We also visited friends 30 miles (but over two hours' drive!) away down a dirt track in the middle of nowhere! It was good to catch up with them!
samedi 31 décembre 2016
Holiday
Since the last two photos went through, here are another couple! We spent a few days holiday at Bembéréké (where Eve was born) after Christmas. This photo was taken on a walk we took:
We also visited friends 30 miles (but over two hours' drive!) away down a dirt track in the middle of nowhere! It was good to catch up with them!
We also visited friends 30 miles (but over two hours' drive!) away down a dirt track in the middle of nowhere! It was good to catch up with them!
Holiday
Some photos to finish off the year. Celebrating Christmas with a friend:
On holiday for a few days after Christmas:
On holiday for a few days after Christmas:
samedi 17 décembre 2016
Photos
Since I'm heading into Kandi this afternoon to use the faster connection there, I thought I'd put a few photos on my blog. The first is some people working in a field near our house - they are putting corn cobs through a (very noisy) machine to extract the grains.
The next photo shows Simon and Eve walking home from the village centre past the local primary school.
And here is a reserve of animal fodder some of our neighbours put up recently to feed their animals over the dry season:
Here is a selection of cloth being sold in Kandi:
And here are Simon and Benjy wearing the clothes we had made from one of them:
And finally, here I am with the rest of the translation team and our consultant, Pierre. Left to right: Pastor Samuel, Pierre, Philémon, me.
The next photo shows Simon and Eve walking home from the village centre past the local primary school.
And here is a reserve of animal fodder some of our neighbours put up recently to feed their animals over the dry season:
Here is a selection of cloth being sold in Kandi:
And here are Simon and Benjy wearing the clothes we had made from one of them:
And finally, here I am with the rest of the translation team and our consultant, Pierre. Left to right: Pastor Samuel, Pierre, Philémon, me.
mercredi 30 novembre 2016
Hobbies
When I visited Benin in 2003, the missionary translator I stayed with told me that singles on the mission field have a lot of spare time, and so they should make sure they think about how they enjoy spending time and bring necessary equipment with them. She loved knitting - and of course knitting needles are easily transportable!
Parents of young children may not have as much spare time, but I do think it is good for us and our children to have hobbies or projects. I was impressed by all the different sports and other activities our children were able to try at school in France last year, and decided that one thing we could do here was to learn the recorder. I learned as a child (descant and tenor) so with a good book I am capable of teaching, and I thought it would at least be good for them to learn to read music. If they could enjoy it as well, and perhaps go on to learn another instrument later, all the better!
The boys, therefore, have been having recorder lessons (and practice sessions) since September. So that they could see that I was also setting myself a challenge, and so that we will be able to play duets in due course, I have set myself to learning to play the treble recorder. Learning new fingering is a little like learning to speak a new language, but it is coming!
I have also been carrying on with crochet, and made this doll for Eve's birthday:
Parents of young children may not have as much spare time, but I do think it is good for us and our children to have hobbies or projects. I was impressed by all the different sports and other activities our children were able to try at school in France last year, and decided that one thing we could do here was to learn the recorder. I learned as a child (descant and tenor) so with a good book I am capable of teaching, and I thought it would at least be good for them to learn to read music. If they could enjoy it as well, and perhaps go on to learn another instrument later, all the better!
The boys, therefore, have been having recorder lessons (and practice sessions) since September. So that they could see that I was also setting myself a challenge, and so that we will be able to play duets in due course, I have set myself to learning to play the treble recorder. Learning new fingering is a little like learning to speak a new language, but it is coming!
I have also been carrying on with crochet, and made this doll for Eve's birthday:
lundi 28 novembre 2016
Advent
Last year in France we had Christmas lights, decorations in shops, adverts and various Christmas events to let us know that Christmas was coming. This year ... not so much! Christmas in the heat is not a novelty any more, but this year we have started a new tradition to help us think about the coming celebration. Marc suggested lighting Advent candles, and so I put together this Advent ring, and he read the first devotion on Sunday evening.
mardi 15 novembre 2016
Help!
In one of the villages which the translators visited to test part of our
translation, the people didn't know the word "sobi". When it was
explained to them, they said, "oh no, we say 'bua', we don't use 'sobi'".
The translators explained to me that in their own variation of the
Monkolé language, both "sobi" and "bua" are used to express the concept
of "help". But "sobi" is used when one person helps another and the two
collaborate to get something done. "Bua" is used when someone offers to
help and the other gives the task over to them.
