Update from the Vanderkoois
posted by Mark and Diane Vanderkooi
September 15, 2006 on 10:43 am | In letters |Dear family and friends,
Tomorrow the MAF Cessna is supposed to resupply us and bring mail and a CD with emails - the first we have received in over a month. That being the case, it is auspicious occasion to send a brief update of our doings.
- The rainy season is almost over - something as momentous for us as, say, the end of winter in the northern states and Canada. During the last three months our yard has been overflowing with flowers and vegetables and greenery. From here on out we can anticipate 8 months of increasing degrees of brownness and deadness. You may well guess at our disappointment.
- Diane and her lady co-workers have been having a positive impact on Kwong women via their weekly radio program. It is an extremely difficult undertaking as her co-workers are mostly illiterate, but the effort is paying off. A couple days ago word came from a lady in distant village which we could never visit at this time of year saying “please keep on doing this.”
- Mark and his men finished translating 1 Peter in August, and as of half way through September, Colossians is half done. Their many years of working on the Kingdom of God theology is paying rich dividends in the speed, accuracy, and efficiency with which they are able to translate the New Testament now.
- We are awaiting Laurent’s decision as to whether he will remain with the translation committee or go back to school. If he goes back to school, the translation effort will be dead in the water — just as it is getting going again in a serious way. The next two weeks are critical. PRAY that he stays with us. (The other “translators” are incapable of doing good translation - they mostly just sit and watch Laurent.)
- We continue to be stunned by the effectiveness of the radio station and by the excellent men we have to operate it in a most professional way with only minimal effort on our part. Most recently, we discovered that, of all people, the chief’s hench men (who really aren’t that sinister, but they are pretty scruffy) listen to our morning broadcast - which is little more than a Bible study and couple hymns. And we were wondering whether anyone listened to the morning broadcast.
- Mark seems to have vanquished the pigs which wreak havoc on our airstrip each rainy season in their quest for the juicy foot-long earthworms Chageen is so famous for (at least in pig lore). After years of pleading with the chief (who owns most of the pigs) and in some years spearing up to 40 of the critters (a very messy affair), we have hit on nose rings - basically a giant copper staple which goes through the plenum of their ugly snouts and makes it painful to root. Many thanks to Adolph Miller of Dekalb who hit upon the solution and bought the nose rings.
- The Kwong, for whom kicking a kitten across a room, breaking a goat’s leg, and otherwise abusing animals in the most horrible ways is normal, have surprised us again. This time, Diane watched in amazement as the women gently shepherded a pregnant SCORPION to safety at the edge of the field they were cultivating. The ironies of this place never cease. (How, in any case, do you tell a pregnant scorpion from a non-pregnant one?)
That’s the news from Chageen. We hope to get more email on the 25th of September. If you care to respond before then, we would love to hear from you.
Mark and Diane Vanderkooi