Word Alive Magazine - Spring 2015

Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada

Spring 2015

Workers
on the
Home
Front

Reaching Bibleless
people overseas
requires dedicated
workers serving in
Canada—some with
remarkable stories.
Wycliffe Contributes to Bible App + Translating the Gospel + Fellow Workers in the Truth

Spring 2015 • Volume 34• Number 1
Word Alive, which takes its name from Hebrews 4:12a,
is the official publication of Wycliffe Bible Translators
of Canada. Its mission is to inform, inspire and involve
the Christian public as partners in the worldwide
Bible translation movement.
Editor: Dwayne Janke
Designer: Cindy Buckshon
Senior Staff Writer: Doug Lockhart
Staff Writers: Nathan Frank, Janet Seever
Staff Photographers: Alan Hood, Natasha Schmale
Word Alive is published four times annually by
Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada, 4316 10 St NE,
Calgary AB T2E 6K3. Copyright 2015 by Wycliffe
Bible Translators of Canada. Permission to reprint
articles and other magazine contents may be
obtained by written request to the editor. A
donation of $20 annually is suggested to cover
the cost of printing and mailing the magazine.
(Donate online or use the reply form in this issue.)
Printed in Canada by McCallum Printing Group,
Edmonton.
Member: The Canadian Church Press, Evangelical
Press Association.
For additional copies: [email protected]
To contact the editor: [email protected]
For address updates: [email protected]

Wycliffe serves minority language groups worldwide
by fostering an understanding of God’s Word through
Bible translation, while nurturing literacy, education
and stronger communities.
Canadian Head Office: 4316 10 St NE, Calgary AB T2E
6K3. Phone: (403) 250-5411 or toll free 1-800-463-1143,
8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. mountain time. Fax: (403) 2502623. Email: [email protected]. French speakers: Call toll
free 1-877-747-2622 or email [email protected]
Cover: The face of a girl in a language group of West
Asia, formed by multiple images of Wycliffe staff
who serve in Canada to forward Bible translation
and related tasks worldwide for such people.
Photo by Dave Crough.
Mosaic image by Cindy Buckson, using
AndreaMosaic (http://www.andreaplanet.com/).

In Others’ Words
“The existence of the Bible . . . is the
greatest benefit which the human race
has ever experienced. Every attempt to
belittle it is a crime against humanity.”
—Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), German philosopher

2

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

Foreword
People Like Nathan
Dwayne Janke

A

new name appears in our masthead’s list of writers (to the left of this
column), and in bylines throughout this magazine. We are thrilled that
Nathan Frank, a University of Regina journalism grad, is now on board with
our communications department.
Nathan grew up on a grain farm near Eatonia, Sask., the youngest of three boys
in his devoted Christian family. Christ was a part of his life ever since he was a
youngster, but his view of Jesus sharpened over time.
“It wasn’t until after I attended Bible college for two years that I discovered that
Jesus was a revolutionary God. He not only died on the cross for our sins, but He
shattered social customs: He healed a leper, spoke to a Samaritan woman and
healed on the Sabbath.
“I realized Jesus is a dangerous God because He asks me to care for the poor, the
depressed, the lost and even my enemies. He requests that I give up my desires and
love others like He loves me.”
The 27-year-old’s interest in writing started when he composed short stories
as a child.
“I found great joy in getting lost in my writing and using my imagination. When
deciding what career to pursue, I decided journalism would give me the best
opportunity to tell great stories and meet the people of the world.”
Nathan worked at a newspaper and a radio station in Saskatchewan before
accepting a writing position with Wycliffe Canada this past summer.
“I couldn’t pass up a chance to see for myself what God is doing around
the globe,” he explains. “I want to learn more about what is
happening in different parts of the world and to hear the stories
that have never been told.”
To that end, Nathan will be travelling to various parts of the
globe, gathering stories for Word Alive magazine that inform
and inspire Canadian Christians to partner in the global Bible
translation movement.
For this issue, however, he met and wrote about some of the
approximately 200 people serving in Canada to further the work
abroad. People like Nathan himself, wanting to use their skills
with Wycliffe. They include recruiters, donation receipting staff,
field project liaison officers, board members, church connections
personnel, IT managers, linguistic trainers, spiritual enrichment
leaders, and others. These and many more all play a vital role
here in Canada, so that the necessary staff, prayer and funds can
sustain overseas field work among Bibleless people groups.
We who work here at home—from British Columbia to the Maritimes—are not
on the so-called “front lines” of ministry abroad. We don’t serve in exotic contexts.
But ask field personnel and they will acknowledge that their work cannot happen
without the committed effort back in Canada that supports them (for which they
thank us often).
That’s why it is so appropriate for our cover photo, of a girl in a language group of
West Asia, to be a mosaic formed by images of folks serving in Canada. The home
front and the front line are deeply intermeshed, linked and connected.
You can’t have one without the other. We are all missionaries.

Field personnel
acknowledge that
their work cannot
happen without the
committed effort
back in Canada that
supports them.

Contents

6

Features
6

The Computing Pastor Wycliffe Canada’s
information technology staff is led by a pastor with a mind
for bits and bytes.

8

Focused on Bible Translation Shooting

photos for Word Alive helps Natasha Schmale enlarge her
monolingual, “white-girl-from-a-farm” perspective.

10 Sold Out A mature New Brunswick couple, who

liquidated their property to follow God’s leading, now helps
others find their place in Bible translation.

12 Spared for More Mission Wycliffe Canada board

member Steve Kabetu’s introduction to Bible translation field
work was painful, debilitating—and life-threatening.

8
12

14 The Passion Facilitator Wycliffe Canada’s chief

recruiter lives to help people find and follow God’s direction
for their lives.

16 Seeking the Called Gyoojun Lee and Wycliffe

Canada’s Korean Ministries look for missionaries within
their ethnic church community.

18 A Reluctant Missionary Wycliffe Canada’s

spiritual enrichment team leader went from resistance to
joyful resignation to serve with the organization.

20 Coach Amy Drawing from her own experience,

Wycliffe Canada’s internship co-ordinator guides students
to see whether missions is for them.

22 Empowering God’s People Former Wycliffe
translators use their field experiences to help their
colleagues and would-be missionaries.

24 Pulled Back to Push Forward Drawn home to

Canada by family ties, David Thormoset takes on a new role
to support Bible translation overseas.

26 Full Circle Wycliffe Canada’s receipts manager returns
to the finance department in Calgary after three decades.

18

Departments
2

Foreword People Like Nathan


By Dwayne Janke

26

4
28
30
31

Watchword Wycliffe Helps Bible App Reach Milestone


Beyond Words Translating the Gospel
A Thousand Words The Kabetu Lip
Last Word Fellow Workers in the Truth


By Roy Eyre

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

3

Watchword
Wycliffe Helps Bible
App Reach Milestone

W

ycliffe personnel have provided the popular Bible app,
YouVersion, with its 1,000th digital translation. The
landmark version is the first digital New Testament translation of
the Central African language of Hdi (pronounced Huh-dee).
In September 2012, SIL, Wycliffe’s key partner organization,
and the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy,
completed the Hdi text, which is spoken by 45,000 people,
mainly in Cameroon and Nigeria. The New Testament was then
delivered to the Hdi people in a special dedication ceremony in
December 2013 (pictured below).
YouVersion has more than 700 languages of the Bible available
on smartphones and other devices. That means God’s Word is now
more accessible for millions more people in their heart language.
As the world’s largest distributor of digital Bible text, YouVersion
partners with 150 Bible societies, publishers and organizations,
including Wycliffe and SIL.

Translated by GIU UGG (Bandial partner organisation).
Produced, with permission, by SIL, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau.

SIL Helps Battle Ebola Through Literacy

S
Bible Translated Into
Brazilian Sign Language

I

Drew Maust

n 2013, the Brazilian translation team finished a DVD of children’s
Bible stories in Brazilian sign language. A deaf interpreter shared
how captivated a deaf boy was as he viewed the DVD.
“The boy watched all four stories, transfixed. His favourite was
the story of Samson. His parents were amazed that he understood
it and enjoyed the Bible stories in a way they had never seen
before. They gained a new appreciation for the beauty of Brazilian
sign language and a new respect for their son’s capacity to
understand things in his own language.”

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Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

IL, Wycliffe’s key field partner organization, is playing a vital role
in raising awareness of the threat of Ebola in the West African
nation of Senegal. While the virus has been a hot topic on French
radio and television, many villagers don’t understand the message
well because they don’t speak enough French or Wolof, the most
widely-used national languages.
Compounding the need for information is the belief by some
residents that Ebola has been introduced by white people, so they
can steal organs. Others also believe governments are exaggerating
statistics to get more money from international donors.
The literacy team has combated the misinformation with
translated Ebola facts into four rural heart languages (see the
sample above). The group also held an Ebola awareness session
where a Senegalese physician answered questions about the origin
of Ebola, its symptoms, contagiousness and prevention measures.

Solomon Islands Translations
Near Completion

Hope for the
Chocoan Peoples

S

olomon Island translation
teams are seeing progress
in three languages: Rovia, Gela
and Baelelea.
The entire Roviana Bible
will be completed in the next
two years, with only a few Old
Testament books remaining
and the New Testament
still being revised. The Gela team is in the final stages of
translating the Gela New Testament, while the Baelelea New
Testament is finished, with an audio version to be completed
this year.

D

espite living in a beautiful and fertile land, many of the
Chocoan people of western Colombia (as indicated
below) still experience lives of hopelessness. Desperate
to earn a living, some are lured to the drug trade for easy
money, while others have joined subversive groups.
Bible translation teams working with the Chocó cluster
project are preparing an evangelistic booklet entitled Libro de
la Vida (Book of Life) for distribution among the Chocó people
groups in the South American nation. This booklet has the
potential to lead the Chocoans to put their hope in the Lord.
JAMAICA

BELIZE
HONDURAS

Caribbean Sea

GUATEMALA

Linguists Receive Royal
Honour in Netherlands

NICARAGUA

EL SALVADOR

Y

ears of service and dedication to the Naro people
of Botswana has resulted in a Wycliffe couple being
knighted in the Dutch order of Orange-Nassau. Hessel and
Coby Visser (below) were bestowed the honour by Mayor
Pieter van Maaren (centre, below) on behalf of King WillemAlexander of Netherlands.
The Vissers began language work in the southern African
nation in 1991. Throughout the past two decades, the couple
has worked alongside the Naro people to translate the New
Testament, do language analysis, develop an alphabet and
create multilingual educational programs.
“The Vissers’ contribution to the Naro language
community has been exemplary,” said Freddy Boswell,
executive director of SIL, Wycliffe’s key field partner
organization. “They represent the servant heart and attitude
that we hope will mark all of SIL’s work.”

COSTA RICA

VENEZUELA

PANAMA

GUYANA

Bogota

COLOMBIA

BRAZIL

ECUADOR

Word Count
120+

Organizations that form the Wycliffe Global Alliance
(WGA), of which Wycliffe Canada is a member.

60

Countries where these WGA organizations exist.

60

Years these and other organizations have been assisting
language groups in Bible translation.

1,000s

Resources in mother tongues that WGA personnel have
also helped produce for literacy, education, health and
other development-related objectives.