However, a variation of the language seems to exist where "bua" covers
both meanings. Despite the danger of those people not understanding at
first, or feeling that it isn't quite their version of the language, I
think we'll keep the nuance. My team certainly seem to feel that it's
important (and not to do so could lead to misunderstandings for those to
whom "bua" has a more restricted semantic field).
It is interesting to me that a language with relatively few speakers in
a fairly small geographical space can still have considerable variation
among different speakers.
translation, the people didn't know the word "sobi". When it was
explained to them, they said, "oh no, we say 'bua', we don't use 'sobi'".
The translators explained to me that in their own variation of the
Monkolé language, both "sobi" and "bua" are used to express the concept
of "help". But "sobi" is used when one person helps another and the two
collaborate to get something done. "Bua" is used when someone offers to
help and the other gives the task over to them.
However, a variation of the language seems to exist where "bua" covers
both meanings. Despite the danger of those people not understanding at
first, or feeling that it isn't quite their version of the language, I
think we'll keep the nuance. My team certainly seem to feel that it's
important (and not to do so could lead to misunderstandings for those to
whom "bua" has a more restricted semantic field).
It is interesting to me that a language with relatively few speakers in
a fairly small geographical space can still have considerable variation
among different speakers.
mardi 1 novembre 2016
More electricity, please!
Managing to juggle enough electricity for our house and the translation office has been one of our on-going struggles. The small building where we've done the translation work is situated about 30 metres from our house, and it doesn't have its own supply of electricity. Thin cables run to it from our house, unfortunately losing rather a lot of power as they go. It has always been difficult, particularly in the afternoon, to run both the office and the house from our solar panels.
Marc had the idea of swapping the office with the schoolroom, which is situated in a small house, also on the mission property. This house has its own solar panels. School only happens in the mornings, so our house would no longer have to provide electricity for another building in the afternoons.
So last month we moved the school into the independent building, and our translation office into the small house. We had help from some of the kids' friends and Pastor Samuel's eldest son, Caleb.
Then we had to make sure the solar panels on the little house weren't too over-shadowed, which meant cutting down some of the trees behind it. Philémon, Caleb and another young man took up that job, and despite a lot of climbing and dodging falling trees, managed it without any injuries! (Can you spot Caleb up in the tree in this next photo?)
I am happy to report that after a few hiccups the new arrangement is now working well!
Marc had the idea of swapping the office with the schoolroom, which is situated in a small house, also on the mission property. This house has its own solar panels. School only happens in the mornings, so our house would no longer have to provide electricity for another building in the afternoons.
So last month we moved the school into the independent building, and our translation office into the small house. We had help from some of the kids' friends and Pastor Samuel's eldest son, Caleb.
Then we had to make sure the solar panels on the little house weren't too over-shadowed, which meant cutting down some of the trees behind it. Philémon, Caleb and another young man took up that job, and despite a lot of climbing and dodging falling trees, managed it without any injuries! (Can you spot Caleb up in the tree in this next photo?)
I am happy to report that after a few hiccups the new arrangement is now working well!
lundi 3 octobre 2016
like a lily?
This morning I was comparing two parallel passages in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. They are very similar in the original text, though not completely identical. Whoever originally translated them into Monkolé hadn't noticed that these were parallel texts, and so I have two translations and have to work out – with the help of the team of course – which version is best.
This brought up an interesting translation question. Both 1 Kings 7:26 and 2 Chronicles 4:5 (identical in the original text), describing the large basin for the priests to wash, says, "its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom" (NIV 1984). I found two different translations of this in Monkolé:
In 1 Kings 7:26 it had been translated, "andɛu mɔ iyi í yɛ bɛi kɔɔfu, à cooi bɛi kokoi jĩi ndii lisi", meaning "the edge was like a cup, they made it like the flower of the lily plant" with "lisi" being the transliteration of the French word "lys", this being an unknown plant in the north of Benin.
In 2 Chron. 4:5 it had been translated, "andɛu mɔ iyi í yɛ bɛi kɔɔfu, à cooi bɛi kokoi jĩi iyi í fũ anu", meaning "the edge was like a cup, they made it like an open flower".
It seems to me that what the first gains in precision, the second makes up for in comprehensibility for speakers of Monkolé. Perhaps lilies had a particular meaning for Israelites, but it seems to me that the important thing in this passage is the shape being described. And it will mean more to the Monkolés to read "an open flower" than to read about a kind of flower they've never heard of before.
