Home Sick (by Jennings)

(or "How we came to visit family in the U.S. for the holidays, and I ended up bald and living in my parents' guest room")

NB: I wrote this piece back in March 2019, when I was still reeling from the news that I had a recurrence of endometrial cancer, as a metastasis, and that I would need 4 months of chemo and radiation and might need to stay in the U.S. for 2 years. At the time, I wondered if I would ever see our home in Bunia again. My deepest fear was that our life there was over, and I was in shock at that idea. I wrote the following post in the midst of those thoughts and emotions. I'm posting it now because it expresses much of what I love about our Congolese life.

What "coming home" looks like, every day, in Bunia

October highlights - Conflict, Ebola and language use

In mid-October, Douglas and Bagamba were invited to the office of the Governor of Ituri Province (a few hundred yards from our office in Bunia) to participate in a meeting on the Ebola outbreak. They were asked to give advice on the best languages to use in different areas, in order to make sure people are understanding important information about the disease.

About one million people in Ituri Province speak the Lendu language. The Lendu Bible has been available for two years. Although it was produced by another organization, we knew the translators and one of them is now part of our translation consultant team. In addition, Bagamba understands the language, due to having spent part of his childhood in the Lendu area. Recently he visited a Lendu-language church service that started in Bunia a few months ago (photo above).

Services at this chapel were held only in Swahili and in French until this year, when many Lendu speakers fled to Bunia because of violence in their villages. The leaders of this church realized that many of these displaced people did not know Swahili or French, and started a third Sunday service to minister to them in their own language. This service has become very popular among Bunia residents, including among people who understand Swahili and even other local language better than Lendu!

Unlike most other denominations in Bunia, this church has the custom of confessing their faith each week using the Apostle's Creed. But Bagamba noticed that they said the creed in Swahili. They have the Bible in Lendu, but this brief but important text is not yet available in their language. Bagamba is looking into having a faithful translation of the creed prepared for use by this congregation -- and why not by others?

Building capacity, and relationships, a trip to Isiro, by Jennings (with a few lines from Douglas)

Our cadre of consultants and consultants-in-training! (Minus two who could not attend.) You will notice I'm the only woman... ask me what I think about that, sometime! 

The other day at the office, I (Jennings) greeted a colleague had just returned from an IT conference that had been deeply encouraging and stimulating for him. It wasn't just - or even primarily - the technical aspects he appreciated, but getting to know other IT people in our organization. "It's all about relationships," he said. I had to think about that... it isn't how I normally think of work here, even when it's called "ministry". But, in fact, building relationships is the essential part of what we are all doing, and we forget that at our peril.

Last month, I spent 3 weeks in the area around Isiro, a more humid, forest-y area. (Bunia is in a hilly, savanna area.) For two weeks, we had a capacity-building workshop for translation consultants and consultants-in-training. There were 16 of us -- 4 expats and 12 Congolese -- at a center outside of town. We debated strategy, discussed best practices for consulting, learned new software techniques, and talked about relating and working cross-culturally.



But perhaps the most important thing about the two weeks together was that we were able to bond as a team. The workshop leader led us in an extended time of prayer one night, where everyone had the chance to share what was on their heart and to be prayed for. We had lots of down time, to play games, take walks and watch movies. Participants commented on how much it meant to them to feel cared for, and to be able to speak openly.

Tembo New Testament received with much joy! (by Jennings)

(This post is taken from a recent newsletter, but with more photos and description.)

After more than 20 years of linguistic work, literacy classes, translation and checking, war and insecurity, the Tembo people now have the entire New Testament in their language! Praise God!!

The dedication ceremony was held Oct. 7, in the city of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Tembo home area is actually several hours away, in another province. But the project moved to Goma around 15 years ago because of militia fighting in their home area, a knock-on effect of the genocide in Rwanda. The situation in the Tembo homeland is still dire at times… villages burned, pillaged, people attacked, raped, killed.

Translator Robert Mwanjale (far right) in the village of Ziralo, distributing the book of Genesis.

