups, sharing the stories of the people and the family that worked on the translation project. Hopefully, this will give you a better sense of what each of these books means to the people group that received it. And we hope, as well, that you will be encouraged, just as we were, to hear of all that God has accomplished through your faithful support of our ministry in Cameroon.

To whet your appetite a bit, here is the complete list (roughly in alphabetical order) of the New Testaments that have been (or soon will be) dedicated in Cameroon by families whose children Kevin has taught:

Akoose - Robert and Sylvia Hedinger (and several others)
Badwe'e - Keith and Mary Beavon
Bafut - Joseph and Becky Mfonyam
Kako - Ers and Gerd Ernst
Kom - George and Val Shultz, Randy and Sherry Jones
Kwanja - Martin and Joan Weber
Mbuko - Richard and Sue Gravina
Mofu-Gudur - Ken and Judy Hollingsworth, Jim and Annie Pohlig
Ngiemboon - Steve and Julie Anderson
Nooni - Dave and Cindy Lux
Nzime (or Koonzime) - Keith and Mary Beavon

And soon to be completed:
Wuzlam - Willie and Annukka Kinnaird
Hdi - Lee and Tammi Bramlett

We will be starting this focus on translation series by highlighting the work of Keith and Mary Beavon in the Nzime and Badwe'e projects. We hope you will join us!

Merry Christmas from Wylciffe

The following message and short video was recently posted on the Wycliffe USA web site (www.wycliffe.org), and we thought that we would post it here too. Please remember in your prayers this season all those who are separated from friends and family as they labor around the world to bring God's Word to every tribe, nation and tongue.

Merry Christmas from the Chiltons!

Merry Christmas from Wycliffe What a joy and a privilege to be involved in bringing God’s translated Word to those who don’t yet have it! As you meditate on the significance of the birth of Jesus, remember those for whom Jesus remains a foreigner because they’ve never heard the good news in the language they understand best. Your partnership in the work of Bible translation brings them closer to the God who loves them, providing access to the hope and salvation offered in God’s Word.

PS. If you have trouble viewing the video here, the direct link to it is:

http://www.wycliffe.org/Give/ChristmasGreeting.aspx

The Continued Adventures of Spell Read

Lori has officially begun working as a tutor for Spell Read; she and her first student are zipping right along in their lessons. The program emphasizes phonics in new and unique ways, using repetition to help the brain re-learn the connections between sounds and letters, so those connections can be more firmly established, which makes reading much easier.

Lori and her first student, Gordon

As she was being introduced to the program, which involved having our English phonetic sounds broken down and separated into distinct letter combinations, she discovered that her years in Cameroon being exposed (even rather slightly) to French had impacted her more than she realized. As she puts it:

You see, when I print a "j" alone and ask you for the sound it makes, you'll

probably say something like "jump for joy" or "Jesus is born!" (well, maybe not

all that, but you get the point). However, the "j" that I see printed makes a

much longer, flowing sound, more like "sh", because that is often the

sound it makes in French. When I realized this, I was surprised, but thought,

"That's okay; I can switch back to the English sounds. No problem." But

then more of these non-English, French influenced sounds began to reveal

themselves, and I realized that "switching back" might be more complicated

than I first imagined that it would  be.

As Lori drove to her final training session, it occurred to her that if her minimal exposure to French over the years in Cameroon had "messed up" her recognition of English sounds that much, how much more does our exposure to the world mess up our lives as Christians. We are called to be holy, set apart, unique and pure, fellowshiping with God and listening to His direction in our lives. But as we expose ourselves to the things of this world, we start to loose our ability to hear Him clearly.

Of course, we have to live in the world during this life, doing all the normal things that we need to do to survive and influence others for Christ, just like we had to learn some French to be able to function effectively in Cameroon. The process of learning French has changed the way we speak English in ways we never imagined or intended; we have to be careful that our necessary interactions with the world do not muddy our walk with our Savior. We must stay guarded and choose wisely what we allow ourselves to become involved in, lest we become entangled and allow our mother tongue to get mixed up with the foreign language of the world.

Mommy Learns to Read (again)

After completing high school, college, homeschooling for nine years and teaching a few second graders several years back, you'd think that Lori would have mastered reading quite some time ago. But as we watched Channah develop, Lori noticed her developing some difficulties that had been absent or less evident in our other kids. Though she is very bright and extremely creative, she has struggled with learning to read and her reading ability is below what it should be for her age. Channah's wonderful teacher at Liberty Christian School agreed with our suspicions and requested that she be tested for reading challenges.

Lori and local Spell Read director, Joan Collins

It turns out that mild dyslexia is more common than you might think, and apparently Channah struggles with this in her reading. The good news is that help is on the way! LCS encourages their students who are struggling with reading to enroll in a program called Spell Read, which focuses on retraining the brain to better interpret the phonics used in reading. They have a tremendous success rate with very positive results, boasting of many success stories. If you're interested in the details of the program, you can read more about it on their web site: http://www.pcieducation.com/spellread/default.aspx .

Lori preparing for her first tutoring session

What this all means for us is that Lori is learning the program to become a tutor for Channah and for other students at LCS who need this program. We hope that after this school year when we return to Cameroon, Lori will be ready and able to take the program with us back to Yaounde so that she can help lots of other students who struggle with these kinds of issues.


Please pray for Lori as she finishes up her training and begins tutoring students. And, please pray that we would be able to find the best way to incorporate this training that she has received into the programs that are already in place at the schools in Cameroon, so that this training can be a blessing to our students over there as well as to those that she will be able to tutor here before we return!