What do those two pigs mean?
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Sunshine sneaked playfully over the jungle mountain and then blasted warmly into full view. But if the mischievous morning was hoping to catch anyone by surprise, she would have to try another day. The tribal village was already wide awake and preparing for the wedding.
The new missionary sipped his coffee while watching the pleasant commotion. He had never witnessed a tribal marriage before and was looking forward to it. The nuptials would allow him plenty of opportunities to glean important information about the people he hoped to one day share the Gospel with. Carefully documenting their unique culture and language would provide a vital resource when the Bible teaching began, as well as for missionaries joining the work later on.
So with notebook in hand, he set off that afternoon to explore the wonderful new world of tribal weddings.
And that’s when the barrage began. He couldn’t write fast enough!
What did those two pigs have to do with anything? A bride price maybe? Or did they just wander in and weren’t even supposed to be there? … The bride’s mother is doing something to the groom’s hammock. Is she spitting on it? … The two fathers are drinking a thick, black juice out of the same cup … The bride and groom are stepping back and forth over a raised stick held at each end by a tribal leader, while the shaman is chanting and sprinkling some kind of blue powder on them … What does all this mean?
And what is that strange, new sound I’m hearing pronounced? There is certainly nothing like it in the English alphabet. It almost sounds like a snort. I’ll have to check on a symbol for it later, but right now, how can I reproduce it on the paper so I don’t forget what it sounds like?
When the ceremony was over and preparations for the evening wedding feast began, the missionary went home to file what he had gathered so far. He ended up with several handwritten entries that he indexed and filed in the already burgeoning shoebox full of dog-eared, coffee-stained, peanut sauce-smudged cards containing the life and times of the tribal people in his village. The information would then be used for examples and illustrations when the Bible lessons began. If those two pigs were a bride price, it would make a great cultural picture for the Bible saying "You are bought with a price." (I Corinthians 6:20). Jesus also bought His bride for a price -- the price of His own death. The tribal people would be able to understand and relate to that.
And that’s why he must meticulously file the cultural information. Everything he wrote down would be worthless if he and the rest of his teammates couldn’t find it later for the Bible teaching. Specific information about their way of life, beliefs and worldview would help the missionaries to tailor-make the lessons so that the tribal people wouldn’t accidentally mix their old beliefs with the new and confuse the message of salvation. Had he indexed everything properly and put it under the right categories? How he wished for an easier, more reliable way of doing it.
And he looked up that strange sound in the phonetic alphabet. It could be one of three different symbols. He would have to listen carefully for it again this evening. But right now, his head was spinning. Was it from information overload or from another on-coming bout of malaria? He definitely needed a short nap before the feast began …
Much has happened since that wedding day 30 years ago. During that time, the missionary’s own son grew up watching his father work. He observed the intense culture and language study necessary to plant a tribal church. He watched his father constantly practice and hone his skills in the context of the tribal people’s lives -- being there as they prepared and ate their food, worked in their gardens, relaxed in their huts and handled their disputes. And he saw him record that life accurately -- in the precious box of culture cards. He still had memories of it being passed around like shared family recipes as the other missionaries used it too. It had even been his job to go find the box and bring it carefully back when his father needed to write something down. And he could count on the consequences if he ever ran while carrying it!
And through it all, he had witnessed a tribal people patiently and clearly taught the Bible and finally, reached with the Gospel.
Now, in a different tribe, in a different country, and with very different tools, he was ready to start the cycle all over again. As his father did long ago, it was his turn to attend a tribal wedding for the very first time. And with his digital camera and MP3 recorder in hand, the new missionary thought he was prepared for the occasion.
On the outskirts of the village, the banging of the gongs signaled the beginning of the procession … Where are we going anyway? … Ladies are on one side, men on the other … The young ladies are shyly giggling, the older ladies are glaring, and one lady keeps pushing me. Oh! I’m on the wrong side! … The couple is seated on a decorated mat in the center of the village. Is the mat significant? … A speech is made. What’s he saying? … The groom’s family presents the bride’s family with three gifts -- a roll of white cloth, a container of something I can’t see, and a small package of something else. A speech is given after each gift … What does it all mean? … And throughout the whole ceremony, the couple never once looks at each other. Is that significant?
Later, the missionary enjoyed the feast of sweet potatoes and pork that had been wrapped in banana leaves and cooked overnight in a huge pit filled with hot rocks. He was thankful it was not some of those slugs they had offered him earlier or their special red juice made from berries chewed up by someone else and spit back into a container. But as he took in all the sights and sounds around him, he wondered at all he didn’t know. He couldn’t understand half of what was being said, and most of the time, had no idea what was going on. How did his father ever write all this down? Or find it again? Or understand such strange sounds? Was he up for this?
Returning home, he was grateful that his culture and language learning process would look very different from his father’s. Instead of a shoebox full of cards, he would use a computer and specialized tribal software called CLAware -- Culture and Language Acquisition software. It would allow him to file a variety of cultural data, including text, audio and pictures in CLAware’s database.