What do you think?
mardi 20 septembre 2016
Photos
The internet is working(ish) this evening so I thought I'd post a few photos of life here at the moment. (Note - not that well, I wasn't able to send it immediately.) Here are the kids playing with friends at the pastor's house in the village:
On our way home through the fields - Eve has managed to hitch a life!
Marc preaching in the Kandi-Fô church last Sunday:
On our way home through the fields - Eve has managed to hitch a life!
Marc preaching in the Kandi-Fô church last Sunday:
-- Hilary DENEUFCHATEL BP 134 Kandi REPUBLIQUE DU BENIN Afrique de l'Ouest/West Africa www.try-lingual.blogspot.com
vendredi 16 septembre 2016
A few minutes of the work of a Bible translator
A quick glimpse into my work:
I am working through our Monkolé text of 1 Chronicles, which means I
need to do lots of checking that names are the same everywhere they appear.
In 9:6 we meet a Zerahite who the NIV calls "Jeuel", and who is "Yéouel"
in the French Nouvelle Bible Segond. We transliterate names from French
into Monkolé, which means he becomes "Yeuɛli" which is fine, as that is
what I find in the Monkolé text. (And the "y" sound is used more
frequently than "dj" in Monkolé, so it's probably better with a "Y" than
a "J".)
The Word Commentary I am following tells me that Jeuel is also mentioned
in Ezra 8:13, so I open up Ezra in Monkolé to check how we've spelt it
there. Ah, but the text I'm looking at has all its special characters
"messed up" (things like the "ɛ" in "Yeuɛli"). It was typed up with
different software, and we have to do a "Search and Replace" to get them
all looking normal again.
I thought one of my translators was supposed to do that while I was in
France, so I open up my file where I noted their work. Sure enough,
Philémon should have done it, and I am fairly sure he'd told me he'd
done it, so either I haven't collected his work off the server, or he
didn't save it up to the server when he'd finished it (easily done with
the connection problems we have here).
In the copy I have on my computer the name is "Yeuli", so it could be
changed to match 1 Chronicles, although in Hebrew it is actually spelt
slightly differently. Anyway, I need to wait until I go on-line at the
end of the morning to check the Ezra file. If I modify a file which
isn't the most recent copy my software gets confused! For now I write
myself a note so that I don't forget pour Jeuel.
My commentary also says that he appears in 2 Chronicles 29:13 (I check
the Hebrew text, and it is spelt the same way as in 1 Chronicles). I
open up that file and it is spelt "Jeiɛli" (probably following a
different French translation) so I modify it to "Yeuɛli".
And it's back to 1 Chronicles 9:6 ...
I am working through our Monkolé text of 1 Chronicles, which means I
need to do lots of checking that names are the same everywhere they appear.
In 9:6 we meet a Zerahite who the NIV calls "Jeuel", and who is "Yéouel"
in the French Nouvelle Bible Segond. We transliterate names from French
into Monkolé, which means he becomes "Yeuɛli" which is fine, as that is
what I find in the Monkolé text. (And the "y" sound is used more
frequently than "dj" in Monkolé, so it's probably better with a "Y" than
a "J".)
The Word Commentary I am following tells me that Jeuel is also mentioned
in Ezra 8:13, so I open up Ezra in Monkolé to check how we've spelt it
there. Ah, but the text I'm looking at has all its special characters
"messed up" (things like the "ɛ" in "Yeuɛli"). It was typed up with
different software, and we have to do a "Search and Replace" to get them
all looking normal again.
I thought one of my translators was supposed to do that while I was in
France, so I open up my file where I noted their work. Sure enough,
Philémon should have done it, and I am fairly sure he'd told me he'd
done it, so either I haven't collected his work off the server, or he
didn't save it up to the server when he'd finished it (easily done with
the connection problems we have here).
In the copy I have on my computer the name is "Yeuli", so it could be
changed to match 1 Chronicles, although in Hebrew it is actually spelt
slightly differently. Anyway, I need to wait until I go on-line at the
end of the morning to check the Ezra file. If I modify a file which
isn't the most recent copy my software gets confused! For now I write
myself a note so that I don't forget pour Jeuel.
