Putting money where mouth is

A friend just told me that the audio bibles we produced for his language group are outselling the printed scripture 2 to 1. The printed scripture is 1/2 the price as the audio player.

This is a good fiscal reminder of how important media is.

Work

After sitting in on a recording session and seeing all the retakes, edits, space removal noise removal checking of Scripture and so forth, the sitting in translator said.

"Wow i didn't think this was work but now I see it is a lot of work"

Yes, yes it is. At the end of a full recording day youre tired and want to go into sensory deprivation for a while.

Fast Food

no restaurants available around here.


but on market day, they sometimes sell homemade donuts, so you can pick up a bunch of bananas and some donuts.

That's about as FAST as breakfast can get around here.

Often people are nervous about moving here because of the requirements of cooking. They're afraid:
-I have to learn to cook everything from scratch
-with different ingredients
-lacking certain ingredients from time to time
-with no restaurants
-with milk powder

but rest easy.  You don't have to be a great chef to survive.  You can buy pre-packaged and sliced bread, chips in the bag, cereal, buy hamburgers at the store, etc.  Not everyone is an excellent cook, nor needs to be.   (it doesn't hurt, but you can survive).

It's more costly to live like that, but isn't it more costly to live like that anywhere?

Introducing

Hot off the presses

new website

I revamped our website
http://www.gimpel.tv/png

it includes videos and more explanation of what we're doing and why, and
how.
You should definitely watch the 'what we do' video as I made that one (-;

New Sounds in the Night

(courtesy PNG experience: http://thepngexperience.wordpress.com/2013/06/)

28 June, 2013 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Written by Tim Lithgow with Tim Scott

In the early 1980s, Barbara Hardin and Linda Weisenburger settled on the coast a few hours’ drive north of Madang to learn the local language and translate the scriptures.   Those first years were very discouraging as the local community showed little interest in their own language.    But when Hardin and Weisenburger were seriously considering whether or not to continue, Maia language speakers from Wagedev village asked them to come and work with them.   The following decades continued to be a struggle as, apart from a few key people, there was limited interest in the program.   Logistic challenges emerged as the road to the village deteriorated to the point where it was only passable in dry season.  The helicopter became their preferred mode of travel, and they persevered in the work.

 

Recently, a dedication was held for the scriptures that have been translated: portions of Genesis, Ruth, Matthew, Mark, Acts, and a few epistles, in printed form and on Audibibles*.  Encouragingly, the community worked together on repairing the road into Wagadev.   But one week before the celebration a torrential downpour caused a landslide that completely cut off the road.   As only God could orchestrate, a helicopter was going to be in the area the day before the dedication, so the visitors were shuttled in.

 

On the dedication day, dancers escorted visitors into the village, actors presented dramas depicting the truth of God’s Word protecting from evil, and speakers reminded the community of the importance of this event – God now can speak to them in their own mother tongue: Maia!  The local Lutheran pastor, not a Maia speaker, spoke passionately, promising the people that the scripture readings in church would now be in Maia.  True to his word, at church the next morning ALL the scripture readings were in the Maia language.

 

As the sun set over the tropical jungle, the nightly noise of the cicadas and other tropical creatures was mixed with the sound of Maia scriptures being played on the Audibibles as groups of people listened to God’s Word in their mother tongue.

* Audibibles are pre-recorded, dedicated mp3 players with portions of heart language scriptures stored on them.

By The PNG Experience

Importance of Audio

A quick video I did to teach myself a new software. It's not great, but it gets the point across.

Orphanage Mission

For Christmas, the kids at the school held a fund-raiser to get money enough to buy clothes from a thrift-store for children at an orphanage in Lae.  My kids wanted to participate. I may have said this before, but my kids far outdo me in the generosity department.

Per capita, my kids give (what little money they can earn or raise) away more money than I ever did when I was their age. 

One night at dinner my son brought this up and said "I would like to donate K20 to this" and so, to encourage him I replied, "I will match whatever you give up to K50". (I don't mind sharing the real numbers because they are nothing to boast about.)

Well, donation time came, and my son and daughter asked "Dad was that K50 each?"  I had to think about it.  And replied 'yes'.

So my children got together and plotted.  My son after having spent his money (he saved like a miser) for Christmas gifts, had slightly more than K50 to donate, and my daughter had slightly less.  So my son plotted to give his sister the difference so that they could get the full 'MATCHING' out of me.

That night at dinner I had no idea what I had committed to and before I knew it, the orphanage was getting much more money out of the Owens household than I had anticipated.

Apparently my kids didn't need encouragement, they knew it was a good thing to do. What I did was give them a way to work the system, which they did, and I have respect for that too.  (I would like to see more of this creative financing used in ministry.)

So, the team went to Lae, and bought the clothing and helped at the orphanage with repairs.  In the end it turned out they needed more money than they had asked for (originally asking for K20 per family)... as the clothing cost more than anticipated, but because donations had exceeded what they asked for, every child was able to receive multiple outfits for school and home, etc.

I have said this before.  No matter how much work my wife and I do in this country, there is a part of me that wonders, if God called us all here, so that my KIDS could minister.  Because when they act on their faith, it ministers to the world.

Village Tech

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkVision-LT1421-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B005L2NA54/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389070009&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+monitor+lenovo

This little USB (displaylink tech) powered monitor is awesome.  Works on mac/linux/windows.  Typically when we go into the village we have to carry a few external monitors for lip syncing the video dub we're working on.  The recordist (me) needs a monitor (usually 2, the laptop for the audio software and an external for the video window), and the reader facing the recordist needs one.

This means we often have to lug around at least 2 large monitors with us.  Thank goodness for LCD, carrying the big heavy CRT monitors is a thing of the past.

BUT still there was always this problem of power, and splitting.  We'd have to split the VGA out to 2 monitors.
But now, with these USB flatscreens we have:
-no need for wall outlets
-super portable and light
-no need to split the vga out, just attach to usb port

I'm really liking these little units!

Audibible Dedication Video

From the PNG Experience site, this video shows in their own words, what
the work we do, means to them (I work in Audio Bible production among
other things).



http://youtu.be/qB6aFslqrps

Flash n Beep

  I

It's sunny out, the kids are outside playing ball, and then suddenly, the skies open up and a flood of water begins pouring down.  This is not uncommon.

I am sitting at my desk, looking out my window and in the distance I see a bolt of lightning.  This too, is not uncommon.

The moment I see the flash of lightning, the power goes out, and the familiar beeping of the UPS begins.  Moments later the power is back on.  This also, not uncommon.

KABOOM.. the thunder makes our dog jump up, run and hide.  Not uncommon.

The internet goes down, as my DSL modem took a bit of a hit, but powering it off and on again brings it back to life.

I can't hear my wife in the next room talking because of the loudness of the rain hitting our metal roof.

All of this not uncommon.

So why write about it?

Because there is just something so awesome about a lightning storm (a weekly occurrence it seems), that knocks out the electronics, and even fries some of them.

It's a real life example of a comparison of God's power and Man's power.  No matter how cool our gadgets, they can easily be wiped out with a single lightning bolt, and when you see that bolt, you're frozen for a moment, in awe of God's might.