Goma has not always been much safer. The Tembo continued working there in 2002, after a volcanic eruption that sent lava through the center of town, and in 2012, when the city was taken over by Rwandan rebels.

Road to the Goma airport, with the volcano Mount Nyiragongo in the background. Lava from multiple eruptions covers much of the city and surrounding area.

Goma, city of over 1 million people

The Tembo community in Goma is strong and cohesive, and they have been very supportive of the translation project. They attend literacy classes in Tembo and teach their children to speak and read the language, even though Goma is dominantly Swahili. There are weekly radio broadcasts in the Tembo language, including songs, Scripture readings and preaching. Tembo people from all over the area call in to comment and to send greetings over the radio to family who are scattered. The Tembo translators and literacy workers make regular visits to the home area despite the danger. (Recently, two Tembo project workers were robbed and roughed up by militia on their way home from a trip.)

The Tembo had always planned to hold the dedication in the town of Bunyakiri, where the project first started. But due to insecurity and bad roads, they decided to have it in Goma, for the safety of visitors and to thank the Goma community for their support.

Thousands of people came to celebrate, dance, and hear Scripture in Tembo. Several of us attended from our Bunia office, and others came from Kinshasa, Kenya, the U.S. and Europe. It was a joyful celebration from start to finish!

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer (by Jennings)

In Matthew 13.12, Jesus says, "Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." The first time I checked this with a translation team, I asked them if the saying was clear to them. Oh yes, they said, we have a similar saying in our language. Great. But in this context, Jesus is speaking in a spiritual sense, not about money. Is that how a reader/hearer would understand it? No, they would understand it to be about money. Because that is clearly true.

Do people use the New Testament in their mother tongue? (by Douglas)

This is one of the hardest questions we face as we support Bible translation projects. Will people actually read the completed Scriptures? What affects whether or not these New Testaments are used?

In eastern Congo, the only published New Testament our group has seen so far is in the Fuliiru language. But several other New Testaments either are in press right now, or will be published in the next few years. Naturally, we want to know what kinds of factors affect whether or not people read them, so we can prepare as well as possible.

Ten thousand copies have been distributed; is their message being heard?
Do people find the words 'sweet', or are the books only a curiosity?

This was the work of the Strategic Research Team (Dr Bagamba Araali and me) -- to design and oversee the collection of interview data among the Fuliiru people themselves.

To get to the Fuliiru translation office in Kiliba, Bagamba and I traveled by air, sea, and land. On 20 August we flew to the town of Goma, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu. The next morning, we crossed the lake in a "rapid boat" (« canot rapide »).

Bukavu is on the southern shore. The photo below was taken from the window of a restaurant where we ate on our return trip.

In Bukavu we met the research team, pictured with us in Kiliba: Rév. Mbirize Masumbuko (Fuliiru Language Program Director); Feston and Malega, two other translators who have worked with him on the Fuliiru Bible now in draft; and six other Fuliiru pastors and Christian leaders. Mbirize is in the top left of the photo, Malega is next to me, and Feston is the only one in the "middle row".

The field researchers with Mbirize, Bagamba, Douglas and a guy in a football jersey.

The best road from Bukavu to Kiliba passes through Rwanda. I hadn't ever thought that my first visit to Rwanda would last less than one hour -- much less my second visit, six days later! Bagamba and I rode in the front seat of the van in this photo. The white sign wishes us a good trip in English, French and Kinyarwanda.

After re-entering Congo, we dropped off pairs of researchers at various places on the way to Kiliba, arranging for them to meet us after five days of interviews in a total of about twenty villages. Madame Tulizo, whom you see here, is the widow of a pastor.

Saying 'see you later' to Mama Tulizo

Tulizo testified that people in the chapel she serves used to be hesitant to pray in public. They didn't have all the vocabulary they needed in their own language, and they weren't sure how to use the Swahili words that they had heard. Since people started receiving teaching from the Fuliiru New Testament, though, there are always enough volunteers to pray in Fuliiru, and the contents of their prayers are theologically rich.