My commentary also says that he appears in 2 Chronicles 29:13 (I check
the Hebrew text, and it is spelt the same way as in 1 Chronicles). I
open up that file and it is spelt "Jeiɛli" (probably following a
different French translation) so I modify it to "Yeuɛli".
And it's back to 1 Chronicles 9:6 ...
dimanche 28 août 2016
Back in Pèdè
We are safely back in our house in Pèdè, and very happy to settle somewhere after a summer of travelling! (We like travelling too, but after a while it's good to stop!)
For us parents, at least, the familiar routines are easy to pick up again, and it really doesn't feel like we were gone for a year. It was lovely to be welcomed back by the translation team and their families, and to be back in our church here again.
For the kids, a year is a long time, but when we first arrived back in the house they were too excited about getting out all the toys they left here to worry about anything else! And their friends here have been round to play too, and they picked their friendship back up where they'd left off, which was good to see. It is nice to have space again, both in the house and the compound, after living in a relatively small flat with very close neighbours! If I find Benjy a bit loud I can move (or move him) to a different bit of the house!
I am happy to be back with my team again. It is so much easier to coordinate our work when we are all in one place! And if I have a question I can just ask it, rather than sending an email and having to wait until their connection is good enough to pick up my email and reply.
It is rainy season, and our first few days back were very wet. Then we had a week without rain, by the end of which everyone was saying we really needed rain for the fields. And then yesterday it rained steadily from 7am till 3pm, so that was a relief.
Houses and fields on the outskirts of our village
"It's raining, it's pouring..."
For us parents, at least, the familiar routines are easy to pick up again, and it really doesn't feel like we were gone for a year. It was lovely to be welcomed back by the translation team and their families, and to be back in our church here again.
For the kids, a year is a long time, but when we first arrived back in the house they were too excited about getting out all the toys they left here to worry about anything else! And their friends here have been round to play too, and they picked their friendship back up where they'd left off, which was good to see. It is nice to have space again, both in the house and the compound, after living in a relatively small flat with very close neighbours! If I find Benjy a bit loud I can move (or move him) to a different bit of the house!
I am happy to be back with my team again. It is so much easier to coordinate our work when we are all in one place! And if I have a question I can just ask it, rather than sending an email and having to wait until their connection is good enough to pick up my email and reply.
It is rainy season, and our first few days back were very wet. Then we had a week without rain, by the end of which everyone was saying we really needed rain for the fields. And then yesterday it rained steadily from 7am till 3pm, so that was a relief.
Houses and fields on the outskirts of our village
"It's raining, it's pouring..."
samedi 13 août 2016
Back to Benin
We arrived safely back in Benin last Sunday evening, got our new one-year visas in Cotonou, and travelled up to Parakou yesterday (Friday). We're now spending the weekend in Parakou to do some shopping and catch up with friends, and we will head home to Pèdè on Monday.
It has been good to arrive during rainy season - not that we've seen much rain yet - as the temperatures have been "mild". The highest we've had so far was 31°C when we arrived in Parakou yesterday.
I celebrated my 40th on Thursday in Cotonou. Our friends Alain and Christiane Soudrain invited us to come and have an evening meal with the short-term French team (of about 15 people) who had just arrived in Benin the day before. It was interesting to meet them, and nice to have birthday cake and be sung to by so many people (in French, Spanish and Fon!).
During our 8 hour wait in Istanbul:
Cotonou with our friends Alain and Christiane:
It has been good to arrive during rainy season - not that we've seen much rain yet - as the temperatures have been "mild". The highest we've had so far was 31°C when we arrived in Parakou yesterday.
I celebrated my 40th on Thursday in Cotonou. Our friends Alain and Christiane Soudrain invited us to come and have an evening meal with the short-term French team (of about 15 people) who had just arrived in Benin the day before. It was interesting to meet them, and nice to have birthday cake and be sung to by so many people (in French, Spanish and Fon!).
During our 8 hour wait in Istanbul:
Cotonou with our friends Alain and Christiane:
vendredi 5 août 2016
Timing
This is the fourth time we have left the UK as a family to travel to Benin. And it is the first time that we haven't had to leave early in the morning. I am very grateful for that. When I know I have to get up before my usual wake-up time I never sleep well, and I tend to wake up several times in the night. Then I feel sick when I wake up, and end up feeling weird for most of the day.
This time we don't even leave my parents' until after teatime, which means I have all day tomorrow to do the last-minute things (all but one suitcase are already packed), and - I hope! - I should sleep well tonight.
