Here we are again, for another few weeks in Oklahoma with Dennis’ Linguistics students. We are thankful that the camp turns out to be a good fit for us even in the winter. We enjoy living together as a group. Our prayer request is that this would continue until the end of our time here. The last week is especially hard because of packing, cleaning, finishing up the practicum and because, by that time, everyone is checking out mentally already. After the practicum our students will work on raising and strengthening their support team. Some of them are planning to go overseas as soon as this August.

▲  Using the men’s bathroom for doing our dishes. This time we decided not 

to use the big Dining Hall for our relatively small group of people to keep 

heating costs down. Dennis’ dad installed an electric range for us so we can 

use one of the bedrooms as kitchen. 

▲ All of us eating supper together and celebrating Niklas’ 3rd birthday. 

▲ Bunk beds as kitchen shelves.

Visitors from Germany

 Just a week after we come back from Oklahoma, Monika’s parents and aunt will arrive from Germany. Our whole family is excited about their visit. We wish for them to see God in our lives despite our own shortcomings and weaknesses.

Kid land

 Lukas loves and is very loyal to the friends he makes. His outgoing personality not only helps him to develop friendships but also enables us to get to know different parents in the area. We desire to  make a difference in our newfound friends’ lives in pointing them to the good Shepherd.

 Niklas was a Baby yesterday, according to him. He tries to do everything his bigger brother already knows how to do, but he still loves to come for a good hug which makes his parents (and grandparents ) happy.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.     

Proverbs 3:5-6

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Linguistics DYK

 Did you know that besides prefixes and suffixes languages can have something 

called infixes.  An infix is like a prefix or suffix except, instead of coming 

before or after the main part of a word like un-comfortable or dog-s, it comes 

in the middle of the main part of a word like com-un-fortable or do-s-g.  

We don’t have any of these in English, but they do exist in Tagalog (spoken in 

the Philippines) and other languages.

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Prayer: That the students would learn a lot that would help them in their future ministry.

Prayer: For unity and that we would deny ourselves and put each other first and enjoy each other until the end. (Kids included)

Prayer: That God would raise up a strong support team for our students so they can go overseas soon.

Prayer: Please pray for balance for us. We want to walk in the ways the Lord has for us. Sometimes it is hard to know when to work, when to visit, when to take a break.

Prayer: That we would have wisdom in raising our kids the way the Lord would want us to. That they would desire to follow the Lord early in life.

We were able to surprise Dennis’s parents, Duane and Dora, with a fiftieth anniversary party.  They had no idea about it until we opened the door and everyone yelled “surprise!”.  There were friends and family from 6 states here for the party.  Duane und Dora are a great example to us in their commitment to the Lord and to us over all these years.  Duane continues to do electrical work here at the Missionary Training Center each day and Dora baby-sits our kids some to enable Monika to help Dennis with the course. Dora also helps out at the Missionary Training Center.

We did it! 

We were able to finish changing over all our linguistics material from the americanist phonetic alphabet to the international phonetic alphabet.  We had to alter hundreds of pages of documents and many PowerPoint presentations and check and recheck them for accuracy. We praise the Lord for the gifted people he provided us with so that we could get it done in time for the semester to start. 

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Linguistics DYK

 Did you know that there is a language with only two vowel sounds 

and another that has 31 vowel sounds?  Also, one language has only 

six consonant sounds and another has as many as 77 consonant sounds.

*According to one theory, English has 24 consonant sounds and 20 

vowels sounds.

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Our family

We are doing well.  Lukas is 4 now and Niklas is 2 ½ and they are very active boys.  Dennis has a new class.  There are 7 students learning how to analyze the sound system and the grammar of an unwritten language.  This will help them learn the tribal language well and to develop an alphabet in order to be able to translate the Bible. Monika has had the opportunity to get involved with Mothers of Preschoolers (MoPs) this year.  It has allowed her to get to know other ladies in the area.  She is desirous that the Lord would use her to be a blessing to the ladies that she comes in contact with.

Praise: We have a place for us and the students to stay while we are in Oklahoma. It will be the same camp we have stayed at in the fall and spring. We are excited that we are allowed to stay there in the winter. 

Prayer: Please be in prayer in general for our missionaries. We have heard from a few missionaries in different tribal works who are struggling with living so isolated and other stresses that they face in their work. We “support workers” also need encouragement and much grace that we would live and work in a way pleasing to him.

Prayer: For balance in our lives as we try to juggle many responsibilities.

Prayer: That we would be faithful and diligent in training and teaching our kids the way the Lord would want us to. For them to learn how to walk with the Lord early in life.

Prayer: A good and productive semester of linguistics for the students. 

Prayer: Please pray that we would have an impact in the lives of the students far beyond teaching them mere linguistics tools.

Prayer: We still need another Linguistics teacher.

▲ Froggy and Mr. Elephant can’t speak German, and Lukas is learning 

that he should speak only English to his Mommy when they are around. 

