ICC: Open or Closed Hands and Heart?

There were many poignant moments and experiences during our Intercultural Communications Course. ICC staff member Jack Henderson gave these instructions:

           Everyone stand up. Put your hands out straight before you and clench your fingers tight - like you are on water skis behind a fast moving boat...keep them clenched.

          That is the way we are so often with the plans for our future... we know what it is going to be like and when it is going to happen and what we are going to be doing and no one, no one has the right to change it.

Now open your hands and turn them with your palms up... this is the way of freedom…as we willing, eagerly accept His will for how  He wants to use us, mold and make us – through whom ever He wishes to place over us …..for God is sovereign.

ICC 2012 Summer - Photo Review

Summer 2012 - Intercultural Communications Course 
Staff and participants       Waxhaw NC    July 26-August 24

ICC 2012 Summer  - YouTube Video

Elective session: "Heads, Breads, and Meds - Health Issues,
Maintaining Your Health Cross Culturally" with nurse Peg Janofski.

Guest speaker Sunny Hong via Skype, from Manila, Philippines. Sunny was 
born and raised in Korea as a third generation Christian; her parents took care of 2,000 orphans 
after the Korean War. She runs workshops to help understanding the cultural differences 
especially bridging between the East and the West for Wycliffe/SIL. Her Ph.d dissertation topic 
is multicultural leadership and followership

Visa simulation experience. Peter in foreground is talking with the visa officer, 
while the rest of us await our turn in back of room. My fellow participants offered me the 
chair back there; another time I was allowed a next turn in line by a staff person because
of my age. It first I was taken back by preferential treatment...but finally decided to 
enjoy it. I've been told by a number of persons that my graying hair 
will be a asset abroad...no hair coloring for me! 

Total Physical Response (TPR) session with Language Resource Person 
Anita Warfel. (served in Burkina Faso). I confess I was rather skeptical of TPR that 
calls for physical responses only like pointing to objects, acting out words, etc., no writing 
or speaking the words by learner. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I remembered! 
Here we work on numbers 1-5. After Anita said a number in French and pointed to that 
many bee finger puppets several times,  she called a number  in French and I picked
up that many bees.

Table debriefing and application, practice 
were done following presentations.

We took turns being the scribe for summarizing table discussions 
on flip chart and sharing conclusions with total group.

ICC Summer 2012 - Family Fun Night

After three weeks of hard work during the Intercultural Communications Course, we had a Family Fun Night.

Mr. Turtle opened knock-knock jokes and riddles.

Paper cutting: pilot's wheel from newspaper,
connecting with Psalm 32:8 and letting Christ guide our lives

Paper cut lesson: take "T" out of can't,
connecting to Philippians 4:13.

I think we got 7 children inside one piece of  8.5"x11" paper

Missionary Olympics - Mailing Newsletters: 2 persons from both teams folded paper,
placed  in envelopes, sealed, applied sticker stamp.

Missionary Olympics -Expanding Palate: drink unknown liquid, smile and thank host.

Missionary Olympics - Packing: how many essentials and treasures can you pack in suitcase?

Missionary Olympics - Broaden skills - pick up peanut M and M's with chopsticks.

ICC Inspirations: Aging Gracefully and Strongly

          Another area of inspiration during the Intercultural Communications Course at JAARS is that of  role models  who are aging gracefully and strongly. I've enjoyed eating in the center dining room with course participants and  JAARS staff, hearing their stories, and asking questions. (some are volunteer staff retired from full-time missions).

          An outstanding example aging gracefully and strongly is Bob and Martha Tripp. Both walk at least 30 minutes  day; Martha walks an hour daily and Bob play tennis @ 86. Bob teaches Sunday School weekly and they often go to a Latino flea market on Saturday to distribute Christian tracts. 
          Martha wrote  Jungle Jewels and Jaguars. This book chronicles the unique experiences of living with a remote group of indigenous people called the Amueshas, in the headwaters of the Amazon River -- learning their language, reducing it to writing, establishing bilingual schools, and translating God's Word into the language -- and the joy of seeing the Word change their lives resulting in the development of 45 churches established by the Amueshas themselves.

         It was my privilege to stay the month in the home of Marita Eden, a Eastern Region Recruiter  for Wycliffe Bible Translators and a JAARS board member in her 80's.  Marita bounded up the stairs way faster than I did.   This petite lady usually walks 2 miles in the early morning several days a week and works out at a gym. Her cooking and eating habits were extremely healthy with portion control and normally fruit for dessert. Her home is on the Missions Home register -- Marita feels called to share her home with those preparing to serve or in midst of serving in missions. She was an role model for gracious hospitality.  OK, she was real - had a sweet tooth... and sometimes made oatmeal cookies but with many healthy ingredients. YUM! I appreciate Marita's positive can-do attitude.

        A couple I ate lunch with several times in the JAARS dining room was Ellis & Martha Deibler, 78 and 82, who play two games of table tennis daily. Martha says table table is a better cardio workout than walking.

        Takeaway...choose some regular form of exercise and do it faithfully and choose to eat healthy and moderately. We can enjoy some of life's little pleasures like cookies - best chock full of healthy ingredients.