When walking with a camera, I often trailed behind Bagamba and Mbirize. On the left, we're going to the translation office shortly after our arrival in Kiliba. There were two cozy guest rooms, complete with solar power. On the right, Bagamba goes with Mbirize to see Lake Tanganyika up close.

The office is a few hundred yards above a Pentecostal church. On the other side of the road is the turnoff for a famous sugar factory; however, some of the factory equipment was damaged in the war and it is no longer in operation. I took this photo while waiting for the bus back to Bukavu.

But what did we find? More after the break...

Ndruna Service for Mobilization

The Ndruna New Testament has been translated and is set to be published next year! In May, our colleague Dr. Bagamba led a service at a local church, using the Ndruna language and Scriptures, to help get people excited about receiving - and using - the New Testament. They also hope to continue with the Old Testament, which will require much support from the Ndruna people.

Veteran translator shows his true feelings for the Ndruna Scriptures, before breaking into song.

The service opened with Mr. Avuta Mboudhu, who has worked his whole life translating the New Testament and hymns into Ndruna, his mother tongue. He read a passage of the translated New Testament. You can see in the photo above how excited he was, and the congregation cheered. Then he started a Ndruna praise song, and the whole room jumped to their feet to sing along, clap and dance. (**See an update at the end.)     

April 2015 Group Meetings



The whole group



In April, our group - spread out over several countries and three continents - met in Uganda for 10 days of spiritual retreat and business meetings. Here are a few photos from that time together:

Home Away From Home (by Jennings)

Tomorrow I go to Goma for another 2-week visit with the translation team. When I was leaving from my last visit, in December, one of the team members (far right below) said aloud what I was also thinking: it was actually hard to say good-bye. We've always had a friendly relationship, but we've spent so much time together now that there is a depth to that relationship that wasn't there in the first years. I was deeply touched when he said that... and a little scared... great, another chance to suffer, more people to miss. But that's part of the deal, a blessing that is precious and painful.

Goma update - December 2014 (by Jennings)

A few highlights from my latest trip to Goma, to check Hebrews with the Tembo team.

The Nyanga delegation, including one of the original translators (far right)

Healthcare Among Friends - Part 2

Another tale of friendship and surgery, this one far more serious. You will notice that, as in the last post, there are a lot of "as it happens" in this story. Lots of happy coincidences. Some of these I attribute to the fact that Congolese society is highly networked and inter-dependent, with lots of unexpected connections between people I never would have guessed knew each other. I also can't help but see God's hand in how things came together. Here's the story:

The head translator for one of the projects we work with, Pierre, had known for some time that he needed prostate surgery. He lives up north in an area that does not have great hospitals. But a couple of hours outside of Bunia, in a town called Nyankunde, there is a very good hospital, furnished and supported by Samaritan's Purse. It is well-known throughout the region. That is where Pierre hoped to have this surgery.

Pierre, head translator for the Bible in his language. During tea time at the translation office.

Healthcare Among Friends (Part 1)

A few months ago, I (Jennings) noticed a sore on my face that wouldn't heal, and I began to be suspicious of it. Back home in the U.S., I would call or email my dermatologist to make an appointment; the spot would be removed (if needed); and the insurance company would have sorted out how much I owed (perhaps a hundred dollars or more).

Here, it works differently. Here, you use the friend network.

Friendship and gratitude

When Douglas lived in Congo in the 90s, before the war, he became good friends with a pastor and his wife. Their son Blaise was gifted in school and wanted to study medicine, so Douglas agreed to help pay his expenses. That was some 10 years ago, before we got married.

Since then, our pastor friend was given a post at Shalom University as chaplain, which brought the couple to Bunia, where we live. They have been some of our very best friends in town, though we don't see them as often as we'd like. Blaise is still in medical school, in a faraway city, Kindu. It has taken longer than expected for a variety of reasons - none of them his fault - and he has persevered and done well. Just before Christmas, Blaise came to Bunia, and the three of them came to our house for a celebration.