Source: Wycliffe Global Alliance

Courtesy of Hessel and Coby Visser

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

5

Natasha Schmale

The Computing Pastor
Wycliffe Canada’s information technology staff
is led by a pastor with a mind for bits and bytes.
By Dwayne Janke

F

rom a kid in Hong Kong who liked electronics, to directing
the virtual environments department at Wycliffe Canada,
Eric Lai’s journey has meandered like the circuitry on a
computer chip.
His life has seen God-driven twists and turns that moved Eric
out of his comfort zone and prepared him to give oversight to
one of Wycliffe’s most challenging and important operations
based out of its Calgary office: information technology.
That Eric serves in Wycliffe while also working as a pastor
is impressive given his background, personal traits and the
challenges he faced along the way.
Eric was raised in Hong Kong but finished high school after
arriving in Canada with his family.
“You see, Hong Kong is such a small place and has so many
people, competition is amazing,” says Eric. “I wouldn’t have had a
chance to get into any post-secondary school. So, coming here I
truly believe was God’s provision.”
After first settling in Vancouver, Eric came to Alberta to

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Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

study avionics/electronics at the Southern Alberta Institute of
Technology (SAIT) in Calgary. He realized his real interest was
in computer programming, so he eventually transferred to the
University of Calgary to get a computer science degree.
“With software, if you have a problem, it’s called a bug. A
bug can be fixed just like that, without going out and getting a
component. I love that aspect of fixing problems.”

Striking Out on His Own
It was also in Calgary that God became more real to Eric. “I was
a practising Catholic. I faithfully attended mass, but I had this
fear about not making it to heaven. I always feared that what if I
sinned and then died before I made it to the confession booth?”
Car-less and hindered by the cold weather, he eventually gave up
attending a Catholic church. Yearning for a social life, Eric accepted
the invitation from a friend to visit a Chinese Alliance church.
“Then I came to realize the biblical truth of salvation. I realized
that my salvation is by God’s grace,” Eric explains.

(OPPOSITE) Eric Lai, director of Wycliffe Canada’s virtual
environments department, inspects the organization’s computer
server rack with Bill Cameron, technical services manager. Located
in Wycliffe’s Calgary office, the unit is the hub for various computer
applications that are used by Wycliffe Canada staff serving in
Canada and around the world.

Eric worked for a software/hardware firm initially but then
decided to strike out on his own as a private consultant. He
loved working with clients because the entire process ended
with delivering helpful computer applications that put smiles
on their faces.
As his faith grew, Eric began serving in his Alliance
congregation, driving buses on Sunday and developing some
tithing software for the church. The introvert decided he would
just continue to serve in the background.
In 1996, while attending another Chinese Alliance church, Eric
was challenged by an interning pastor during a discussion in
which Eric said he felt that God would use his gift of computing
in ministry, but never call him to be a pastor.
The intern, though only a friend of a friend of Eric’s, spoke boldly.
“He said, ‘Eric, what do you rely on when it comes to serving
God—your talents or God’s enablement?’ I broke down in tears,”
recalls Eric. “Eventually, I realized God used him to speak to me:
‘You’re going to serve Me, but not with what you think is your best.
I want you to serve Me, using what you feel uncomfortable with.’
“At that moment, I came to God and said, “Whatever—I’m
yours . . . . You tell me what to do.”
Eric felt the Lord was pointing him to seminary. By this time
married to his wife Elaine and a father of two children, Eric began
studying at Prairie Bible College’s graduate school in Calgary,
while continuing his private business.

One Big Headache
But there was a problem. A downward spiral of tension
headaches, which started in the 1990s when Eric would often
work energetically from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., had plunged to its
lowest point.
“By 1996, my tension headaches were full-fledged. At 6 p.m.,
my mind shut down,” recalls Eric. “I couldn’t really watch TV, or
read a newspaper. I stopped reading the Bible for some time. As
soon as I barely managed to finish my supper, I would have to go
to bed. That’s how severe it was.”
Neurologists and herbalists couldn’t help Eric. This was the
situation Eric faced when he considered going to seminary.
“I said, ‘God, you must be joking—I’m going to study? But it’s
okay, because if I flunk my first course, I’ll know this is not your
will.’ ”
But amazingly, Eric’s headaches actually subsided through his
studies. “That is totally illogical. But again, we are talking about
God, right?” he says. “So I was practically headache-free by 2002
when I was ready to look into ministry.”
Eric went on to pastor at two churches, most recently in
the increasingly inter-cultural Foothills Alliance Church, one of
Calgary’s biggest congregations. He is pastor of discipleship.

Joining Wycliffe
Two times since 2009, Eric was approached by Joe Chan, with
Wycliffe Canada’s Chinese outreach ministries, about serving at
Wycliffe. The second time, Eric decided to join the IT team.
“I totally believe in Wycliffe, the work, the contribution of
Bible translation ministry worldwide. So I said yes,” explains the
57-year-old.

“I just thought that I might be
able to help, as an overseer.”
“I had training, I had [software] development experience, and I
had experience with clients. I just thought that I might be able to
help, as an overseer.”
In 2011, the volunteer brought his computer science
background and the human touch of a consultant to the staff.
“I value people as my top priority. Work is next, of course, but
their well-being is my priority,” says Lai, who continues working
part time at Foothills Alliance. “I think this is what I have learned
from my pastoral ministry: people come first. They are more
important than technology.”
Still, that ever-changing technology is crucial in today’s
modern world, and Wycliffe Canada is no exception. Whether it
be finances, email, video production, management, databases for
recruiting and human resources, or smartphones—everything
in Wycliffe Canada’s day-to-day operations is dependent on
computers and information technology.
“This is the world that we are living in,” says Eric.

A Bridge, A Channel
When it comes to giving leadership to the information technology
department in Wycliffe Canada (called virtual environments
because IT is often focused on Wycliffe staff working remotely
and connecting over vast distances), Eric realizes that his own
computer know-how is somewhat dated and limited.
However, “the basic principles will always stay more or less
the same. You need someone who knows enough of the overall
requirement, but not too much into the technical detail, who
is able to tie it together, to look at the big picture, to make
decisions which affect not only the department, but the whole
organization,” he says. “I am attempting to fulfil that mandate.”
Eric oversees a staff that maintains Wycliffe Canada’s computer
hardware and infrastructure, keeps tabs on what’s emerging so
the equipment and technology doesn’t become obsolete, and
develops or evaluates needed computer applications. These days,
personnel are busy with significant upgrades to Wycliffe Canada’s
finance system and website.
Manpower is the biggest challenge faced by Eric’s department.
Ideally, it should have 10 staffers, but currently has about seven,
including several working only part time. Other staff are needed
to do programming and manage computer applications.
Eric hopes he can help bring them in. With one foot in a
mission organization and the other in the local Church, he
envisions being a kind of broker, who can encourage Christians to
consider serving with Wycliffe.
“I am a bridge, a channel, for God to make it happen.”
Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

7

Shooting photos for Word Alive helps Natasha Schmale
enlarge her monolingual, “white-girl-from-a-farm” perspective.
By Nathan Frank

N

atasha Schmale’s photojournalism career began near her
family’s farm in the central Alberta back country in 2005.
One night her parents, Dean and Doris, were bike riding
on the back roads near Winfield, a small community an hour
southwest of Edmonton. A man who looked lost stopped them,
asking for directions.
As they chatted, the man told Dean he was the publisher of
a magazine called Alberta Land and Life. Dean mentioned in
passing that his daughter liked photography.
“Here, give your daughter this film, get her to fill it up and we’ll
take a look at it,” the man replied.
In the coming weeks, Natasha filled the film with photos from
the Alberta wilderness. When the man returned, he took the
film and gave her another one to fill. Eventually the man asked
Natasha to shoot the photographs for a story he was writing.
“Well, since you live there, why don’t you just write the article
too?” he suggested.
Natasha agreed and her journalism career was born.
Once Natasha, now 27, graduated from high school, she
decided to take photojournalism at the Southern Alberta
Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary. However, after finishing
the two-year course in 2008, she found herself without a steady
photography job, working instead at Home Depot. She hated the
job and was frustrated with her life.
“I went to school, took all the training, and now I’m just selling
plants at Home Depot,” she says about her thoughts at the time.
“I was so frustrated with where I was in my own life that I didn’t
bother to look around at what was happening around me. I
was very focused on ‘how can I get out of here?’ I was just mad,
basically all the time.”

Turning Point
Soon she picked up freelancing assignments at the Red Deer
Advocate in central Alberta. Her schedule got so busy that she
would sometimes work two months without a day off.
In this miserable, dark place in her life, however, she was
motivated to find more meaningful work. She also yearned for a
more authentic faith.
“I don’t think I fully understood that I am sinful, that I am
broken; I don’t deserve anything and Jesus came, He rescued me
and He redeemed me and died for me on the cross.”
Growing up in a Christian home, Natasha thought that she was a
good Christian because she didn’t smoke, drink, party or have sex.
“I have Jesus, I’m good now, and I just carry on with my own
life,” she told herself.
8

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

“It took me until my time in Red Deer where I realized, ‘No,
actually, you might not have done these things, but you are a
hypocrite, you’re selfish, you’re prideful, you are just as broken,
and you need Jesus.’”
As she realized her need for Christ, she started Googling
missionary organizations and looked into whether Wycliffe
needed a photographer. That search led Natasha to contact
Dwayne Janke, editor of Word Alive magazine.
“I had heard of Wycliffe from a friend but didn’t have much
knowledge of what they did,” she explained. “Dwayne said they
could use someone to help out with the photo library, so I did
that as a volunteer.”
Months later, Natasha was invited to go on a Word Alive
trip to Bangladesh to do the photography for the magazine.
The trip—her first overseas—opened Natasha's eyes to the
importance of minority language groups having the Bible in
their mother tongues.
“I realized that the world is bigger than my monolingual, whitegirl-from-a-farm worldview.
“[I saw] when you have education, and when you have people
who are able to read and write—the opportunities that creates.
Literacy improves their understanding of how valuable they are
as people.”
During the trip, she decided to join Wycliffe and realized for the
first time that photojournalism and missions could work together.

Capturing the “Right Now”
Natasha has now been with Wycliffe full time for more than
three years. She has shot thousands of photos that are being seen
around the world in Word Alive and a variety of other media
platforms, including Wycliffe Canada’s website (wycliffe.ca),
brochures and in displays.
“As a photographer, I have the opportunity to tell stories
through the photos I take that hopefully help inform and
engage others in the work of Bible translation, helping them
to get a better sense of the need for Bible translation and also
showing how Bible translation plays a role in building the
Church,” she explains.
“But more than that I see [my job] as an opportunity to tell
the stories of how Jesus is transforming lives all over the world;
how He is growing His Church, how He uses the most unlikely
people to remind all of us, here in Canada and overseas, just how
powerful God's Word is and how the gospel changes everything!”