Now he opened a new "Culture Event Record" in CLAware and typed in his own account and observations of the wedding experience. Then he attached the pictures he had taken and all the audio of the singing, chanting and speeches along with it.
Afterward, CLAware allowed him to organize, file and cross-reference the new record with a special tagging system that makes retrieval easy later on. And in place of passing a shoebox around, he and the other missionaries could now share their data electronically, keeping everyone "up to speed" and safeguarding against loss or damage. When he needed examples and illustrations for the Bible teaching, a quick search would provide him a complete concordance-style list of everything that had been entered -- by the whole team.
Regardless of the volume gathered over the years, he would always be able to put his finger on exactly what he needed, when he needed it. Wedding feast information might come into play when teaching about Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana -- and without any chewing up or spitting out involved!
And thankfully, CLAware would also keep track of all of his unanswered questions until he discovered the answers. He had already found out the meaning of three gifts given during the ceremony and noted them carefully.
The roll of white cloth symbolized the purity that should exist between a husband and wife alone. The container was filled with salt and represented how the marriage and their treatment of each other should always be "tasty" and good. And the package contained sewing needles and was a picture of how they should always mend their problems and keep the marriage together.
That information would come in handy when talking about how Jesus washes our sins "white as snow" or how we are supposed to be "salt and light" in an unsavory world of darkness or how riches can make coming to salvation as hard as fitting through the "eye of a needle." Those three simple wedding gifts could help bring the Bible teaching to life. And hopefully, help bring eternal life. And that’s why he was there.
He also recorded a great deal of the tribal language at the wedding. After transferring it into CLAware, it now helped him transcribe it into text. He highlighted certain phrases to loop over and over so that he could type the individual sounds. If he needed to, he could also slow the language down in order to hear the sounds better.
And since he is required to listen to a certain amount of language every day -- to immerse and imprint the sounds on his brain even though he doesn’t understand them yet -- he now has even more language to listen to. He can divide the recordings into sections and create his own daily lessons in the "Listening Collection" of CLAware. After determining what he wants to listen to, how often and when, the software will bring up the right lesson to him every day. So whether he’s on his computer or hiking down the trail with an iPod, he can be listening and learning the language until he can say it in his sleep -- which was about to happen any minute now.
The tired missionary switched off the computer and headed to bed. His head was pounding. Was it from information overload or from another on-coming bout of malaria? But he can’t get sick. An important visitor was coming in a few days and there was so much to show him. CLAware was going to blow his father away!
The new missionary sipped his coffee while watching the pleasant commotion. He had never witnessed a tribal marriage before and was looking forward to it. The nuptials would allow him plenty of opportunities to glean important information about the people he hoped to one day share the Gospel with. Carefully documenting their unique culture and language would provide a vital resource when the Bible teaching began, as well as for missionaries joining the work later on.
So with notebook in hand, he set off that afternoon to explore the wonderful new world of tribal weddings.
And that’s when the barrage began. He couldn’t write fast enough!
What did those two pigs have to do with anything? A bride price maybe? Or did they just wander in and weren’t even supposed to be there? … The bride’s mother is doing something to the groom’s hammock. Is she spitting on it? … The two fathers are drinking a thick, black juice out of the same cup … The bride and groom are stepping back and forth over a raised stick held at each end by a tribal leader, while the shaman is chanting and sprinkling some kind of blue powder on them … What does all this mean?
And what is that strange, new sound I’m hearing pronounced? There is certainly nothing like it in the English alphabet. It almost sounds like a snort. I’ll have to check on a symbol for it later, but right now, how can I reproduce it on the paper so I don’t forget what it sounds like?
When the ceremony was over and preparations for the evening wedding feast began, the missionary went home to file what he had gathered so far. He ended up with several handwritten entries that he indexed and filed in the already burgeoning shoebox full of dog-eared, coffee-stained, peanut sauce-smudged cards containing the life and times of the tribal people in his village. The information would then be used for examples and illustrations when the Bible lessons began. If those two pigs were a bride price, it would make a great cultural picture for the Bible saying "You are bought with a price." (I Corinthians 6:20). Jesus also bought His bride for a price -- the price of His own death. The tribal people would be able to understand and relate to that.
And that’s why he must meticulously file the cultural information. Everything he wrote down would be worthless if he and the rest of his teammates couldn’t find it later for the Bible teaching. Specific information about their way of life, beliefs and worldview would help the missionaries to tailor-make the lessons so that the tribal people wouldn’t accidentally mix their old beliefs with the new and confuse the message of salvation. Had he indexed everything properly and put it under the right categories? How he wished for an easier, more reliable way of doing it.