Snapshots of December 2013

A few photos from December in Bunia. This is a wood carving of the Nativity (it's hard to make it out in this photo, sorry) that we bought from a local artist. I had been decorating the house with Christmas cards we received from the U.S. in previous years, and I was struck at how, well, white all the figures were - the angels, Jesus, Mary. It made me appreciate all the more this depiction of Jesus in an African context, in African art.

Confronting Congolese Doubts about Local Language ("Mother Tongue") Development and Bible Translation

A few weeks ago, President Joseph Kabila came to town for a few days. Among the groups he planned an audience with was UNADI, a coalition of 21 ethnic groups. They are concerned that their parliamentary representatives (MPs) serve their party and not the people they represent. So these ethnic communities wanted their representatives to talk with the president about how they can help themselves without relying on government. They voted on 3 people to represent them in that meeting. One of them was Douglas' partner and our dear friend, Dr Bagamba Araali.

Bagamba and Douglas in front of the Bible translation office in Bunia

He and the representatives arrived where President Kabila was staying at 7 AM, as instructed. And they waited....

Perseverance: the life of a Bible Translator (by Jennings)

     In September, I was scheduled to work again with the Tembo translation team. Because of recent fighting in Goma, where they live, we asked them to come up here to Bunia. We planned to check 1 and 2 Peter and James. This time, we were joined by a Congolese consultant-in-training, Dr Londroma. Though still officially "in training" as a consultant, he is far more experienced than the rest of us: he worked for 30 years as a translator on the Lendu Bible, which was completed last year. His knowledge gave us a broader understanding of the translation process. With his help, we finished our planned checking a week early (!) and started on 1 Corinthians. It was a pleasure to work alongside him and to benefit from his experience.
He was also able to joke around with the translators in a way that I - a foreigner and a woman - will probably never will be able to. It was a sweet thing to see how comfortable they are with each other.

     But perhaps the greatest blessing Dr. Londroma brought us was his perspective on life as a Bible translator.
  
     As we were sharing prayer requests at the end, one of the translators asked for prayer for “perseverance”. We all knew what he meant. Already this year, two project members have had to move because their rent went up; they are not always able to pay school fees and medical bills; and – just last month – their city was bombed in fighting between a militia group and the army. Some of their neighbors were hurt or killed. The fighting has raised both the level of stress in people’s lives and the cost of living.

     None of these are new issues; insecurity and financial difficulties have always been part of their daily life in Goma. When we're together, they update me (often reluctantly... they don't like to "bother" us with these problems) and we pray. This time, however, was different, because we had with us a Congolese translator with 30 years' experience. He can hear them, and he can truly relate in a way that I cannot. He knows what it is to live on little or no financial support; he has lost a son to ethnic conflict; he has seen others with his qualifications earning much more and receiving more honor. He shared his stories with them. He encouraged them to depend on God, to persevere, to be ready to suffer for Christ, to be humble, to accept that translators do not receive the recognition that pastors and other church staff do. He also urged them to look for other ways to support themselves financially and to prepare for the future. He could speak to them as one who knows what their lives are like and who has suffered as they do, because of the conviction that his people needed the Scriptures in their language. By the end of the meeting, there were tears in all our eyes.

     This is an encouraging glimpse of what we are working toward: Congolese translators working with Congolese consultants, who are able to understand and speak to them in ways that expats cannot. I thank God for this.

Going for Bread Shortly After Dark (by Jennings)

There's a shop on the corner, about a 5-minute walk from our house, that sells fresh bread. We often go by at the end of the day to get a baguette or a small loaf to have with dinner and for breakfast the next day.

Generally, we try not to walk outside the compound after dark. But the bread shop is close by, on a busy street, and I'm starting to feel enough a part of the neighborhood that I don't worry too much. It's become something of a small social outing, greeting people along the way: strangers hurrying home before dark, and people doing various jobs.