Of course, the flipside is that I had jolly well better sleep well tonight, because our journey timetable is slightly crazy. We have a flight at 11.45pm, which will only last four hours, and then we have to wait around for 8 hours at the airport in Turkey. Our flight to Benin leaves there early afternoon, and we'll arrive in Cotonou after a seven-hour flight. So we'll have been travelling for about 24 hours without much chance of good sleep in there!
I know lots of people are praying for us, and I am very grateful!
This time we don't even leave my parents' until after teatime, which means I have all day tomorrow to do the last-minute things (all but one suitcase are already packed), and - I hope! - I should sleep well tonight.
Of course, the flipside is that I had jolly well better sleep well tonight, because our journey timetable is slightly crazy. We have a flight at 11.45pm, which will only last four hours, and then we have to wait around for 8 hours at the airport in Turkey. Our flight to Benin leaves there early afternoon, and we'll arrive in Cotonou after a seven-hour flight. So we'll have been travelling for about 24 hours without much chance of good sleep in there!
I know lots of people are praying for us, and I am very grateful!
dimanche 31 juillet 2016
In transition
After a few days with Marc's parents we Eurostarred over to the UK for a couple of days at my parents' before our last ministry trip of the year. We visited churches in Hatfield, Bedford and Yeovil, and as usual it was a great time of sharing, catching up with people and being prayed for. We are always thankful for people's prayers, and it's even better when we're there to hear them.
We had asked for prayer for safety on our travels, and that was well and truly answered when my dad's car started making a strange noise. Five minutes later we met my sister's mechanic who "just happened" to be at her house servicing her car. He agreed to take a look at the car, and ended up changing the brake pads, one of which had actually split down the middle. I always feel humbled when God allows us to discover a problem and find His solution almost simultaneously!
In amongst the visits we also had the treat of a day at Stourhead, a place very close to my heart ever since I went on a school trip there at the age of 15. It was great to see the kids running around the beautiful gardens.
We are now in Derbyshire at my parents' until we return to Benin late next Saturday (6th August).
We had asked for prayer for safety on our travels, and that was well and truly answered when my dad's car started making a strange noise. Five minutes later we met my sister's mechanic who "just happened" to be at her house servicing her car. He agreed to take a look at the car, and ended up changing the brake pads, one of which had actually split down the middle. I always feel humbled when God allows us to discover a problem and find His solution almost simultaneously!
In amongst the visits we also had the treat of a day at Stourhead, a place very close to my heart ever since I went on a school trip there at the age of 15. It was great to see the kids running around the beautiful gardens.
We are now in Derbyshire at my parents' until we return to Benin late next Saturday (6th August).
lundi 11 juillet 2016
Out!
We made it. All our family members and possessions were out of the flat, and it had been well cleaned, by 3pm on Friday when we had to hand it over. It was hard work, but we were well-supported by friends and family, both through practical help and prayers.
A fridge and bed frame on top of a car which is already pulling a full trailer:
The day before we left:
We were happy to hear the lady from the agency say that she wished all flats were handed back to her in such good condition, and happy too to hear her offer to help us find a flat when we (probably) settle in Nancy again in 2020.
We are now at Marc's parents, and found someone (family of a friend) to buy our car at the very last minute!
Tomorrow we continue our journey on to the UK by train ... hoping we manage to carry all our luggage!!
A fridge and bed frame on top of a car which is already pulling a full trailer:
The day before we left:
We were happy to hear the lady from the agency say that she wished all flats were handed back to her in such good condition, and happy too to hear her offer to help us find a flat when we (probably) settle in Nancy again in 2020.
We are now at Marc's parents, and found someone (family of a friend) to buy our car at the very last minute!
Tomorrow we continue our journey on to the UK by train ... hoping we manage to carry all our luggage!!
lundi 27 juin 2016
Logistics, logistics...
This has been such a full and fun year. We have been really blessed and are very thankful to God for everything.
I'm back to lists, and have a new game. I can play it in any room of my flat, and it's called "Where are you going?" I just look round and ask every object that question ... of course they leave it up to me to answer!
I'm going to be very sad to leave, but I'm surrounding that with thankfulness. You're only sad about losing things and people when they've been a wonderful gift in the first place.
The park near our flat. (I do miss parks when we're in Benin!)
