What does typhoid feel like?

One of the overseas immunizations we needed before going to Tanzania was Typhoid.  Of all the immunizations we received, this one hit me the worst.  I had the classic side-effects: fever, headache, abdominal discomfort and cramping, nausea, yuck!

Salmonella Typhi bacteria

But that's nothing compared to actually contracting the disease.  The CDC says,

Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi.  Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world, where it affects about 21.5 million persons each year.  Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed Salmonella Typhi in their feces (stool).

You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding Salmonella Typhi or if sewage contaminated with Salmonella Typhi bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid fever is more common in areas of the world where handwashing is less frequent and water is likely to be contaminated with sewage. 

 Here's where it gets personal for us moving to Africa.

One study estimates that in Africa there are 50 cases per 100,000 people, predominantly in young school-aged children.  However, another study conducted in East Africa revealed 650 cases per 100,000 people, again mostly children under ten years of age.

What is the best way to prevent typhoid?
Clean water, hygiene and good sanitation.

It's that easy.

One of the great benefits of language development work in a community is the ability to translate training materials for local officials to use.  We can translate information about health and hygiene into the heart language of people and help prevent the spread of typhoid.  How exciting!!




http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/typhoid_fever/#vaccinated
http://www.jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/19745521/77
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/typhoid/en/

Cool video about Bible translation in Cameroon

This is what I will be doing...in Tanzania, of course.

Patrick in Ireland: A Vision for the Nations

Beyond the myth. Beyond the legend. Just read his own words...

 "I am greatly God’s debtor, because he granted me so much grace." --Patrick

I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement [vicus] of Bannavem Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners.

And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son.

Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven.

For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name.

According, therefore, to the measure of one’s faith in the Trinity, one should proceed without holding back from danger to make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, to spread God’s name everywhere with confidence and without fear.

Patrick 390-461 A.D.

Thus I give untiring thanks to God who kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that today I may confidently offer my soul as a living sacrifice for Christ my Lord; who am I, Lord? or, rather, what is my calling? that you appeared to me in so great a divine quality, so that today among the barbarians I might constantly exalt and magnify your name in whatever place I should be, and not only in good fortune, but even in affliction? So that whatever befalls me, be it good or bad, I should accept it equally, and give thanks always to God who revealed to me that I might trust in him, implicitly and forever, and who will encourage me so that, ignorant, and in the last days, I may dare to undertake so devout and so wonderful a work; so that I might imitate one of those whom, once, long ago, the Lord already pre-ordained to be heralds of his Gospel to witness to all peoples to the ends of the earth. So are we seeing, and so it is fulfilled; behold, we are witnesses because the Gospel has been preached as far as the places beyond which no man lives.  

Behold now I commend my soul to God who is most faithful and for whom I perform my mission in obscurity, but he is no respecter of persons and he chose me for this service that I might be one of the least of his ministers.  

And if at any time I managed anything of good for the sake of my God whom I love, I beg of him that he grant it to me to shed my blood for his name with proselytes and captives, even should I be left unburied, or even were my wretched body to be torn limb from limb by dogs or savage beasts, or were it to be devoured by the birds of the air, I think, most surely, were this to have happened to me, I had saved both my soul and my body. For beyond any doubt on that day we shall rise again in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer.

For the sun we see rises each day for us at [his] command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ’s will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen.  



Taken from The Confession of Saint Patrick, mid-5th century http://www.ccel.org/ccel/patrick/confession

The Tembo and Milia Saga: Part 2

The adventures of Tembo and Milia continue...

Remember, in Swahili,
Tembo means elephant,
Pundamilia means zebra,
and introducing...
Twiga as giraffe.

(if you missed part 1 of the saga, click here
http://gerthfamilytanzania.blogspot.com/2011/10/adventures-of-tembo-and-milia.html)

Oh be careful little translator what you say...#3

"gnashing of teeth"

Sounds simple, right?  But how would you translate these passages into the Keley-i language of the Philippines:

Matthew 8:12, " the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (ESV)


Acts 7:54, "Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him." (ESV- other versions say gnashed their teeth)

In Matthew 8:12, Jesus is referring to the eternal punishment of the wicked.  In Acts 7:54, the mob is about to stone Stephen.

In Matthew 8:12, the word translated "gnashing" is the Greek noun βρυγμός which means gnashing of teeth, used to denote extreme anguish and utter despair of men consigned to eternal punishment in hell; snarling, growling: in the sense of biting.

In Acts 7:54, the word translated "ground" is the Greek verb βρύχω which means to grind, gnash with the teeth; to bite, to chew.

 In the Keley-i language of the Philippines there are three words which could be translational equivalents:

[ngallidih] - movement of bringing the teeth together repetitively, the reason for the movement is suffering or pain

[keletket] - movement of bringing the teeth together repetitively, the reason for the movement is the person is asleep or drunk

[kalat] - movement of bringing the teeth together; to bite

Which word will you choose for your translation of Matthew 8:12 and Acts 7:54?  The same word for each passage?  Different words?  Why?

For Matthew 8:12 the translators chose [ngallidih] which includes suffering as the reason for the gnashing.  But in Acts 7:54, the speakers of Keley-i rejected any attempt of the translators to extend the meaning of the words [ngallidih] or [keletket] to include the idea of anger.  Therefore, the translators chose the basic word [kalat] 'bite' and inserted the idea of anger as the reason for the biting.

A rough English translation from Keley-i would read, "they were biting their teeth together in anger."  This preserves the meaning of the original language and is acceptable in the target language.

BUT THAT'S JUST ONE WORD!!!!!

Please pray for Bible translators around the world.