We want Lukas to learn to be considerate and polite to the people 

we are with by speaking their language. Role playing with his toys 

at home helps Lukas ease into the concept. We are thankful to the 

Lord that Lukas seems to be able to switch from speaking to his 

Mama in German to speaking to his Mommy in English depending on 

the situation.

▲ Niklas keeps telling us that he wants to be a pilot some day.

Laborers needed

Would you pray with us for more workers please? Jesus said: “The laborers are few”.  With the desire to raise up more workers, New Tribes Mission participated in the Crossover Christian Music Festival here near the training center.  We provided speakers, camping sites and a few activities including the “Wayumi” Experience.  The 125 people who participated in “Wayumi” were given a 1 ½ hour introduction to tribal missions which included a “Brazilian” boat ride, a trip to a market, meeting “tribal” people in a village, and a missions challenge.  We are praying that the Lord would send forth more laborers through this experience.

Even in the Linguistics department we are painfully aware of the lack of workers. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with the many changes we feel like we need to do to keep the course up to date and useful for the students. For example all our material needs to be changed over to the international phonetic alphabet (from the americanist phonetic alphabet) by mid August when the new semester starts.  It is “like changing a tire on a moving vehicle” since we can’t just stop teaching classes until we have made all the changes. This summer break is the time to try to get everything done well, before the new semester starts.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” 2.Tim.3:16 

For us to walk closely with the Lord and to glorify him with our attitudes and actions. For balance in our lives as we try to juggle many responsibilities.

Prayer:

That we would be faithful and diligent in training and teaching our kids the way the Lord would want us to. For them to get to know the Lord early in life.

Praise:

For the able people the Lord provided to help with the work and teaching load for the Linguistics department. Please pray that by Gods grace we would do the best we can (with the resources and capacities we have) for it to be an excellent course.

Prayer:

Good relationships to Dennis’ new class that starts in mid August. This will be a small group of just 7 students not counting the spouses and kids of the students. Please pray that we would have an impact in their lives far beyond teaching them mere Linguistics tools.

Prayer:

We need a place to stay when we go to Oklahoma with Dennis’ class in January 2011. We haven’t had to go to Oklahoma in the Winter before but because of the dual semester intake of students now and the duration of the course, we will have to start going to Oklahoma in January. The camp we have stayed at in the Fall and Spring isn’t set up for us to be able to live there during winter.

Prayer:

We need a new Linguistics teacher because Vic Labutes is moving on to a new ministry. He was a great blessing to our department and we will miss him.

▲ Monika’s parents (to the left) and Dennis’ parents and us at a playground 

in Germany

Dennis and his siblings got together to purchase tickets for their parents, Duane and Dora, to fly to Germany for their 50th wedding anniversary. We were in Germany when they arrived at the end of April, but returned to the States soon after. Duane and Dora stayed for 3 more weeks with Monika’s parents. They had a really good time together despite their different culture and language. Monika’s parents helped Duane and Dora see many interesting historical sights and tourist attractions.

As you might have guessed, we are back in Oklahoma. Our students analyze the Cherokee Language here as a linguistics practicum.

▲ All the kids that came along are under 7 years of age and have lots of fun playing with each other. For us adults, it is a blessing to get to know each other better during our stay in Oklahoma.

After their time in Oklahoma, the students will all go in different directions and we might not see them again until maybe in a few years when they are back on furlough.

From Oklahoma to Pal

Not even 4 years ago Nate and Elisabeth Claasen were part of our student group in Oklahoma. Some of you might remember their names from Dennis’ PowerPoint about cross-cultural church planting. This couple and their 3 sons moved to Papua New Guinea, learned the National Culture and Language, taught one year at the Missionary Kid school and are now getting ready to move into the Pal tribe. 

▲ The Claasens have to fly in the building supplies by helicopter.

Updates on our ministry

Recently Dennis met with the guys who are developing the new computer program to help with developing an alphabet for unwritten languages.

He also has a lot to grade these days since one of the teachers had major eye problems and is not able to finish grading his students’ homework. Grading is probably the hardest discipline for Dennis and you can pray for him to get it done soon.

We told you in our last update that Monika won’t be able to continue to help much in the linguistics department since Lukas and Niklas can’t attend childcare anymore. The reason for that is that there are not even enough childcare workers and childcare rooms for all the student kids. As hard as it seemed at first, we are thankful for the many blessings that we can find in this new situation. First, it is wonderful to see how the Lord provided 2 new Linguistics teachers who not only adjusted well to their new role but are also able to do many tasks that Monika used to do. Second, Monika really enjoys being a mom and looking for opportunities to serve the Lord from home. Third, Dennis’ parents moved to our area this year and they offered to watch the kids so Monika can still be involved some with the course. It is a blessing for the kids to have quality time with their grandparents once or twice a week and for Dennis’ parents to enjoy their grand-kids. And we are glad that Monika can still do some secretarial work for Dennis.