Moving In for Jesus
If you were to take a photograph of Natasha’s life today, you
would see how much her love of Jesus has transformed her
life. On this particular night, the energetic outdoors enthusiast
is surrounded by friends at a crowded table in her northeast
Calgary home. The smell of spices from a kale and sausage soup
permeates the room, along with an abundance of laughter. She
and her friends have joined a network of people across Canada
who call themselves “MoveIn.”
The group of 20-somethings have moved into a low-income
community in Calgary to share their faith with marginalized people.
“We are seeing we have nothing to offer these people except
Jesus because we see so much brokenness, like 15-year-old
girls on drugs who are addicted to cutting, or the 10-year-old
boys who were fighting behind our complex all the time. I have
nothing to offer them, absolutely nothing except Jesus.”
Thankfully for Natasha, Jesus is the difference. He has led her
out of the back country to a life filled with purpose, touching
nations through her work at Wycliffe.
Dwayne Janke

“I see [my
job] as an
opportunity
to tell the
stories of
how Jesus is
transforming
lives all over
the world;
how He is
growing His
Church, how
He uses the
most unlikely
people. . . .”
(LEFT) Natasha Schmale performs a press check at McCallum
Printing Group in Edmonton.
For every issue of Word Alive,
Natasha or fellow photographer, Alan Hood, make the
trip to McCallum to check and
adjust the color of the printing.
(BOTTOM) Natasha (second
from right) prays with her
MoveIn friends at her Calgary
home. MoveIn is a group that
Natasha is a part of that look
to intentionally impact their
community for Christ. (RIGHT)
Natasha goes for a jog across the
Bow River, with Calgary’s downtown in the background, preparing for a 16-kilometre trail run
in nearby Kananaskis Country.

Alan Hood Photos

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

9

Natasha Schmale Photos

(TOP) Bud Thompson plays passport office clerk in a missionary
simulation game, giving youth from Riverview Baptist Church a
taste of what is involved in getting to cross-cultural ministry overseas. (ABOVE) Bud and Kala discuss with Pastor Neville Gosman of

E

arly in 1990, when Kala Thompson saw her husband Bud’s
growing interest in the work of Bible translation, she grew
increasingly nervous. After all, Bud’s hair salon in Sussex,
N.B., had grown to 10 employees. Kala was also working as an RN.
The Thompsons’ lifestyle in the town 70 km northeast of Saint
John was comfortable and predictable.
Furthermore, with Bud just a few years away from his 50th
birthday, Kala wasn’t sure she wanted to make any major
changes. But it was clear to Kala that something in Bud had

10 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

A mature New Brunswick couple, who
liquidated their property to follow
God’s leading, now helps others find
their place in Bible translation.
By Doug Lockhart

Penobsquis Baptist Church what he sees as the church’s role in the
Great Commission. Interacting with church leaders is a common
activity for the New Brunswick couple, who represent Wycliffe and
cast vision for Bible translation among Atlantic region congregations.

begun to change after they both visited a Bible translation
project in Guatemala.
“After we came home,” says Kala, “Bud talked more and more
about Wycliffe and about his growing dissatisfaction with being
in secular business.”
“So many people around me were saying ‘I, me, we, we’re
buying, we’re getting,’” adds Bud. “The greed kind of got to me,
after seeing all the poverty down there.”
When Bud eventually floated the idea of returning to

Guatemala to serve as volunteers with Wycliffe, Kala agreed to go
on one condition—that they would not use the vacation money
they’d saved up to visit Spain and Morocco. As a compromise, Bud
offered to sell his van instead to finance their volunteer service.
The idea left Kala feeling somewhat relieved.
“I thought, ‘That’s OK; the money won’t last that long.’ ”

“The people we recruit now . . .
they can . . . live to see every
language group that needs it
have a New Testament.”

beginning that we would do that—take people on a short-term
mission trip so they could see the work.”
One of the first young people to participate was Jessica
Sinclair (see story, pg. 14), a bright, outgoing 15-year-old whom
the Thompsons first met at a church in Moncton. In 1997,
Divine Confirmation
Jessica joined Bud’s first “vision trip” to a country he knew
About a week later, Kala was dumbfounded when Bud informed well: Guatemala.
her he had sold an apartment building they owned so they could
Since then, Bud and Kala have led numerous overseas trips, to
stay longer in Guatemala. And not long after that, her quiet, soft- Guatemala as well as a few countries in Africa. Most are vision
spoken husband dropped another bombshell: he had sold the
trips, but some—like a January 2014 trip to Cameroon—may
hair salon.
involve physical labour and/or medical outreach, too.
“I couldn’t believe he would do these things without talking
Vast Network
to me about it,” says Kala, noting they had always made big
decisions like that together. “But he just really believed that God The Cameroon trip benefited a Bible translation and literacy
was calling us to be involved in Bible translation full time.”
project for a cluster of related languages in the Ndop plain of
Just four months after their visit to Guatemala, the couple
Cameroon, one of several “focus regions” recently adopted by
attended an orientation course in Kelowna, B.C., for people
Wycliffe Canada. To raise awareness about needs there as well as
interested in joining Wycliffe’s staff. If they had any doubts
other regions around the globe, the Thompsons regularly meet
at that point that God was calling them to be “sold out” for
with pastors and other church leaders in Atlantic Canada.
missions, their doubts were quickly dispelled when Bud answered
“For the past couple of years,” says Kala, “we have focused
an unexpected phone call from a man who wanted to buy their
on introducing area churches to the concepts of ‘Kingdom
house in Sussex.
Friendships,’ where churches partner with language groups,
This was odd—considering their house wasn’t listed on the
people groups and projects.”
More on the Web:
real estate market and the man had only seen the exterior.
The Thompsons have many
Discover how your church can
After quickly conferring with Kala, Bud suggested an amount
opportunities to do so, thanks to
explore Kingdom Friendships at
and the inquirer—who planned to move to Sussex and needed a strong ties to the Convention of
<friendship.wycliffe.ca>
large house for his family—agreed on the price over the phone.
Atlantic Baptist Churches (CABC).
The denomination includes more
Taste and See
than 450 churches.
Through relationships formed with CABC church leaders
With their four children grown and following their own pursuits,
and others over the past 35 years, Bud and Kala receive many
Bud and Kala moved to Guatemala City in October, 1990, just
invitations to represent Wycliffe Canada at mission-related
seven months after their first visit to the Central American
services or conferences.
country. For the next six-and-a-half years, they served more
Furthermore, Kala is a licensed lay pastor with the Baptist
than 20 language projects through a variety of support roles
group. As a result, she has been able to expand their network
that included maintenance, information technology, staff care
through her speaking ministry at women’s retreats.
and hospitality.
Besides their church network, Bud and Kala also enjoy
Kala also used her artistic talent to illustrate reading primers
meeting students from area schools like Kingswood University
and Scripture books.
(formerly Bethany Bible College) and inviting them to their home
In 1996, when Wycliffe’s operations in Guatemala began
whenever possible.
to downsize because Bible translation there was nearing
“Every day is different,” Kala says about their ministry.
completion, the Thompsons returned to New Brunswick and
bought a “fixer-upper” house to renovate and call home. Wycliffe
While the Thompsons love their role in Wycliffe, they know
Canada leaders then asked them if they would serve as Wycliffe
the time will soon come to hand it over to others.
representatives at Christian conferences, churches and schools in
“We don’t have the same energy. . . .” says Bud.
the Atlantic region.
“But we feel the same passion,” adds Kala. “We are 70-ish and
“We said, ‘OK, it’s not really our thing, but we’ll do it for two
we are not going to live to see every Bible translation that needs
years,’” says Kala.
to be done finished. But, the people we recruit now, and the
Belatedly, they began raising financial support from interested people we get involved who are young, they can . . . live to see
friends, family members and churches. Nineteen years later,
every language group that needs it have a New Testament.”
they’re still spreading the word about remaining needs in Bible
Some observers might think it’s time for the Thompsons
translation—and still using a valuable strategy they discovered
to start taking it easy. But for Bud, the idea of spending his
early on to help people “get” what Wycliffe is all about.
remaining days on a golf course is out of the question.
“It’s hard to get people interested in Bible translation if they
“I couldn’t be out golfing every day,” he jokes, “because we
don’t see the work for themselves,” says Bud. “So, I decided at the blew all our money.”
Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 11

Spared for
More Mission

Wycliffe Canada board member Steve
Kabetu’s introduction to Bible translation
field work was painful, debilitating—
and life-threatening.
By Nathan Frank

Spared for
More Mission

S

oon to be a Wycliffe Canada board member, Steve Kabetu
had just attended a New Testament dedication ceremony
for the Apurímac Quechua people of south-central Peru
hours earlier.
Now Kabetu, who is also director of world missions for the
Christian Reformed Church (CRC), was flat on his back in
a rural mission hospital in the community of Curahuasi. As
physicians and nurses hovered above him awaiting a surgery to
remove his burst appendix, one doctor asked him if it would be
okay if they prayed.
“Oh no, please do,” he responded, while wondering, “Are they
praying because they’ve never done this surgery before?”
The doctor told Kabetu that the hospital’s name in the local
Quechua means, “In God we trust.” This comforted him as the
anesthetic gently put him to sleep.
When Kabetu awoke he was told that the surgery was a lifesaving procedure, but he would have to stay at the hospital for
two weeks while the antibiotics cleaned the toxins out of his
body. As Kabetu sat in his wheelchair recovering, he was resigned
to the fact that his fast-paced life was halted. He had weeks
to reflect on the impact of Wycliffe Canada-sponsored Bible
translation work in Peru. He also had plenty of time to think
about his own life and that of his grandfather.

Natasha Schmale

(TOP) Steve Kabetu explains in his Burlington,
Ont., office that because of his upbringing and life
experiences, he looks at the world upside down,
like the map in the background which is deliberately printed in a non-traditional projection with
southern nations on the top. (RIGHT) Kabetu
is surrounded by Wycliffe Canada board members at their 2014 spring meeting, held at Rivers
Edge Camp and Conference Centre northwest of
Calgary. Kabetu joined the board in the fall of
2013, bringing a unique perspective.

“It is priceless to have a
leader within one of our key
denominational partners
represented on the board.”

“It is priceless to have
leader within one of o
key denominational partne
represented on the boar
12 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

Alan Hood

Having moved into a new community, the newlyweds were
looking for a church, and conveniently a house church was
hosted on their block. The pastor of the church knocked on their
door and invited them to attend, but Kabetu and Patricia weren’t
sure what to think.
“We looked at each other [thinking], ‘What kind of church
starts in a house basement?’ Now we were all of a sudden very
suspicious. So, we spent six months avoiding our neighbours,”
explains a laughing Kabetu.
Nonetheless, the pastor was persistent and finally they joined
the Christian Reformed Church. They found that it was full of
folks from all over the world, seeking Christ. It became their
church home. Kabetu soon joined the leadership group, which
was asked to attend a regional gathering of churches to learn
about the CRC denomination and its ministries.
Two years later, he was nominated to the church’s board and
began volunteering his time to develop a curriculum and workshops
on how to talk about racial diversity. In time, his efforts turned into
a full-time position and he became the co-ordinator for the office
of race relations in Canada for the CRC. In 2012, he became the
Canadian director of Christian Reformed World Missions.

Overseas Education
When Kabetu was born, East Africa was a much different place
than it was during his grandfather’s childhood. He was born in the
mid-’60s at the tail-end of decades of conflict between the British
and the region’s displaced people groups, who had been removed
from their traditional land and put into reserves surrounded by
barbed-wire.
After the region stabilized, Kabetu, who was the second oldest
of six children, moved around a lot because of his father’s career.
The family lived a middle-class Kenyan life and Kabetu spent
much of his childhood in his community, playing soccer and
field hockey.
After graduating from high school, Kabetu was working on
the family farm when his father told him that he and his mother
wanted him to get an education. After researching different
schools in the U.S., Britain and Canada, Kabetu and his father
chose York University in Toronto.
During Kabetu’s first year at college in the late ’80s, he
experienced his first snowfall. He hurried outside, along with
other foreign students to experience a strange new substance.
“We were outside and you know how the snow comes and
it’s clean and fresh,” he explains. “We were outside just trying to
touch it and hold it . . . the first thing I did when I had a pile of
snow in my hand was taste it. I remember looking at all the other
friends of ours who were doing the same thing and saying, ‘It
doesn’t taste anything like we thought it would.’ ”
The cold weather caused culture shock for Kabetu, but he
stuck with his program, hoping to return to Kenya to help
develop the country after concluding his studies in economics.
However, when he finished, Kenya was unstable politically and he
was advised by his father to postpone his return.
At York, Kabetu met his wife Patricia. After university, the
couple moved into a new townhouse, while Kabetu got his feet
wet in the workforce, first as a teaching assistant and then in
developing economic profiles for various cities.