{this data was taken from Hale, Austin and Lou Hohulin and Heather Kilgour. 1981. Lexical sets and semantic neighborhoods. Notes on translation. 86.2-14.}

Passport Circus

We received our passports!!!  Yay!  All 6 of them.  We're ready to get on a plane for Tanzania.

But it wasn't a simple process.  Here's the drama...(get ready to laugh!)

First, we needed passport photos.  So we went to a local drugstore that advertised "passport photos" but they informed us that we would have to remove our glasses.  We think that's silly since we wear our glasses all the time.  AND we each had passport photos taken years ago with our glasses on.

So we found another drug store and they said, "oh yeah, whatever you want, that will be fine."  After lots of dollars we received very pretty photos.

Then we scheduled an appointment with the post office to submit our applications.  We juggled around my class schedule and the kids' nap schedule to find a block of time for 6 applications.  The appointment was scheduled three weeks in advance.

Then we filled out the 6 applications that were each 3 pages long.

Finally, it was the big day.  We walked into the post office with our four children and....the person who processes the applications was out sick, for the whole week, and they didn't call us.  The next available appointment was not for three weeks.  However, there was another post office 20 minutes away that accepted walk-ins.

So back in the car, drove to the other post office, stood in line (with our four children), finally reached the counter and the agent sighed, "these photos are terrible!  All of them are unacceptable.  I can't process your applications.  You need your glasses OFF."  Oops.

Here are the rejected mug shots:

We couldn't go back to the original photo place because it was 20 minutes away.  Therefore we found another location of the same franchise and explained our situation.  They gladly retook our photos and sent us back to the post office.  Unfortunately, it was almost time for Ben's class so after waiting in line for 15 minutes, we had to leave.

Later that evening, we received a phone message from the post office informing us that our applications would be cancelled because we did not finish them on the same day we started them.  AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Day 2:
We went to the post office first thing in the morning with our new photos, expecting to fill in brand new applications.  Thankfully, the applications were still in queue!  BUT, three of the new photos were still unacceptable.

AARRRGGGG!

Back to the drugstore for the third time.  You'll never guess what we heard, "Oh, I'm sorry, we can't find our camera today."

WHAT!?!!??

So we found yet another drugstore of the same franchise in another city and retook the photos, again.

We walked back into the post office a little slower this time, wondering what else could possibly go wrong.  But, miraculously, everything was accepted, the applications were submitted and we should receive our passports in six weeks.

Well, miraculously, they arrived in two weeks and they look fantastic.

But as we reflect on that circus, the most profound miracle of God's grace was that Jeannette and I never cried, we never yelled at anybody (although I got a little forceful with the post office agent), and Jeannette and I didn't fight.  We just laughed in shock and wonder and hugged each other.

It was a great opportunity to share with our children that God is sovereign.  God knew where that camera was, God knew that the first guy would be out sick, God knew that our applications would be held overnight.  God knows everything.  God is in control.  God is wise.  God is with us.

We pray that our attitude will be the same when we encounter this same circus in Tanzania.

If it hurts, it isn't love

So I was browsing through the local library the other day and I discovered the "religious" section.....one shelf.  I noticed several self-help, I-am-my-own-best-friend type novels and then my eye caught this title: If it Hurts, It Isn't Love.

Curious.

My first reaction to a new book is to flip it over and read the bio of the author.  I want to know if he or she is credible or not.  The author is Chuck Spezzano and he is a PhD (in what??) who leads seminars and workshops.  Oh yeah, and he lives in Hawaii.

MmmmHmmmmm.

After skimming the introduction and a couple chapters, I found this passage:

If it hurts, it is not love.  Only our needs hurt; only not getting what we want hurts.  Love cannot hurt, because it is a feeling of contact that brings joy.  When we do not get our needs met, it hurts. (204)

Really?

But what about John 11.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.  So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."  But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Therefore, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Ouch!  That hurts!  Mary and Martha cry out to Jesus but Jesus lingers.  Jesus' good friend Lazarus is sick and dying but Jesus stands still.  Ouch!  But look...Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus.  Notice the progression: Jesus loved his friends, therefore he waited.  It was an act of love.

How?  Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead for four days.  That way, when Jesus raised him up it would be undeniable that Jesus was sovereign, all-powerful, wise, good, loving GOD.  Therefore, the waiting caused his glory to shine even brighter.  The waiting caused his power to be seen even clearer.  The waiting caused Mary and Martha and the disciples to trust Jesus even more deeply and treasure him more supremely.

That's LOVE!

The Raising of Lazarus 1310 Duccio di Buoninsegna

John Piper has said, "love does not mean making much of us or making life easy. It means making us able to enjoy making much of him forever—no matter what it costs." (Don't Waste Your Life)

Or consider Paul. (II Cor 12)

a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Ouch!  That hurts!  Paul was in pain: physically, emotionally, spiritually.  But Jesus refuses to remove the pain.  Because Paul's weakness caused him to trust Jesus even more deeply and treasure Jesus more supremely.

That's LOVE!

Finally, what about Romans 5:8, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Ouch!  That hurts!  The most horrific, painful, agonizing torture was an expression and result of love.  The only way for us to be able to enjoy making much of God was for God to remove our bent toward self-worship and self-destruction.  This is what he accomplished when Jesus took our sin and died.  And now that Jesus is the Risen King we can be forgiven of our sins, we have no fear of death, and we are free to worship Jesus and delight in Jesus and pursue Jesus.

That's LOVE!
I pray that Dr. Spezzano will be stunned by the magnitude of Christ's painful, life-giving love for him and that he will surrender to Jesus as Rescuer, King and Treasure.