A typical night's walk:

At the gate to our compound, I meet our neighbor, Daniel*, who lives in the other side of our house with his son, two dogs and four puppies. We talk about the puppies (which ones are thriving, which are not, which ones he'll give to friends, which one he'll keep); the current measles and polio vaccine program that his employer is holding in conjunction with other NGOs throughout Congo; the helicopters flying overhead, part of a military offensive against a local militia leader (not in Bunia, outside of town).

By now it is quite dark. Daniel wonders if it's a good idea for me to go out, and I say I know everyone between the house and the store, so I'll be fine. He laughs, "You're at home."

First on the path is the kiosk owned by Joe, a sweet-faced young man who always has a friendly greeting for us. We've gotten into the habit of "keeping each other's debts" - he'll let me take some oranges without paying, then when I pay he'll give me back all but 200 francs which he gives me the next time I stop by, etc. This is part of building relationships here: you help me, I help you. Trust is built.

Next, the stylish young ladies from Kinshasa who run a beauty-supply store / bar. They are always friendly, and they wonder why I feel the need to wear a skirt all the time (Congo modesty). I'm a little envious... their capris look comfy.

Then I pass the gates to a UN compound and to the local electric company. I try to always greet the night guards... they can be highly valuable friends in a time of need. ("Bon soir." "Bon soir, mama.")

Then more small kiosks, including Mama Josephine, who owns The People's Fishmongers'. She is in a choir with a good friend of mine, and we usually talk about whether or not this friend is traveling or in town.

Then the money changers, 5 or 6 of them sitting around two tables with beach umbrellas, eating fruit and drinking beer, with stacks of francs on the table and dollars hidden underneath. They're a bit of an intimidating group, but friendly. I imagine their job is not the safest, so I try to be kind. I stop to change a large US note into small notes and some Congolese francs, and we chat a bit. 

One points at my left hand: "Say, mama, why do you have two rings?" 
"One is for engagement, one is for marriage." 
"Ah."

Then a row of motorcycle taxis. I only know one of them, Jimmy (I picked him out early on because he wore a helmet, which somehow made me think he would be a safer driver, and he is), but I try to greet them all in a general way so that no one feels snubbed. Some return greetings in French, some in Lingala, some in Swahili.

Finally, I get to the bread store. One of the ladies there knows me pretty well. She'll get out a baguette for me when I walk in, and we make a little small talk. ("Mama, you really sweat a lot, don't you?") But tonight it's a different girl, and when I ask, in French, "Baguette?" She shakes her head and says "Swahili." So I make my best guess at the Swahili equivalent: "Uh... bageti?" None tonight, so I get a sliced loaf instead.

As I leave, the money changers stop me. They need more information about the two rings. Here goes: "In our culture, the man doesn't give a gift to the family of the woman he wants to marry. Instead, he gives a beautiful ring directly to the woman. Then when they marry, they give each other another another ring." 
"Ah, okay."


In front of Joe's kiosk, there are now several motorcycles and a group of men. One of them says, "Bon soir, muzungu." I still bristle a bit when people call me that, rather than "mama" or "madame", which seem more culturally appropriate. So I pretend I don't hear him. I think later what I could have said: "Bon soir, papa" (to show him that I know how to speak respectfully), or "Bon soir, Congolais" to be funny (probably unwise).

Still so much to learn. But it is deeply satisfying to feel that, at least in some ways, I know this little corner of Congo, and it knows me.

*all names are pseudonyms

Goma Friends

You may have heard about the fighting in eastern DRC recently between a rebel militia called M23 and the Congolese government and UN forces. We heard last night that M23 were attacking the city of Goma, where the Tembo translation team live. One of the translators sent a text message to say that he and his family were hiding under their beds as they could hear gunshots and shelling nearby. This morning we heard that M23 had taken over the city of Goma. We are quite concerned for the safety of our friends, and for the future of Goma and the North Kivu region. I wanted to write today just to ask for prayer for them, and to share some photos of our friends there, so you could attach faces to the names. Thanks.