Stepping Forward

pared for More Mission

From Congregation to Denomination

Kabetu’s destiny—and the origins of his faith— can be traced
back to his grandfather’s African childhood in the early 1900s
and his habit of losing goats and sheep while herding.
When Kabetu’s grandfather was a child, the first missionary
to their village was Harry Leakey. Hailing from Britain, Harry and
his family settled into the pre-Kenyan village of Kabete with
the southern Kikuyu people. The couple was able to stay in the
region with the permission of the elders, and asked to set up a
school where they could teach Kikuyu children how to read and
write, and tell them about God and His Son Jesus.
One of the elders was Kabetu’s great-grandfather (see related
photo, pg. 30), who offered to let his youngest son attend school,
because he wasn’t very good at herding. The son would become a
Christian and a few years later, in 1905, travelled to Great Britain to
learn English. Eventually, he would help translate the Bible into the
Kikuyu language.
“When I look back at his life,” says Kabetu, reflecting in his
Toronto office, “having had that experience definitely changed
the way my father’s life was, and the way my life turned out.”

Spared for More Mission

Fate and Origins

If it had been up to Kabetu, he probably would still be in Kenya
working on his family’s farm. If contentment equated to God’s
will for his life, he wouldn’t have gone to university and he
wouldn’t have accepted leadership roles with CRC.
After becoming the missions director of CRC, he saw that the
denomination didn’t have Bible translation as a part of their missions
plan and signed a partnership agreement with Wycliffe Canada.
Kabetu became a Wycliffe Canada board member in the fall
of 2013, helping the board give vision to the organization and
providing it the constituency accountability required by law in
Canada for non-profit agencies.
Roy Eyre, president of Wycliffe Canada, was excited when
Kabetu joined the board because of the work Kabetu’s grandfather
did in translating the Bible for the Kikuyu. Soon, though, Eyre
realized Kabetu’s contribution was much broader than his
connection to his grandfather.
“During his years in Canada, he has managed to maintain the
perspective of the minority language communities we serve, and
he has brought that perspective to board discussions,” explains
Eyre. “In addition, I've really come to value his contribution as a
director of a partner organization. He understands my role and
the challenges of leading an organization within our legal and
cultural context.
“More than that, it is priceless to have a leader within one
of our key denominational partners represented on the board.
His participation binds the two organizations together in some
key ways."
Kabetu brings a rare perspective on the Wycliffe board.
It’s rooted in a faith that was planted in his grandfather by
missionaries over a century ago and it’s a perspective that has
been shaped by God’s remarkable path for his life—from a Kenyan
reserve to Canada.

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 13

Wycliffe Canada’s chief
recruiter lives to help
people find and follow
God’s direction for their lives.

W

hen Jessica Sinclair began teaching history classes at
Crandall University in 2005, the Moncton, N.B., native
thought she had found her life’s calling.
It seemed like the perfect fit. Jessica had graduated from the
small liberal arts university before moving on to earn a master’s
degree in history from McGill University. And there were family
ties, too—her dad, Stephen Dempster, serves on Crandall’s
faculty as professor of religious studies.
But just a few months after she began teaching at Crandall,
Jessica had a conversation with her friends Bud and Kala
Thompson (see story, pg. 10), who several years earlier had
encouraged her to explore doing Bible translation with Wycliffe.
The exchange unexpectedly led Jessica back to Wycliffe and an
entirely different direction for her life.

By Doug Lockhart
“That I could get really excited about!” says Jessica.
“To me, it was what excited me about teaching at Crandall;
seeing people look at themselves and, through the lens of history
and faith, understand themselves better . . . and have a deeper
faith as a result, and be able to engage the world with a Christian
worldview and perspective.”

Kingdom Investments

Since 2007, Jessica and a number of colleagues on the recruitment
team have visited numerous college and high school campuses,
churches and youth groups. They engage with young people who
either are seriously exploring their career options, or just beginning
to think about what they should do with their lives.
If she had her way, Jessica would abandon the term
“recruitment” to describe her job and replace it with a phrase
Deep Impact
that reveals her deeper motivation.
“I really just want to see God cultivated in people’s hearts,” she says.
Nowadays, the 32-year-old dynamo leads Wycliffe Canada’s
Now married and living in the Toronto area with her husband
national recruitment team. It’s a role she’d never thought about
Alex, Jessica says there is no “typical day” that defines her work.
when the Thompsons asked her if she would consider hosting
Some days, she may stay home to work on a church or college
a Café Wycliffe event at Crandall, to introduce students to
presentation, while other days may find her meeting with an
Wycliffe’s work in Bible translation.
interested inquirer in a local coffee shop.
“I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a great thing I
More on the Web:
Explore Café Wycliffe events in
Jessica estimates that about 50 per cent of her time is devoted
can do to further the passion in me for
Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton
to local recruitment activities in southwestern Ontario, while the
helping Bibleless people access God’s
and Toronto at cafe.wycliffe.ca.
other half is devoted to strategic planning for Wycliffe Canada’s
Word,’” says Jessica.
recruiting efforts across the country.
As a 15-year-old, Jessica had travelled
“Part of that is recruiting for internships,” says Jessica, “and
to Central America with the Thompsons for a summer outreach
setting up and leading short-term trips like “InstiGATE” as well.”
in Guatemala City. Then after she completed high school,
Since joining Wycliffe’s staff eight years ago, Jessica has
the Thompsons arranged for her to live for two months in a
accompanied eight teams on overseas trips. One such journey
Cameroonian village.
even included a visit to language projects in South Asia (see Word
Both experiences left a deep impression in her life.
Alive, Spring 2010), where Bible
“In Cameroon, I saw. . . the spiritual issues on the translation
More on the Web:
translation must be carried out
side of missions. . . and really believed it would be very
Learn more about past & upcoming
discreetly because of religious
worthwhile to spend my life so that people could be able to
trips at instigate.wycliffe.ca.
and cultural sensitivities.
understand and know God.”
Jessica says such experiences
The experience led her to enrol in a summer course at the
are invaluable for young people who want to make informed
Canada Institute of Linguistics (CanIL) in Langley, B.C., with the
decisions about serving with Wycliffe or any other mission
hope she might find her niche in Bible translation. However,
agency.
even though she “aced” her linguistic courses, the subject didn’t
“Young people are reticent to commit to a 40-year career . . . or
inspire her as a career choice.
even something that involves a five-year commitment. But when
Jessica’s heart connection with Wycliffe was still strong when
they have an experience with something, they have a chance to
she began teaching at Crandall, so the idea of hosting a Café
imagine themselves in that situation.
Wycliffe event there appealed to the bubbly, outgoing history
“So it becomes a way for them to have an educated spiritual
teacher. The first event she held on campus, which included a
meal and a talk by the Thompsons, drew a modest-sized group of experience where they can discern God’s direction in their life;
not jumping into something with their eyes closed, but they
interested students.
are well informed because they have an opportunity to see and
Not long after, the Thompsons introduced Jessica to Café
Wycliffe founders Derryl and Karen Friesen. The Friesens challenged experience what Wycliffe does.”
Jessica to consider serving with Wycliffe full time, helping to engage
a new generation in the work of Bible translation.
14 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

Planting and Cultivating

Natasha Schmale

Some who have participated in these cross-cultural adventures have since
jumped, eyes-wide-open, into service with Wycliffe Canada. They include past
recruiter Sarah Barnes, Word Alive photographer Natasha Schmale, Alberta
recruiters Kevin and Melissa Derksen, and newcomers Chris and Lauren Merke,
who met during a Wycliffe summer trip to Kenya in 2012.
Other past participants are in various stages of post-secondary education, so
Jessica doesn’t expect them to make long-term decisions about their future for
some time yet.
“It’s actually going to be seven
years down the road where we
may actually see the impact of
these trips on their lives. So part
of our role in recruitment is then
cultivating those relationships and their passion through a number of years.”
For Jessica, the task of remotely leading a team of nine recruiters and volunteers
based in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and B.C. can seem
overwhelming at times. But every now and then, a stimulating conversation or
meeting with someone who’s open to God’s leading lifts her spirits and keeps
her motivated.
This past January, for example, Jessica was representing Wycliffe Canada at
the Vancouver Missions Fest. A young woman stopped by the Wycliffe booth,
explaining that she felt God was leading her to be involved.
“I have a background in linguistics,” the woman told Jessica. “I haven’t felt like it
was the right time to join Wycliffe, although it’s been on my mind. But now I feel
that God is launching me.”
Jessica broke down in tears.
“To have an individual come and say, ‘This is what I believe God is leading me to
do, not because you convinced me, not because I’ve seen a great presentation’—
but because this person has heard from God and they want us to help facilitate
them serving Him—that’s what gets me up in the morning.”
Jessica adds that her aim is to help such people experience God’s grace in their
own lives by being part of His Kingdom work.
“It’s not just about getting the job of Bible translation done around the world.
It’s about these wonderful people here in our country who are going to be
fulfilled and are going to do what they believe God wants them to do.
“So, to me, it’s not about convincing, or about manipulating people to get
involved in Wycliffe. It’s about facilitating other people’s passion for God.”

Victoria Koehler

“It’s about facilitating other
people’s passion for God."

Natasha Schmale

(TOP, LEFT) As Wycliffe Canada’s recruitment
team leader, Jessica Dempster is based out of
Toronto, one of the world’s most multi-cultural
cities, where she can frequent interesting eateries
like an Ethiopian coffee shop. (TOP, RIGHT) As the
32-year-old dynamo leads short-term “InstiGATE”
trips overseas for young adults, Jessica enjoys
interacting with people in language groups where
Wycliffe serves. (ABOVE) Less exciting, but still
necessary, is processing receipts at her desk after a
recent “InstiGATE” trip to Cameroon.