I'm back to lists, and have a new game. I can play it in any room of my flat, and it's called "Where are you going?" I just look round and ask every object that question ... of course they leave it up to me to answer!
I'm going to be very sad to leave, but I'm surrounding that with thankfulness. You're only sad about losing things and people when they've been a wonderful gift in the first place.
The park near our flat. (I do miss parks when we're in Benin!)
mercredi 15 juin 2016
The End
We can tell it's the end of the school year. Concerts, sports day and school summer fairs ... the first two are past, and we have two summer fairs to go.
Simon's half of the school and Benjy's half of the school had their concerts on Monday and Tuesday evenings last week. I was quite moved to see our boys up on stage with their friends, because this is exactly the kind of experience we hoped they would get this year. Homeschooling has some advantages, but being able to put on a concert with so many other children, classmates who they know so well, isn't something they will be doing in Benin. And I don't think it is something they would have chosen to do - another advantage of mainstream schooling!
Simon even said a line into the microphone to introduce one of the songs in his concert. It's probably a good thing Benjy didn't have to, as he looked quite stagestruck when the curtains first opened, and didn't really looked relaxed until the last line of the last song!
Here is a photo - I have blurred it since you shouldn't put recognisable photos of other people's kids up on the internet, but you get the idea! Benjy is the one in the middle at the front with a yellow T-shirt and beige trousers.
Simon's half of the school and Benjy's half of the school had their concerts on Monday and Tuesday evenings last week. I was quite moved to see our boys up on stage with their friends, because this is exactly the kind of experience we hoped they would get this year. Homeschooling has some advantages, but being able to put on a concert with so many other children, classmates who they know so well, isn't something they will be doing in Benin. And I don't think it is something they would have chosen to do - another advantage of mainstream schooling!
Simon even said a line into the microphone to introduce one of the songs in his concert. It's probably a good thing Benjy didn't have to, as he looked quite stagestruck when the curtains first opened, and didn't really looked relaxed until the last line of the last song!
Here is a photo - I have blurred it since you shouldn't put recognisable photos of other people's kids up on the internet, but you get the idea! Benjy is the one in the middle at the front with a yellow T-shirt and beige trousers.
lundi 6 juin 2016
On our team!
Marc and I were asked to lead a Family Service in our church at the end of May. Not long after we were asked to do this, one of our supporting churches in England (Christ Church Bedford) said that they would like to send a small team of people to visit us. They would be able to spend time with us to encourage us, and to find out more about our ministry in Benin and our current life in France. We said we'd love to have them, and asked whether they'd be prepared to help lead the Family Service, which they said they would.
We chose the theme of "teamwork", and Marc prepared a short talk around the idea of the bench that footballers sit on when not out on the field playing. He pointed out that in our Christian life we sometimes find ourselves not out in the centre of the action but "on the bench" ... where we still have our part to play, encouraging our teammates and celebrating or commiserating with them.
He gave the example of missionaries, saying that when we are out in Benin it is really important for us to have people "on our bench" - meaning the churches who support us financially, in prayer and with messages of encouragement. But we also play that role to other people who are "on the field" in other activities, encouraging them from Benin as we rejoice in their service for God wherever they are.
Our friends prepared a game, a story, a testimony and a song on the same theme of teamwork, and despite them only arriving on the Saturday evening, our service held together very well. We then had a lovely afternoon and evening with them. It's great to have them on our team!
At the Botanical Gardens:
We chose the theme of "teamwork", and Marc prepared a short talk around the idea of the bench that footballers sit on when not out on the field playing. He pointed out that in our Christian life we sometimes find ourselves not out in the centre of the action but "on the bench" ... where we still have our part to play, encouraging our teammates and celebrating or commiserating with them.
He gave the example of missionaries, saying that when we are out in Benin it is really important for us to have people "on our bench" - meaning the churches who support us financially, in prayer and with messages of encouragement. But we also play that role to other people who are "on the field" in other activities, encouraging them from Benin as we rejoice in their service for God wherever they are.
Our friends prepared a game, a story, a testimony and a song on the same theme of teamwork, and despite them only arriving on the Saturday evening, our service held together very well. We then had a lovely afternoon and evening with them. It's great to have them on our team!
At the Botanical Gardens:
mercredi 18 mai 2016
An Amplified Version
In Jeremiah 51:46, speaking of rumours in troubled times, there are three words in Hebrew translated in the ESV by "ruler against ruler".