Here are a few links to recent articles:

Congo Rebels Enter Goma, Report Says
M23 Rebels Capture Goma

Head translator Rev Masumbuko Shabani and family: wife Nadine, children Esperance, Jacques and Josue. He just finished a 2-year graduate program in Bible translation at Shalom University-Bunia and moved back to Goma about 2 months ago.

Translator Jimy Ndeshi, his wife and their youngest boy (named Douglas, in our honor). Very dedicated and hard-working. Wants to be a consultant one day so he can help other languages have the Scriptures.

Translator Robert Mwanjale, his wife, and their youngest boy. Also very dedicated and hard-working.

The Morachi family. Morachi is the nightguard at the office and he and his family take care of me when I'm there (cooking, cleaning, hauling water from the lakeshore)

Rev. Batasema Nganga, project director and head of literacy, and his wife

Rev Rasi, one of the first members of the project, now head of external relations, and his wife. A very kind and godly man.

Two of Morachi's children, Safi and Reponse, with Mwanjale's baby

Cultural note: In photos, Congolese tend to prefer to look dignified rather than happy and smiling. It does not mean they are not happy.

 Ironically, the Tembo team moved to Goma several years ago for safety. Their home area is under frequent attack by another rebel group, the FDLR. I have never been to the Tembo home area and do not have any photos of them. In May, Jimy Ndeshi's sister and other relatives were killed in a massacre there.

I am constantly amazed at all that Congolese people endure, and yet they keep going.

What does that mean?

With part of the Exegesis class from this summer

In July, I (Jennings) co-taught a course on "Exegesis for Translators" to 14 translators from Tanzania, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Guinea Bissau. Basically, exegesis means discovering the original meaning of a text in its historical context. In Biblical exegesis, we're trying to understand what the original authors meant and how the original audience would have understood them. Of course our understanding will always be limited, but with study - and the help of the Holy Spirit - we can we understand more than without.

One of the biggest obstacles to understanding (and translating) correctly is assuming that you understand something when you actually don't, because you don't understand the context. This became vividly clear when we studied figurative language. The Bible is full of figurative language: hyperbole, euphemisms, litotes, synecdoche, metonymy and... metaphors.

We looked at several metaphors in Scripture and analyzed what the point of resemblance was and what was being communicated. For example, I Peter 1:24, "All mankind are like grass." The topic (mankind) and the image (grass) resemble each other in that both are short-lived and perishable. So, what is being communicated is that the human life does not last for long.

Then I had them think of common metaphors from their own language, and the rest of us would try to guess what they meant. It came down to what the salient quality is, in our minds, of the thing that something or someone is being compared to. For example, one of the students said that in their language they might say "Women are like sheep." We tried to guess what that meant. In my culture, sheep are meek, they're fluffy, they're followers, they're innocent (ex "wolf in sheep's clothing"). But in this man's culture, sheep are thought of as forgetful. So, "Women are like sheep" means "Women are forgetful." See how easy it could be to create a misunderstanding?

Here are a few others from the class, for fun.

1) "That child is a tortoise."
2) "He goes like water."
3)"This child is a cow."
4) "That man is a solitary monkey."
5) "She is a chicken."
6) "That man is a crow."
7) "Shaasa is a person."

 A couple that are proverbs:
8) "A man is medicine."
9) "To be big is to be a stone."

Answers after the jump.

Lessons (by Jennings)

Three times a week, a pastor comes to give me Swahili lessons. He is a very experienced teacher and has been teaching Swahili - and sometimes French - to missionaries for many years. He will have me read through a passage of Scripture, then we'll go through it slowly, picking out new vocabulary. When we come across a grammatical structure that I'm unfamiliar with, he gives me a mini-lesson and has me practice it.
In addition to being a good teacher, Pastor is one of the best story-tellers I know. He also has great cultural sensitivity, and some of the best "learning" of our time together comes from impromptu discussions of culture.
One morning recently, I saw him coming through our front yard walking very... slowly... taking baby steps, it seemed. I rushed to the door, concerned that he was ill.