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 15

Seeking the Called
Alan Hood Photos

Gyoojun Lee and Wycliffe Canada’s Korean
Ministries look for missionaries within their
ethnic church community.
By Nathan Frank

C

After the group understands the big picture of world missions,
the importance of Bible translation becomes evident.
“The course itself emphasizes a lot about Bible translation
ministries because it’s a really good strategic way to finish the
[missions] task,” he explains. “If we don’t have the Bible, there
is no source to teach, and train, and be able to correct and
disciple believers.
“So, the Bible is the basis of all the other missions work.”

amp registration always has a nervous energy. It’s a feeling
of excitement mixed with fear. Registration for Mission
Path To Canada
101 this past August had the same energy, as more than
Gyoojun
was hesitant to become a missionary when he and his
100 members of Calgary’s Hanwoori Korean Church gathered at
wife
Jinsook
and their two boys moved to Langley, B.C. in 2000.
Kamp Kiwanis just west of Calgary.
They
came
to
study at the Canada Institute of Linguistics (CanIL),
As the weekend’s worship band—clad in fluorescent staff
a
training
partner
of Wycliffe. His hope was that being exposed to
T-shirts—began the two-day missions conference with a lively
a
proper
exegesis
of
Scripture from the original languages would
Korean song, Gyoojun Lee, the director of Wycliffe’s Korean
help
him
become
a
better
preacher in his native Korea, where he
Ministries, sat off to the side writing some last-minute notes.
was
a
pastor
to
a
rural
community
in the Taebaek Mountains.
When the crowd began to clap to the up-tempo beat, Lee
He
had
no
plans
of
joining
Wycliffe.
However, that changed quickly.
quickly stood up and joined the attentive group in worship.
“From
the
very
first
week
at
CanIL,
God just touched my heart,”
Minutes later, it was Gyoojun’s turn to take the stage. Looking
he
says.
“I
knew
we
needed
to
go
out
and preach the gospel to
studious with light-rimmed glasses and a blue dress shirt, he
all
nations,
but
I
thought
my
calling
was
pastoral ministries in
got straight to business. That is, after he filled the room with
Korea
only.
That’s
how
I
limited
my
ministry
boundary.”
laughter by telling a joke in Korean, the language used for the
With
a
difficult
decision
to
make,
Gyoojun
turned to an
entire conference.
important
mentor
for
advice:
a
Korean
Wycliffe
staff member
Wycliffe Canada’s Korean Ministries have been providing
back
in
Korea
named
Min-Young
Jung.
Missions 101 to Korean-speaking churches since 2008. Churches
“You just overcame all those language and cultural barriers
partnering with Wycliffe asked that a missions training program
coming
to Canada—just to study and live here, right?” asked
be created so they could be transformed into congregations that
Jung
who
is currently associate director of Wycliffe Global
emphasize missions.
Alliance
(the
international umbrella agency of which Wycliffe
“Within the time parameter [of Missions 101], we try to convey
Canada
is
a
member).
“Why not be a Wycliffe missionary to
the core of what missions is, with a holistic approach,” says
benefit
other
cultures?”
Gyoojun, who is based in Toronto.
16 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

“Wycliffe Canada was also looking for ethnic workers who can connect
“Wycliffe
Canadatowas
also looking
ethnic
workersministries.
who can ”connect
ethnic churches
Wycliffe
and its for
Bible
translation
ethnic churches to Wycliffe and its Bible translation ministries.”
Gyoojun followed his mentors’ advice. However, instead of
becoming a translator, he chose to create a ministry for Korean
diaspora churches in Canada.
“I saw the needs of this mobilization ministry,” Gyoojun
explains. “Wycliffe Canada was also looking for ethnic workers
who can connect ethnic churches to Wycliffe and its Bible
translation ministries.”
In the following years, he created a ministry that runs several
programs aimed at recruiting Korean-Canadians to serve with
Wycliffe overseas and connect churches with the mission field.
These two must go together in Korean congregations,
explains Gyoojun.
“For Korean churches, it’s very group- or community-oriented.
So, without having a good relationship with the local churches,
it’s very hard to recruit people because they [are viewed as only]
belong[ing] there.”

Gyoojun says he looked up at the pastor at the pulpit and
suddenly he could focus. As the pastor read from the Word of
God, his attention was no longer jumbled.
Years later, after accepting the Lord and being convinced the
Lord had called him to pastoral ministry, Gyoojun learned that
his mom had made a vow to God when he was just a baby that
she would commit him to the Lord.
“When I was really young, there were four or five times I almost
died,” he says. Finally his mom took Gyoojun to a pastor. When
he prayed for the youngster, he asked his mom if she would
commit him to God and to becoming a pastor if he survived.
Amazed that God had saved Gyoojun’s life, his mom dedicated
him to the Lord’s service.
It’s with this calling that Gyoojun seeks those called to
Wycliffe among Korean-Canadians.

Who is the Ideal Missionary?
Gyoojun believes Korean-Canadians are fantastic missionary
candidates because they already have experience adapting to a
new culture.
“Korean-Canadians have already gone through that process,” he
says. “Wherever they go around the world, they find it far easier
than someone with experience in only one culture.”
Although Korean-Canadians may be ideal candidates, it’s still
a long process for interested candidates to become Wycliffe
missionaries. Those interested are often as young as high school
students and sometimes after years of communication, and a
verbal commitment, the person decides not to join.
“Sometimes we have felt like, wow, these guys are fully ready to
go. Then they just take off,” he explains. “We get so excited to see
the result as soon as possible, but it takes longer than expected.”
In that long process, however, Gyoojun’s original calling as a
pastor comes into play. Potential recruits are people with whom
Gyoonjun can pastor and build relationships. When a teenager
talks to him about their wild future dreams, Gyoojun listens, not
because one day the teen may become a Bible translator, but first
because he is loved by Christ.
“In this kind of secularized society, how can we mobilize people
to sacrifice all other things and then go to the field for 10 years
or 20 years to translate the Bible? It’s impossible, right? Who
could do that?”
It would be impossible if God didn’t call people to the work
of Bible translation, he explains, before referring to Matthew 9:
37-38 (NIV):
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of
the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Mother’s Vow
Gyoojun’s belief that each person has a calling in life isn’t based
solely on his belief in Scripture. It’s also rooted in his experience
as a child growing up in Korea.
One day when he was a child squirming in his church pew, God
and His Word gripped his attention and allowed him to concentrate.

(OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP) Gyoojun Lee, director of Wycliffe Canada’s
Korean Ministries, leads a Mission 101 conference near Calgary in
September 2014. The conference presented an overview of what
missions is to more than 100 Korean Canadians. (ABOVE) A group
work on a team-building exercise during the two-day gathering.
Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 17

A Reluc...tant Missionary
Wycliffe Canada’s spiritual enrichment
team leader went from resistance to joyful
resignation to serve with the organization.
By Nathan Frank

V

alerie Salkeld really didn’t want to become a missionary. In
fact, when she and her husband Laird began the process of
joining Wycliffe in 2001, Valerie assumed it would only be a
matter of time before he finally heard from God that they weren’t
supposed to be missionaries in the first place.
“I didn’t feel like I was qualified, that I was that mature Christian
that I envisioned missionaries to be,” Valerie explains while sitting
in her office at Wycliffe Canada’s headquarters in Calgary. “I
envisioned missionary women to be [wearing] the bun and a
house dress, living overseas eating bugs. I realized how inaccurate
and immature that ‘picture’ was as I got to know missionaries.”
Valerie, 47, is a stark contrast in appearance to the missionary
women she first envisioned. She has a neat elegance in her attire,
often wearing colourful, knee length dresses, which are accented
by her short hair, shiny earrings and perfect posture.
Practical about her faith, the mother of three resisted
becoming a missionary because it meant she and Laird would
have to raise financial support for their young family.
“It’s a frightening thing. . . . Laird was always determined to use
his skills [as a graphic designer]. He always felt like what he was
doing he wanted to fully devote to God and so I thought that
was wonderful as long as it didn’t affect me.”

Natasha Schmale Photos

(TOP) In addition to providing spiritual enrichment to Wycliffe
Canada staff, Valerie Salkeld speaks to believers outside the
organization, including Edmonton’s Ellerslie Road Baptist Church
Ladies Retreat in May, 2014. (BOTTOM) Valerie finds a quiet space
to prepare her presentation for the ladies retreat.
18 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

“We impact
Mature, But Real

Wycliffe’s
efforts in
the field
through
interceding
for the
people and
the work
around
the world.”

Valerie’s perspective changed, however, when
the couple attended a Wycliffe orientation
course where they met Wycliffe missionaries.
“They were the mature Christians everyone
wants to be like, but at the same time they
seemed real. All of a sudden it didn’t seem so
unattainable,” she explains.
“It wasn’t about being a missionary and that
label or that title; it was more about just your
relationship with God and that’s what I desired.”
Valerie and Laird started their missionary
careers in the Calgary office in 2002. Valerie
began in a support role to Laird, who joined
the communications department. This allowed
Valerie to stay home with their young children.
Although Valerie was officially a missionary,
she wasn’t finished bargaining with God.
“You won this one,” she told the Lord. ”I’ll be
a missionary, but I’m not going to do the public
praying thing. I’m not going to teach, and I’m
not going to speak in public.”
Of course, within only a few years Valerie
would be doing all of these things. By 2006
she was praying publicly, teaching and
public speaking in her new role in the prayer
ministries department.
“I think to some level we know what God is
asking of us and that’s why we put up our hands
[in defiance] before He even has a chance to ask.”
Originally Valerie worked in the department
only two days a week, but in 2010 she took
on the role of team leader and spearheaded a
change in the department from prayer ministries
to spiritual enrichment. The department
changed the format of the weekly office chapel
time, incorporating the reading of longer
passages of Scripture and expanding prayer
to Wycliffe staff needs across the globe. Her
department is also responsible for sending out
Prayer Alive to Canadians praying for the work.
“We impact Wycliffe’s efforts in the field
through interceding for the people and the
work around the world. We also encourage
staff and churches to join with us in being
prayerfully involved,” she explains. “I feel I am
caring for and facilitating a thriving, sustainable
Wycliffe community as well as promoting their
spiritual health and their attentiveness to God's
movement in their lives.
“Working in a faith-based organization, it is
still possible to forget the main reason we are
working together . . . to join in God's work.

(ABOVE) While her son Clayton clears the dishwasher, Salkeld
prepares dinner at the Salkelds' Calgary home.

We can get very caught up in our own jobs and forget about
nurturing our faith and relationship with God, which ultimately
is the only source we can rely on. “

Grasping His Love
For Valerie, it wasn’t until a pivotal moment in her life that she
realized that God can be relied on—that He is an intimate God.
As a child she grew up in a conservative Christian home with
her three brothers and sisters. She heard all the Bible stories but
viewed God as in the sky with “a big pointy finger.”
She was told God was a loving, forgiving father, but she had a
hard time grasping His love—until the first moment she saw her
first-born, Clayton.
“I was holding him and in that moment it was like God said
to me, ‘This is how I love you.’ I realized holding him that this
baby would grow up. This baby could hurt me emotionally. This
baby might distance himself from me. This baby might disobey
me or do all the things he will do to grow and learn. But there is
nothing, nothing—nothing—that this baby can do to make me
stop loving him.”
Valerie calls this her conversion moment. It took her breath
away realizing that her love for Clayton was just a fraction of the
love God has for each of us.
By joining Wycliffe, despite her fears and reservations, Valerie
has again experienced God’s love and provision—in serving Him.
“You hear this all the time, right?” explains Valerie. “People are
very resistant to do what God has called them to do.
“And then they do it and wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 19

Amy
Drawing from her own experience, Wycliffe Canada’s internship
co-ordinator guides students to see whether missions is for them.
By Dwayne Janke

Nathan Frank

others—in this case, students
getting on-the-job exposure—
to experience what she has.