ICC Inspirations: Blooming How Planted – Single or Married

          A wonderful bonus of the Intercultural Communications Course at JAARS (a nonprofit that provides technical support services—such as aviation, information technology, and media—to advance Bible translation and literacy programs worldwide)  is the opportunity hear from so many missionaries who have served as translators / linguists / support roles around the world. It is a blessing to learn how they are supporting translation and related ministries in a multitude of ways today -- role models blooming for the Lord - both single and married.

          It's been a privilege to observe and talk with a number of ladies (never married, divorced, and widowed) who are joyfully, contentedly, fruitfully productively serving God single. Outstanding examples who have impacted my heart are Jo Shetler (left above) and Amy West. 

          Jo worked with the Balangao people of the northern Philippines. After twenty years of linguistic research, publishing related articles, providing a literacy program, doing medical work and doing Bible translation throughout that time, the New Testament was completed and dedicated in 1982. She was assisted by Balangao co-translators throughout the journey and by colleagues for various periods of time. Those Scriptures have subsequently been printed three times. Now, concurrently with other jobs, Jo is working “long distance” with
 a team of Balangaos and making yearly trips, working on translating the Old Testament. I bought her book, “And theWord Came with Power: How God Met and Changed a People Forever”.
          Now along with colleague Amy West Jo is involved in Scripture Use and World View workshops, Cultural Orientation, Ethno Theology Think Tanks and some Spiritual Conflict Seminars for Wycliffe colleagues and other missionaries. This has taken them over the U.S.A. and on to the Philippines, Kenya, Cameroon, England and Hong Kong. Jo continues to consult on the Balangao OT translation project. She and Amy also do some teaching in the cross-cultural training programs for new members of Wycliffe.
          The question and answer time with Jo and Amy at an ICC singles picnic was most uplifting.

          I've also been inspired from observing and talking with many couples, hearing of their decades of missions work and life together abroad and also stateside in missions support roles. It warmed my heart to see couples walking hand-in-hand to JAARS Center Meeting last week...middle aged and seniors.

          During the last few weeks I've heard of missionary women marrying for the first time at 51, 60, and even 75. (Hey, there's hope for me - for a husband and ministry partner!)  My choice is to bloom 'how' planted as a single till God clearly leads otherwise. It's inspiring to see so many wonderful role models serving God joyfully single AND married.

One gal was unexpectedly blessed with 10 Asian outfits. There were 10 single
ladies @  this ICC...she shared for 8/23. Fun!

ICC 2012 Summer - Week 1 & 2 Video

We are half way through the Intercultural Communications Course 2012 Summer. Click the arrow above to see some of the experiences of  week 1 and 2.  See August 7th post for summary of the course. 

ICC: Intercultural Communications Course & French Church

Knowing how to build and sustain healthy relationships is paramount to success in any multi-cultural global team organization. To help prepare for serving as a missionary in Cameroon, I am taking an interactive Intercultural Communications Course July 26-August 24 in Waxhaw, North Carolina. It is a growing, stretching experience, much evening & weekend homework/assignments, but an awesome course.

The course includes:  Authority Issues; Crisis Management, Security Issues and Contingency Planning; Interpersonal Skills; Language and Culture Acquisition; TCK (Third Culture Kid) Identity and Transitional Issues; Working in Multi-Cultural Teams; Worldview, Spiritual Vitality, and more. Required reading was Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility by Duane Elmer...I highly recommend it.

One highlight of the course is attending an ethnic church the four Sundays during the course, participating in church activities, looking for opportunities to serve the church. It is my privilege to attend the Nazaréene Francophone Church of Holiness (French Congolese) in Charlotte NC along with Paul and Christy Dubois and their children Jessica and Casey, also headed to Cameroon. With their regular children’s church worker out with a new baby, I found my opportunity to serve quickly. 

  Here we are singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" along with book beautifully illustrated by Kadir Nelson. I asked children to suggest motion for various verses - here "He's got the oceans and the seas in His hands." Youngsters helped with the story of "Jonah and the Whale" from both rebus and rhyming pop-up books; they shared their own scenarios for "Running Away" scripture application game where they stepped forward if child in their situation listened and obey, stepped back if child ran away from God. We did action songs "Hallelujah praised ye the Lord" and "Father Abraham" that I had experienced children in West Africa singing and had fish crackers for snack. 

To give added support to the children's ministry here AND other children's ministry workers stateside and abroad (including me), I developed a Children's Ministry Resources page attached to this blog  with mostly free online materials. Click that tab above. I welcome suggestions of additional helpful children's ministry web sites to link (email me @ wkw353@yahoo.com).

Rev. Paul-Jean Olangi, pastor;  Paul and Christy Dubois , KW; Christine Olangi. 

Those were a precious four weeks of worshiping with and learning from our French Congolese brothers and sisters in the Lord. I was extremely relieved to find parts of the services translated into English. Even during the French parts when I didn't understand the words, I sensed God's presence in the blessed intensity of prayer, singing, teaching and preaching. Our hearts were in one accord in worship. Paul, Christy, their children and I so appreciate the warm friendly welcome we received. I leave part of my heart there and hope my schedule allows return visits in the future.