“My mouth shall tell of your righteousness and your salvation all the day long,

for I do not know their limits.”     Psalm 71:8

The Claasen Family / Pal tribe Prayer:

Healthy relationships with the Pal people (and among the missionary team) from the start.

Oklahoma Prayer:

 - That the students would learn much that will be helpful for them in their future ministry.

 - For unity, good relationships and godly attitudes as we live and work very closely together and are very much affected by each other (there is not much privacy).

 - That God would raise up a strong, faithful support team for our students so they can go overseas soon.

Other Prayer Requests:

- My dad has had health issues for the last few months for which he still doesn’t have a real diagnosis yet. Prayer: For wisdom for the doctors and for healing for my dad.

- That we would be faithful and diligent in training and teaching our kids the way the Lord would want us to and that they would get to know the Lord early in life.

- That we would juggle our responsibilities and the needs of our family well.

 - For Vic Labutes, the Linguistics teacher who has major eye problems. For complete healing and that he will be able to resume full time teaching in January.

 - That all the work for the Linguistics course would get done well and that we would know if this solution with the Linguistics teachers taking on a lot of Monika’s responsibilities and with Monika working some in the office will be sufficient.

- That the new Computer program will be a useful tool for Missionaries.

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Linguistics DYK 

Did you know that…

… the Cherokee language has more than 50 different prefixes and suffixes that can attach to verbs?  Not all of these can occur on the same verb at the same time, but it still can make for some very long words, like this one: 

 winitawtgeginaliskawlungtanawnelitisesti *

 * By that time they will have almost done granting (favors) from a distance to them and to me

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Prayer: Continued encouragement for Lesley and Aaron and Amy.

Prayer: Wisdom and unity for the team as there are so many details that need to be considered and worked out.

Prayer: Continued good relationships with the tribal people.

Prayer: That the Glaro will clearly and understandably hear the gospel in their language some day.

Prayer: That the door would remain open, hearts be prepared and many would come to know Christ.

Prayer: Continued stability in the country of Ivory Coast.

Prayer: For the Glaro bible translation.
(Lesley would like for the translation to be “bathed in prayer” – her own words)

Other Prayer Requests:

Prayer: That the missionaries on furlough and their kids would truly get refreshed and encouraged during their one week stay at the Missionary Training Center.

Prayer: For more laborers. So many areas of this ministry to the unreached seem to be literally crying out for more workers.

Prayer: That the computer program would become a very useful and time saving tool for linguistic analysis.
Praise: For two more linguistics teachers.
Prayer: For us to look for the Lords provision in the new situation with Monika not being able to help much in the linguistics department this coming semester.

Prayer: For our parenting skills and for our kids to get to know and love the Lord early on in their lives.
Prayer: That we would walk closely with the Lord and glorify him with our attitudes and actions. For balance in our lives as we try to juggle many responsibilities.

Family update

Niklas, our little blue eyed blonde boy, is very determined to attempt anything he sees his big brother do. That together with the fact that nothing seems to frighten him causes him to have many bruises and us to always jump after him. We think he is an easy child though. He is attached to his blue comfort blanket and he loves being outside (what little boy doesn’t).

Lukas is our happy, friendly boy. He loves to go to childcare, to read books and to build things with duplo blocks. With many tasks, he is a willing and great helper to us. His 3rd Birthday is often a topic of conversation for him even though he still has about 2 months to go. When he sees something written, he often sings the alphabet song and is generally interested in letters. Currently, he is suffering a mild case of chicken pox. 

Special time with some 7th to 8th graders

In a few weeks, many NTM missionaries who are on furlough are going to stay at the campus of the Missionary Training Center for a week. They come together for Bible teaching, to get refreshed and encouraged, for fellowship with co-workers from other fields and to kick back and relax. We are privileged to help out with the program for the missionary kids in the 7th and 8th grade.

 The kids love the youth activities

and it is encouraging to them to have time in the word

and fellowship with other Missionary kids

Computer program for missionaries

A sophisticated, yet simple to use, computer program has been developed by New Tribes Mission to help missionaries with learning the unwritten tribal languages and unknown tribal cultures. With this computer program, the Missionaries can file, cross-reference and retrieve the language and culture data they gather.

We have been very pleased to hear that one of the top priorities of the programmers is to make this program also a helpful tool for the more specific area of phonemic analysis. Dennis is working on a list of things that the computer program should be able to do in order to be most helpful for developing an alphabet.
Two more teachers

It is a real blessing to have two new linguistics teachers join our team. We have been praying for more laborers to help with the teaching load and the Lord has provided. Pray for us as we work together to improve the course and for them as they learn on the job.
Monika won’t be able to help much in the linguistics department next semester. There are too many student kids and not enough childcare workers and childcare rooms. Therefore all staff will be asked to withdraw their kids from childcare next semester. This changes things both for the linguistics department and for our family. Please pray that we would adjust well to the new situation and make the best of it.