And he looked up that strange sound in the phonetic alphabet. It could be one of three different symbols. He would have to listen carefully for it again this evening. But right now, his head was spinning. Was it from information overload or from another on-coming bout of malaria? He definitely needed a short nap before the feast began …
Much has happened since that wedding day 30 years ago. During that time, the missionary’s own son grew up watching his father work. He observed the intense culture and language study necessary to plant a tribal church. He watched his father constantly practice and hone his skills in the context of the tribal people’s lives -- being there as they prepared and ate their food, worked in their gardens, relaxed in their huts and handled their disputes. And he saw him record that life accurately -- in the precious box of culture cards. He still had memories of it being passed around like shared family recipes as the other missionaries used it too. It had even been his job to go find the box and bring it carefully back when his father needed to write something down. And he could count on the consequences if he ever ran while carrying it!
And through it all, he had witnessed a tribal people patiently and clearly taught the Bible and finally, reached with the Gospel.
Now, in a different tribe, in a different country, and with very different tools, he was ready to start the cycle all over again. As his father did long ago, it was his turn to attend a tribal wedding for the very first time. And with his digital camera and MP3 recorder in hand, the new missionary thought he was prepared for the occasion.
On the outskirts of the village, the banging of the gongs signaled the beginning of the procession … Where are we going anyway? … Ladies are on one side, men on the other … The young ladies are shyly giggling, the older ladies are glaring, and one lady keeps pushing me. Oh! I’m on the wrong side! … The couple is seated on a decorated mat in the center of the village. Is the mat significant? … A speech is made. What’s he saying? … The groom’s family presents the bride’s family with three gifts -- a roll of white cloth, a container of something I can’t see, and a small package of something else. A speech is given after each gift … What does it all mean? … And throughout the whole ceremony, the couple never once looks at each other. Is that significant?
Later, the missionary enjoyed the feast of sweet potatoes and pork that had been wrapped in banana leaves and cooked overnight in a huge pit filled with hot rocks. He was thankful it was not some of those slugs they had offered him earlier or their special red juice made from berries chewed up by someone else and spit back into a container. But as he took in all the sights and sounds around him, he wondered at all he didn’t know. He couldn’t understand half of what was being said, and most of the time, had no idea what was going on. How did his father ever write all this down? Or find it again? Or understand such strange sounds? Was he up for this?
Returning home, he was grateful that his culture and language learning process would look very different from his father’s. Instead of a shoebox full of cards, he would use a computer and specialized tribal software called CLAware -- Culture and Language Acquisition software. It would allow him to file a variety of cultural data, including text, audio and pictures in CLAware’s database.
Now he opened a new "Culture Event Record" in CLAware and typed in his own account and observations of the wedding experience. Then he attached the pictures he had taken and all the audio of the singing, chanting and speeches along with it.
Afterward, CLAware allowed him to organize, file and cross-reference the new record with a special tagging system that makes retrieval easy later on. And in place of passing a shoebox around, he and the other missionaries could now share their data electronically, keeping everyone "up to speed" and safeguarding against loss or damage. When he needed examples and illustrations for the Bible teaching, a quick search would provide him a complete concordance-style list of everything that had been entered -- by the whole team.
Regardless of the volume gathered over the years, he would always be able to put his finger on exactly what he needed, when he needed it. Wedding feast information might come into play when teaching about Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana -- and without any chewing up or spitting out involved!
And thankfully, CLAware would also keep track of all of his unanswered questions until he discovered the answers. He had already found out the meaning of three gifts given during the ceremony and noted them carefully.
The roll of white cloth symbolized the purity that should exist between a husband and wife alone. The container was filled with salt and represented how the marriage and their treatment of each other should always be "tasty" and good. And the package contained sewing needles and was a picture of how they should always mend their problems and keep the marriage together.
That information would come in handy when talking about how Jesus washes our sins "white as snow" or how we are supposed to be "salt and light" in an unsavory world of darkness or how riches can make coming to salvation as hard as fitting through the "eye of a needle." Those three simple wedding gifts could help bring the Bible teaching to life. And hopefully, help bring eternal life. And that’s why he was there.
He also recorded a great deal of the tribal language at the wedding. After transferring it into CLAware, it now helped him transcribe it into text. He highlighted certain phrases to loop over and over so that he could type the individual sounds. If he needed to, he could also slow the language down in order to hear the sounds better.
And since he is required to listen to a certain amount of language every day -- to immerse and imprint the sounds on his brain even though he doesn’t understand them yet -- he now has even more language to listen to. He can divide the recordings into sections and create his own daily lessons in the "Listening Collection" of CLAware. After determining what he wants to listen to, how often and when, the software will bring up the right lesson to him every day. So whether he’s on his computer or hiking down the trail with an iPod, he can be listening and learning the language until he can say it in his sleep -- which was about to happen any minute now.
The tired missionary switched off the computer and headed to bed. His head was pounding. Was it from information overload or from another on-coming bout of malaria? But he can’t get sick. An important visitor was coming in a few days and there was so much to show him. CLAware was going to blow his father away!