Off to Tanzania
Born in Brooks, Alta., Amy
spent most of her life in
Caronport, attending school
there right through to Bible
college and seminary. She
gravitated to English as
a Second Language (ESL)
teaching courses, and spent
some time in Thailand, before
graduating with a BA in Global
Studies from Briercrest. As
she interacted with visiting
missions representatives, Amy
was touched by the need for
Bible translation. She decided
to do an internship in Scripture
use through Wycliffe U.K. The
then 28-year-old set off for
Tanzania in January 2008.
Amy joined a Wycliffe
couple from Switzerland who
had their hands full with Bible
translation. They had been
immersed for 15 years in Sandawe, a difficult, tonal language
nce or twice a week through much of the year, you will
using
15 different clicks and characterized by a highly challenging
find Amy Wolverton at the “Gymtastiks” club in Moose
grammar.
Jaw, Sask. She’s there helping local kids experience
“When I got there, they had translated the books of Jonah and
gymnastics, from rolling on mats to walking on the beam.
Ruth,
” she explains. “They wanted somebody to distribute it, teach
As a certified gymnastics coach, Amy mentors youngsters in one
it,
do
Bible studies, go to markets in the area. I would have an mp3
of her childhood passions.
player
playing the Scriptures and songs, and people would buy
“I grew up doing gymnastics from age four to 15,” she says. “In
calendars
in their language with the alphabet on the back.”
elementary school, I’d go to school, then to gymnastics almost
Amy
learned
as much Sandawe as she could, though she often
every day, and I loved it right up to the time I quit.”
had
to
default
to
Swahili, the main trade language in Tanzania,
Twenty minutes down the highway at her hometown of
which
she
studied
for four months at a language school when
Caronport, Amy also coaches the track and field club at the local
she
first
arrived
in
the
country. The active young woman
high school, which is connected to the community’s centrepiece,
enjoyed
her
18
months
on the field, including the travel and
Briercrest Bible College and Seminary.
social
interaction.
Because of her love of track and field throughout grade
“I like riding my bike, I like walking, and I like exercise. The
school, Amy decided to volunteer to guide the Caronport
different
villages I would go around to would be an hour away,
teenagers in the sport.
but
I
could
walk and greet people along the way.”
“It’s something I really enjoy,” she says. “I can build relationships,
and I can help the kids improve and see them grow, and support
Field Realization
them in their sport.”
Amy
saw staff working behind the scenes in areas such as finance
Coaching is obviously in the blood of this 33-year-old wife and
and
accounting
which support the effort of Bible translators,
mother of two small children.
literacy
workers
and Scripture use staff.
So, it seems only natural that Amy serves as co-ordinator of
“It
gave
me
a
whole
new perspective,” she says. “Then when I got
Wycliffe Canada’s internship program. Once again, she is helping

O

20 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

Natasha Schmale

(OPPOSITE PAGE) As Wycliffe Canada’s internship program
co-ordinator, Amy Wolverton draws on her experiences of guiding
and mentoring as a certified coach at the “Gymtastiks” club in
Moose Jaw, Sask. (ABOVE) Working remotely from nearby Caronport,
Amy Wolverton shows off her new baby girl, Senna, during a video
conference meeting with other staff across Canada in Wycliffe’s
People department.

Whatever their circumstances, Amy says young people
today—unlike their parents—are faced with many more
possibilities for careers. They often need to try things before
committing to anything long term, which makes Wycliffe’s
internship program so relevant.
“They get a good experience and . . . I think it helps them get
some direction, either ‘Yes, this is for me’ or ‘No, it isn’t for me.’ ”
Internships are a win-win situation, both for the intern and the
out to the village setting, I realized what it takes to translate the
Wycliffe
personnel they assist, explains Amy. “Most are replying,
Bible—how much work and time, double and triple checking.”
‘Yes,
send
me another one.’”
Amy knew the long translation effort was worth it when she
So
far,
36
young people have been on Wycliffe internships since
played audio portions of the translated book of Jonah to a group
the
program
began in 2010. Of that number, five have joined
of Sandawe village women. Though the women had the Swahili
Wycliffe,
three
are serving in full-time Christian work, and a
Bible, it was listening to God’s Word in their heart language and
handful
of
others
are currently studying for service with Wycliffe.
following along with printed Scriptures that struck home.
“At the end of it, I remember this one lady said, ‘Oh, that’s what
Seeing Growth in Others
the book’s all about.’ In the end, their faces lit up.
Working
remotely from Caronport, Amy interacts with interns
“When I’d go to the market and play their songs or Scripture,
from
the
application process right through to their post-field
they just felt a great pride in it and they would say, ‘This is our
debriefing,
via email, Skype or in person.
language. We can understand it.’ ”
She
gives
potential interns one-on-one attention to match
When Amy returned to Canada in late 2010, she began dating
them
with
relevant
ministry opportunities somewhere in
Justin, a long-time friend in Caronport. They were married the
Wycliffe’s
worldwide
ministry, ranging from two months to one
next summer.
year.
These
internships
have so far included linguistics, Bible
Justin had made a commitment to continue playing basketball
translation,
literacy,
Bible
storytelling, ethno arts, Scripture use,
and studying at Briercrest. During the couple’s engagement,
teaching
missionary
kids,
administration,
video production and
Wycliffe Canada approached Amy to spearhead a new internship
information
technology.
program. She didn’t hesitate to work with young people wanting
“There’s a huge variety,” she says of the possibilities. “People
to get a taste of cross-cultural ministry like she had.
shouldn’t
get the idea that because we say we’re ‘Wycliffe Bible
“I had just experienced it,” she says. “I’m fresh out of college,
Translators’
that there are only opportunities in language work.”
seminary—[I am at the] same stage as them. I can understand.”
Most interns have never travelled before, other than on family
vacations, says Amy, or they have not travelled alone.
Increasing Opportunities
“I’m helping them with visas, and plane tickets and travel tips.
Most post-secondary institutions, including Bible schools and
All
my past travel experience I can pass on to them, and then
seminaries, require students to do an experience- and exposure[my
experience] cross-culturally too.”
building internship as part of their studies, says Amy. Wycliffe
These
days, Amy is busy with a two-year-old son and an infant
Canada is partnering with more and more schools to provide
daughter,
and is taking a six-month maternity leave, before
such opportunities.
returning
in her fulfilling role as internship co-ordinator.
About half of Wycliffe interns are post-secondary students who
“I
just
like
seeing growth and building those relationships,
have taken classes in their area of interest but want an internship
answering
questions
and being available and helping.”
to see if they should
Whether
it’s
in
the
gym, outside on a track, or at her desk
continue those
More on the Web:
guiding
interns,
Amy
keeps
on coaching young people as they
To learn more about Wycliffe Canada’s
studies. “Some are
test
and
pursue
passions
and
gifts God has given them.
internship program, visit internship.wycliffe.ca.
out of high school
and want to try an
internship and then do their schooling,” she adds. “Others have
done some schooling and then want to specialize in an area.”
Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 21

Natasha Schmale Photos

Former Wycliffe translators use their field
experiences to help their colleagues and
would-be missionaries.
By Nathan Frank

I

For Jonathan, 48, and his wife Bonnie, 46, the mission field is
now Toronto, but for more than eight years, from 2000-2008, their
focus was in Central Asia where they worked in translation with
Wycliffe. The task then was to help devise an alphabet, create
literacy material, and translate the Bible for a language group there.
Now the task is to take what they learned in the field and walk in
a new calling—Jonathan as a professor and Bonnie as a counsellor
and member-care consultant for Wycliffe Canada.
“What I learned is that relationships are important,” Jonathan
explains in the cafeteria between classes. “As a Wycliffe member,
I tend to be task oriented, and we as an organization tend to be
task orientated.”
Both Bonnie and Jonathan confide that while they were on
assignment overseas, they felt isolated with no one to talk to
about the unique challenges of translation work. Then, when
they were finished their mission, they were left asking themselves
what was next.
“All I knew was Bible translation,” explains Jonathan. “All of a
sudden I’m not doing that. I tried to grapple with the reality of,
‘What does this mean to me? What does it mean for my family?’ ”

t would be difficult to find a more diverse class than the
group Jonathan Kim taught this past June. Standing in front
of a small group of students gathered at Tyndale Intercultural
Ministries Centre in Toronto for a two-week missions course,
Jonathan pointed out that there were nearly 10 different ethnic
groups represented in the class.
Surrounding one table are a pair of Korean men, a DutchCanadian man and a man from Mainland China. At another table
are a group of women: a Jamaican, a Portuguese, an AfricanAmerican and a Canadian. Jonathan was born and raised in Korea,
while his partner in teaching the class, Robert Cousins, is Irish.
Jonathan explains to the multiethnic, multiracial class that it is Struggle Leads to a New Calling
like the global Church, before issuing a challenge. “The mission is When they returned from Central Asia in 2008, they prayed,
regrouped and evaluated what their greatest passions were.
to bring the gospel to all nations and in Toronto the nations are
“Drop
all expectations,” Jonathan told Bonnie. “Drop all you’re
on your doorstep.”
supposed to do. Think about what you want to do.”

22 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

“We saw that a lot of
missionary families are
suffering . . . but
mission agencies and
their sending church have
little idea.”

Bonnie reflected on life in Central Asia. The main goal was
Bible translation, but where she found her passion was in the
conversations with other missionaries who often came to their
home to talk about their struggles.
“We found ourselves doing a lot of informal counselling,”
Bonnie explains. “Both my husband and I have a heart to see
people thriving and growing in their journey.
“We saw that a lot of missionary families are suffering,” Jonathan
adds. “The relationship between husband and wife was not going
well, the relationship with their children may not be going well,
but mission agencies and their sending church have little idea.”
When Jonathan was in Central Asia he saw that his translation
Jonathan says struggling missionaries are not as effective in their
ministries as they could be because they are often reluctant to share work was not as effective as it could be because of a lack of
multi-cultural training.
their problems with peers and supervisors. They believe they may
In Jonathan’s June class, he taught the group how every person
be viewed as not successful enough to remain in the organization.
has a cultural mindset. However, we accept, adapt, minimize or
So, the couple decided to do something about the needs they
saw. Bonnie began working toward her counselling credentials and deny the differences of cultures. The course is meant to have the
students become more self-aware of how differences in cultures
is now a student counsellor in Tyndale’s counselling department.
affect relationships and ministry.
As a member-care consultant for Wycliffe, her main role is
to organize and run week-long re-entry programs for returning
Bi-focals
missionaries. In the future, however, she hopes to gain a bigger
According to Jonathan’s co-instructor, Robert Cousins, Jonathan
role in connecting and caring for them.
is the perfect person to teach this course. He teaches with a
“It’s in the very beginning stages of how to do it, but in the
humble, but vast perspective. He knows what it’s like to be out
long run, my primary interest group are missionaries who are
of place in an alien culture. In fact, with all the different cultures
coming back and taking a few months rest; where I will be able
he and Bonnie have lived in, they could multiply that feeling
to provide professional care.”
several times over.
When Bonnie counsels returning missionaries at the re-entry
Teaching Future Missionaries
program, she knows how the missionaries feel. She understands
While Bonnie chose counselling, Jonathan saw teaching as his
the isolation and confusing feelings they have associated with
new path. In 2009, he began his PhD studies in education at
returning from assignment.
Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill.
Jonathan and Bonnie may not be overseas as missionaries
Today, he teaches intensive cross-cultural mission training and
anymore, but it’s clear their impact for Wycliffe is just as important.
language courses at Tyndale to missionaries and churches. His
1 Corinthians 12:12 (ESV) reminds us that, “For just as the
position was created through a partnership agreement between
body is one and has many members, and all the members of the
Tyndale and Wycliffe.
body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
Jonathan’s hope is to equip and empower missionaries and
The Kims are an important part of the body of Christ and
churches with what he sees lacking in the mission field and in
of Wycliffe, as they empower fellow missionaries to serve
home churches.
better overseas.
(OPPOSITE) Jonathan Kim
teaches a two-week missions course to a group of
about 20 students at Tyndale
Intercultural Ministries Centre
on the campus of Tyndale
University College and Seminary
in Toronto, where he and his
wife Bonnie both spend a lot
of their time. While Jonathan
teaches, Bonnie is a counsellor
at Tyndale and a member-care
consultant for Wycliffe Canada.
(RIGHT) As the Kims gather
for a family photo, (from left,
Bonnie, Jeremy, Jessie, Joel and
Jonathan) Jeremy and Jessie
show off their musical talents by
performing a duet.

P u l l e d B a c k to

Tabe Abiandroa Jean-Pierre

Drawn home to Canada by family ties,
David Thormoset takes on a new role to
support Bible translation overseas.
By Doug Lockhart

F

David Thermoset attends a Wycliffe Canada-sponsored field
program in Africa, where he and his wife Henny served for 17
years. Field trips are part of David’s role as director of field partner
relations, where he oversees Wycliffe Canada’s relationships with
its numerous global partners who are doing Bible translation and
related ministries, funded by Canadian donors.

Hearing and Heeding
or David Thormoset, the freak weather pattern that buried
David and Henny were in Cameroon when they learned that
Calgary in more than 25 cm of snow this past September
19-year-old Andreas had taken his own life while living with
was another reminder that he’s a long way from Africa.
relatives in Calgary (see Word Alive Spring 2004 at
Besides adjusting to climatic differences between Calgary and
<wordalive.wycliffe.ca>). Since then, they have done their best
Cameroon, where he and his wife Henny served for the past 17
to provide emotional and practical support for their daughter
years, he’s also adjusting to an entirely new job.
Sonya, and their twin sons Nathan and Stefan.
As director of field partner relations, David now oversees
Sonya has since married and moved to Switzerland, while
Wycliffe Canada’s relationships with its numerous global
Nathan and Stefan have both married and settled in Calgary. But
partners who are involved in Bible translation and other
when the twins told Henny in December 2012 that they wanted
language-related ministries funded by Canadian donors. That
means the veteran linguist and translation adviser will no longer her and their dad to return to Canada—long term—David and
Henny took their request very seriously.
be directly involved in training minority language groups to
“In Africa, it was easy to assume that the kids were fine,” says
translate Scripture.
David. “Of course we missed them like crazy and it was really
But he’s okay with that, because he and Henny are still
hard to not see our two granddaughters, but our thinking was,
involved in furthering Bible translation—and in Calgary, they’ll
‘This is what God has called us to do.’ ”
be near two of their three adult children and their families.
Their sons’ request forced them to reconsider their plan to
While the desire to “be there” for their kids has always been
important to the Thormosets, it became an even greater priority keep working in Cameroon. David says he and Henny realized
that if they stayed, their children and grandchildren would have
after the tragic death of their son Andreas in 2001.
to make sacrifices.

24 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

P U S H F O RWA R D
“The idea is that we always have our
finger on the pulse of the projects our
partners are doing, to see how we
can come alongside and help them.”
“Even though there was no crisis with our sons or their families
. . . there was a felt-need that they were being deprived of
something.”
As David and Henny prayed about the idea of leaving
Cameroon, they felt a growing confidence and peace that a
return to Canada was part of God’s plan.
“We had to really re-think, re-analyze what that could look like
if we were to serve from Canada,” says David. “But we realized
that we would still get to serve Bible translation.
“We haven’t pulled away from the task that we feel so
passionate about.”

Expanded Role
After the Thormosets moved to Calgary in January 2014, David
began his work in the Calgary office by orienting himself to
Wycliffe Canada’s overseas projects. Initially assigned to be a liaison
between the home office and Bible translation projects in Africa,
he has since taken on the additional responsibility of directing
all field partner relations. In that role, he oversees a team of field
partner liaisons, most of whom serve part time in that capacity
while juggling other roles and responsibilities in the organization.
Both roles will require him to regularly visit language projects
overseas and interact with the leaders of local organizations
that Wycliffe partners with in Bible translation. Together, they
will review the project’s progress, financial records and resource
needs, while exploring ways to serve and build capacity in the
partner agencies so they can expand the scope of their work.
“It’s relationship-building,” adds David. “It’s one thing to get on
Skype or send an email, but it’s another for our field partners to
be able to put a face to a name,
More on the Web:
and know, ‘Oh yeah, this is the
For more information about
guy we talk to whenever there’s
Wycliffe Canada projects, visit
a need.’ ”
projects.wycliffe.ca.
Furthermore, David says he
and other project liaisons will do
their best to help Wycliffe’s field partners fill personnel gaps, by
recruiting needed staff.
“So we’re looking basically to work hand-in-hand with people
in our recruitment department, and to help place interns and
volunteers. The idea is that we always have our finger on the
pulse of the projects our partners are doing, to see how we can
come alongside and help them.”

Sharper Focus
This past September, David travelled to Africa to assess a Wycliffe
Canada-sponsored language project in Tanzania and another in
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Eventually, his work
will take him to other countries to visit with partners in Wycliffe
Canada’s “focus regions” that also include Cameroon, Peru,
Bougainville (in Papua New Guinea), Thailand, and even here in
Canada, as well as a few partners in “restricted access” regions
within Asia.
In recent years, Wycliffe Canada has taken steps to sharpen
its geographic focus in terms of recruitment, prayer and
project funding. Furthermore, David and his colleagues hope
to encourage the formation of “Kingdom Friendships” between
Wycliffe’s overseas partner organizations and churches in Canada
(see Word Alive Summer 2014 at <wordalive.wycliffe.ca>).
With about 500 staff scattered around the globe, Wycliffe
Canada’s role in the worldwide Bible translation movement is a
modest one. But with more than 1,800 languages still in need of
Scripture translation, the need for effective global partnerships
is crucial to finish Bible translation in this generation. Wycliffe’s
leaders are hopeful that by directing people and resources to
strategic regions, and encouraging healthy, growing Kingdom
Friendships, Wycliffe Canada can make an even greater impact
on language communities.

Settling In

More on the Web:
Learn how a B.C. church has begun
a Kingdom Friendship with a
Bible translation agency in Peru.
See Word Alive (Summer 2014) at
<wordalive.wycliffe.ca>.

Fostering Kingdom Friendships
between overseas language groups
and Canadian churches is part of
Henny’s job as director of Church
Connections—which means she
and David frequently find themselves working together to engage
local churches in the work of Bible translation.
While they both enjoy such opportunities, David says they’ve
both struggled in adapting to their new roles and surroundings.
At times, he adds, they’ve both felt “in over their heads.”
“I think both of us are longing to feel settled a bit; to get our
roots down, get some routine. Because a tremendous amount of
our time has been spent on trying to . . . get a sense of what we
want to accomplish. . . .”
Additionally, David has missed working with Cameroonian and
expat colleagues.
“We don’t get to rub shoulders anymore with the awesome
people we had the privilege of working with over the past 17 years.
“And there’s something that’s always been appealing about . . .
speaking different languages. I really enjoy that.”
However, the Thormosets are thankful for the opportunity to
establish new roots and routines in Calgary, close to their two
sons and their wives, and twin granddaughters.
The loving words spoken in their kids’ homes are music to
their ears, and a source of joy and strength as David and Henny
continue to further Bible translation around the world.

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 25

R
I
C
C
L
L
E
L
U
F UL
F
E
LC
L
C
IR
R

CL

Lutheran Bible Institute in Camrose, Alta. She had already
finished a business administration diploma before attending
Bible college, but it wasn’t until she saw a bright orange paper
Wycliffe Canada’s receipts manager
that her Wycliffe career was birthed.
returns to the finance department in
“It was from Wycliffe and it was all the accounting and
bookkeeping
positions in the world,” she recalls. “I’d never
Calgary after three decades.
thought that I could use what I like to do and the training I
By Nathan Frank
already had for God—I just never knew that.”
Dolores applied for a short-term mission position with
olores Wuermli has a gentle presence. Perhaps it’s because Wycliffe and after only a couple months of being in Calgary,
her outlook on life has been seasoned by raising two
she met her future husband Sam, whom she married in 1982.
children. Or maybe the grace and peace the tender-eyed
Three years later, Dolores became pregnant with their first child,
Dolores radiates is simply caused by the way her brain is wired
Natashia, and stepped down from her position at Wycliffe to
toward numbers. It could even be that the stories she hears
focus on being a mother. A year later she and Sam had their
daily from donors as Wycliffe’s receipts manager has given her a
second child, Josiah.
holistic perspective.
With their young family growing, the Wuermlis decided to
She oversees processing of about a million dollars of donations move to Fort St. John, BC., to work alongside Sam’s cousin at
from Canadians each month and speaks to many of the donors.
his dairy farm. The move north was a return to where Sam first
Her job is crucial for hundreds of Wycliffe Canada staff around
immigrated when he moved to Canada, and was close to Dawson
the world who need their salaries paid each month.
Creek, where Dolores was born and spent some time as a child.
“Processing all the gifts from donors for Wycliffe Canada
However, after more than eight years raising their young
members helps them to continue doing their work, knowing
children around cattle and the fresh country air, the Wuermlis
that’s taken care of and that they can buy groceries and send
felt like they needed a change.
their kids to school.”
“We had always considered doing missions together,” Dolores
In addition, field project managers overseas need funds that
explains. “We thought we’d check out Wycliffe and found out
the finance department sends their way, explains Dolores. “It
they had a need for a bookkeeper for the South Asia Group
helps management make decisions.”
[based in England].
Dolores’ role may be important and serious, but it’s also fun.
“We prayed about it as a family. We talked about it with [the
She finds particular enjoyment in her connections with donors.
kids]. It wasn’t just that we said to them one day, ‘We’re doing
One young lad, she says, sold his pet lizard so he could donate
this and you’re coming along.’ We wanted them to feel a part of
$100, and a 5-year-old donated 40 cents.
the whole ministry, too, and I think they did.”
The boy who gave the 40 cents was sent a receipt and a letter
The Wuermlis’ next move would be a big one, across the
from Wycliffe Canada, says Dolores. “We wanted to encourage
Atlantic Ocean to England.
him to continue giving as the Lord leads.”

For Dolores and her husband Sam, a donor’s commitment will
sometimes be close to home. Ever since the Wuermlis became
Wycliffe missionaries serving in the U.K. in 1995, Sam’s parents
in Switzerland were consistent financial partners. However, when
Sam’s mom passed away in 2012, his dad dropped his support
from 500 Swiss Francs (SF) to 400—because he no longer
received her pension. Before Sam’s father passed away, Sam and
Dolores realized that the entire pension he received was 500 SF.
“He gave us 80 per cent of what he received. When we asked
him about this he said he was taken care of in the [seniors’]
home. He didn’t need any new things, just toothpaste and soap,”
explains Dolores. “What sacrifice!”
Dolores first realized that Wycliffe and her love of accounting
could mesh in 1980, when she was attending the Canadian

26 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

LE

Meshing Accounting with Missions

Changing Roles and Disappointment

The family settled at the Wycliffe U.K. Centre in England in 1996.
Dolores was the bookkeeper for the South Asia and the North
Eurasian entities of SIL (Wycliffe’s main field partner), while Sam
worked in information technology and maintenance.
A decade later in 2006, Dolores and Sam were given added
roles at the Wycliffe U.K. Centre as house parents for those who
came to Wycliffe England to volunteer.
“We were there to care for them, listen, pray with them and
encourage them,” Dolores explains. “The hardest part was saying
goodbye every six months to another group of amazing young
people.”
The program, however, ended in 2009, when the England office
was closed. The Wuermlis were devastated.
“Lord, what are you doing that we don’t see?” Dolores asked.
She describes the pain she felt as a loss or a death.
“What now?” the Wuermlis asked themselves, feeling
disappointed in those making the decisions.
“I knew deep down in my soul that God was calling us to come
back to Canada and Sam wasn’t on that page for a while,” says
Dolores. “I had to just pray and let God do His work in his life to
also bring him to that point.”

FU

“I’d never thought that I could
use what I like to do and the
training I already had for God.”

E

D

F

Transition to Canada

FU

Helping the Wuermlis make the transition back
to Canada in 2011 was a 13-week Freedom in
Christ discipleship course they took in England
and now teach in Calgary.
The course teaches participants how to apply
forgiveness to their lives and to walk in freedom
in who they are in Christ, by going to God with
their hurts.
“In the pain we experienced in 2009 and 2010,
we knew God was with us. He felt our pain. He
held us. He showed us where we needed to
confess sin and repent. He taught us to forgive
and forgive and forgive—and when the emotions
raged He reminded us to be honest with Him
about how we were feeling and cry out to him.
He would love us, no matter
what we said.”
After some time, Dolores
and Sam began to feel more
comfortable in their new roles
for Wycliffe Canada. Although
Sam still misses England to this
day, his new role as the Race
to 2025 co-ordinator has been
his dream job, combining his
passion for the wilderness and
working with young people. The
adventure race is a fundraising
and recruitment tool.
“I realized that we need be
where God wants us to be.
Otherwise I may not be as happy
over there and definitely not as
effective,” explains Sam. “Through
the race we have an incredible
influence on young people.”
Dolores, like Sam, has found
her new role fits with her
passions and skills. It’s a position
co-ordinated by God.
“I love being here and I love
the team I have. I think they also
enjoy it,” Dolores says. “They
don’t find it stressful. They look
forward to coming to work. We
just try to create a space where
people want to be, who want to
do this job, but also that we can Natasha Schmale Photos
enjoy each other and pray for
each other.”
Because Dolores and Sam took a leap with
God, today they find themselves where they are
supposed to be—in God’s plan.

LL C

I RC L E F U L

LC
I
R

(TOP) Dolores Wuermli (left) has a laugh while
opening mail filled with donations with her
colleagues in the receipts department. (LEFT)
Dolores creates a Swiss delicacy called zopf in
her Calgary home, for the Wuermlis’ Sunday
morning breakfast. Dolores’ Swiss husband
Sam taught her how to make the braided
bread more than 30 years ago. (RIGHT) In her
living room, Dolores helps Wycliffe accountant
Bota Davletova and her mother Sauliya make
greeting cards, a hobby of Dolores’ for nearly 20
years. She hosts a group of ladies once a month
to make cards.

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 27

Beyond Words
Translating the Gospel
By Hart Wiens

Part 13

Rhetorical Figures
By Hart Wiens
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

T

he phrase “may not perish” is part of a bold rhetorical figure which the
writer uses to highlight the ultimate destiny of the person who believes in
Jesus. The figure profiles the desirability of that destiny by first emphasizing
what it is not.
In the original Greek, this phrase consists of the word for “not’ followed by
the word ἀπόληται, which is translated in some English versions as “perish.” The
primary meaning of the Greek word actually has to do with destruction and is
glossed in Greek lexicons as “to destroy” or “to ruin.” In The Message, Eugene
Peterson has “be destroyed.” Other recent versions such as Good News, God’s Word
and The Contemporary English Version try to capture the fact that what is being
dealt with here is a life and death matter, so the Greek word is translated into
English as “die.”
The variation that we find in our English versions illustrates the difficulty
of translating rhetorical figures in a way that fully and accurately captures the
meaning of the original. Peterson is certainly right to translate this verse in a
way that shows that believing in Christ keeps us from destruction. However, his
rendering is so general that many readers will have difficulty knowing what type
of destruction is being referred to. Older and more literal versions tend to use
the English word “perish,” which is accurate, but also
archaic because many contemporary Bible users do not
In the case of difficult use “perish” to mean “to die” anymore. By making this
rhetorical figures, a life and death issue, newer versions are more easily
but people may take these translations too
the work of the understood,
literally as referring to physical death.
translators must be
Our UBS Translators Handbook warns translators that
supplemented by this verse has frequently “been misinterpreted to imply
if people simply believed in Jesus that they would
the work of teachers that
never experience physical death.” The Contemporary
and preachers. English Version tries to avoid this misinterpretation by
saying that those who have faith in Jesus will “never
really die,” implying that there is a kind of death other than physical death from
which they will be spared.
Ultimately, as translators we must recognize that in the case of difficult
rhetorical figures such as these, our work is not enough. The work of the
translators must be supplemented by the work of teachers and preachers. The
Bible Society is keenly aware of the need for partnership with the Church. The
work of Bible teachers, preachers, and even parents and Bible study leaders is
critical for followers of Jesus to understand the Bible so they may grow and
become true disciples in the Kingdom that Jesus came to bring.

Editor’s Note:
This is the final
in a series of 14
articles reflecting
on the verse John
3:16 word by
word. The series
illustrates some of
the challenges Bible
translators face as
they seek to present
God’s Good News
in every language
spoken on earth.

28 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

Part 14

Limitations to Translation
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

O

Illustration by Cindy Buckshon

ne of the reasons Christians love this verse so much is its promise of life—
eternal life. According to this verse we have this life through a combination
of what God has done and our response to it. God sent his Son to save us
and the anticipated response on our part is faith that results in action.
The original Greek text is ζωὴν αἰώνιον. The first Greek word is the source from
which we derive our English word “zoology.” It is generally translated in English
as “life.” The second word is most frequently translated into English as “eternal.”
We get our English word “eon” from this Greek root. Unfortunately in our English
translation, as in many languages, the focus in a word like “eternal” tends to be on
the length of time—time without end. However, in Greek and in the context of the
Jewish culture in which the Gospel was written, the focus is as much on the quality
of life that is promised as on the length of time. The Jewish people looked forward
to a time when the Messiah would come and rule—the messianic age. Could that
be what John had in mind when he wrote about eternal life in this verse?
Those of us who just read this verse in our English translations without
understanding the context in which John lived and wrote, will tend to think
of a time after death when the part of us that does not die goes on to live
forever in heaven. However, for Jesus, and for his early followers, that time had
already begun with the coming of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah. Everything
that Jesus did and taught was intended to demonstrate that the messianic age
(the “Kingdom”) had come near. So perhaps what John is telling us here is that
by believing in Jesus—by believing that he is indeed God’s
Messiah—we are ushered into a whole new quality of life.
“In Greek and in the This life does not just begin at our physical death and then
context of the Jewish go on forever after that. It begins here and now, and goes
on after our bodies die. It begins as soon as we recognize
culture in which
and place our trust in the Messiah—the one and only Son
the Gospel was
of God whom God sent into this world because He loves us
so much.
written, the focus
The inadequacy of translations to capture the full range
is as much on the
of what Scripture is trying to communicate profiles the
quality of life that
importance of sound biblical teaching to help convey
the depth of meaning that cannot always be captured in
is promised as on
translation. As Bible translators, we work in partnership
the length of time.”
with the Church to bring the powerful good news of the
gospel to transform people’s lives.
Reprinted with permission from the Canadian Bible Society’s “Translating the
Gospel” article series, written by Hart Wiens, CBS director of Scripture translation. Hart and his wife Ginny
served with Wycliffe Canada in a Bible translation project among the Kalinga people in the Philippines for
19 years. More recently, Hart has been a Wycliffe Canada board member.

Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca 29

A Thousand Words
The Kabetu Lip

Natasha Schmale

30 Word Alive • Spring 2015 • wycliffe.ca

Steve Kabetu (see his story on pg. 12-13), a new
Wycliffe Canada board member, holds a picture
of his great-grandfather (middle, wrapped in
a blanket) along with two other elders of the
pre-Kenyan village of Kebete. Before explaining
that in the early 1900s his great-grandfather
agreed to allow missionaries to establish
a church and a school in the community,
Kabetu points to a distinguishing feature
of his ancestor—the Kabetu lip. The pointy
middle part of his own lip, he acknowledges,
is the same as his great-grandfather’s.

Last Word
Fellow Workers in the Truth
By Roy Eyre

I

n 1 Samuel 30, David’s small ragtag army returns from
a discouraging venture only to face disaster. As they
near Ziklag, the foreboding smell of smoke alerts them
to the fact their unprotected town has been raided by
the Amalekites, their families taken captive and their
homes burned. It’s too much. They raise their voices and
weep until they have no more strength to weep.
That’s when their agony shifts to anger, and they’re
ready to stone the one who led them away on this
failed excursion. David, already distraught because his
two wives are among the captives, refuses to give in. He
strengthens himself in the Lord his God, and then he
moves to action.
David inquires of the Lord, and God promises success.
Before the bitterness can harden, David rallies all 600
men. They probably don’t mind having an action plan,
but they’re not fit for quick pursuit. Before long, a third
of them collapse, because they are too exhausted to cross
a river. David switches to plan B, taking
advantage of this setback to allow those
Churches too often with remaining strength to thin down their
have a hierarchy, gear and leave it with the 200. Moving
lighter on their feet, the 400 catch up with
valuing those working the Amalekites and rout them, freeing their
at home below those families and collecting plenty of loot.
The question they face now is this:
on the front lines.
does the loot belong to the 400 on the
Here at Wycliffe, front lines, or to the entire army? In spite
we have a parallel of voices to the contrary, David decides
the one who goes into battle will
hierarchy. that
have the same share as the one who stays
with the supplies. Eventually David will
make this principle the law of the land:
people should not be valued differently because of the
specific piece they can contribute to a mission’s success.
This principle has an application today for how we
view missions. In my experience, churches too often
have a hierarchy, valuing those working at home below
those on the front lines. I’m not pointing fingers. Here at
Wycliffe, we have a parallel hierarchy: translators are at
the top of the heap, and everyone else fits into another
tier. Even mission agencies can compare themselves
against other missions. But such thinking is neither
healthy nor biblical.
In his book The Mission of God’s People, Dr. Chris
Wright comments: “In the variety of mission God has
entrusted to His church as a whole, it is unseemly
for one kind of mission to dismiss another out of a
superiority complex, or to undervalue itself as ‘not real

mission’ out of an inferiority complex. The body image
has powerful resonance here.”
To apply Paul’s metaphor about the body to missions,
evangelism ministries shouldn’t be ranked higher than
training schools. And the administrative assistant should
not think herself less a part of the body because she is
not a translator.
There’s encouragement for you, as well. The apostle
John picks up the same thread when he makes a hero
out of a quiet church member named Gaius. He says
in 3 John 8 that, when we support people who take
God’s truth to those who haven’t heard it, we are fellow
workers in the truth.
We all have a part to play, and God can put our
meagre resources together to create real impact. Wycliffe
is not simply a group of translators. We’re a team of
administrators, receipt clerks, teachers,
photographers and church-goers,
participating in God’s mission to
transform and restore our world.
We’re a Canadian movement
that dares to dream that we can
fuel a global Bible translation
movement.
Roy Eyre is the president
of Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada.

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