One French version translates it with three similar words, but another has something like "the coup d'état of one dictator who replaces another". So in Monkolé it has been translated as:
"Ilu gbugbã gɔ á na ku dedei nɔ ku lele ilaalu iyi í wa si bomma ku gba agbɛɛ, nɔ inɛ mmu gɔ mɔ ku na ku dede ku gba agbɛi nŋu mɔ" which means something like "One strong man comes forward and pushes out the king who was on the throne to take his place, and someone else again comes forward to take his place".
Is it necessary to go into this much detail? Does it matter if we do? Does it matter if we don't? Does this really sound like a rumour? Just one of the discussions the team will need to have when I get back to Benin!
One French version translates it with three similar words, but another has something like "the coup d'état of one dictator who replaces another". So in Monkolé it has been translated as:
"Ilu gbugbã gɔ á na ku dedei nɔ ku lele ilaalu iyi í wa si bomma ku gba agbɛɛ, nɔ inɛ mmu gɔ mɔ ku na ku dede ku gba agbɛi nŋu mɔ" which means something like "One strong man comes forward and pushes out the king who was on the throne to take his place, and someone else again comes forward to take his place".
Is it necessary to go into this much detail? Does it matter if we do? Does it matter if we don't? Does this really sound like a rumour? Just one of the discussions the team will need to have when I get back to Benin!
lundi 16 mai 2016
30 years young
Our church, the Eglise Evangélique de Villers-lès-Nancy, celebrated thirty years of existence this last weekend. There were various events to mark the occasion.
On Saturday afternoon we had a meeting to thank God for His faithfulness and to look forward to the future, with a sermon by the founder of the church, David Brown. This was followed by a sort of summer fayre not only for the church children, but for local children. We had well over a hundred children attend, which was brilliant. There were various games, allowing them to "earn" stickers, and these stickers bought them either candyfloss, goes on the bouncy castle, face painting or prizes (they could choose, but each prize was worth a certain number of points).
Later there was a apératif with two local mayors, with short speeches. And then we ended the evening eating Alsatian "flammenkueche" and a huge birthday cake made by one of the members of our church.
On Sunday we had a service with the president of France Mission preaching, followed by a bring-and-share lunch.
Having been here for the 20th anniversary of the church, Marc and I were really happy to be here to celebrate the 30th! This church has been family to us for many years, and it still feels like family despite all the people who have left and new people who have arrived. And it is lovely to see our sons and daughter have found their place here too.
On Saturday afternoon we had a meeting to thank God for His faithfulness and to look forward to the future, with a sermon by the founder of the church, David Brown. This was followed by a sort of summer fayre not only for the church children, but for local children. We had well over a hundred children attend, which was brilliant. There were various games, allowing them to "earn" stickers, and these stickers bought them either candyfloss, goes on the bouncy castle, face painting or prizes (they could choose, but each prize was worth a certain number of points).
Later there was a apératif with two local mayors, with short speeches. And then we ended the evening eating Alsatian "flammenkueche" and a huge birthday cake made by one of the members of our church.
On Sunday we had a service with the president of France Mission preaching, followed by a bring-and-share lunch.
Having been here for the 20th anniversary of the church, Marc and I were really happy to be here to celebrate the 30th! This church has been family to us for many years, and it still feels like family despite all the people who have left and new people who have arrived. And it is lovely to see our sons and daughter have found their place here too.
mercredi 27 avril 2016
Friends and family
One of our aims this year is to spend quality time with friends and family, and after lots of visits to other people, it has been great the last couple of weeks to have visitors here. After a weekend with a French/Beninese family staying we had my parents for a week, and had lovely times with them. We had wonderful weather for the first few days, and then a trip to the "Cité du Train" in Alsace to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday.
In the park with our friends:
Mum and me in Place Stanislas, Nancy:
Three generations on a bench:
At the Cité du Train. Eve driving a TGV:
Trying out the seats:
Wow, this one's big!
And this one's very small (a little train we could ride on around the museum):
An amazingly imaginative - and extensive - model railway to give my dad lots of ideas for his:
In the park with our friends:
Mum and me in Place Stanislas, Nancy:
Three generations on a bench:
At the Cité du Train. Eve driving a TGV:
Trying out the seats:
Wow, this one's big!
And this one's very small (a little train we could ride on around the museum):
An amazingly imaginative - and extensive - model railway to give my dad lots of ideas for his:
