Out of the Smoke

Bill is Back…

…and pretty much over jet lag. Whew! Thanks to all who prayed for Bill during his recent Asia Pacific trip. The smoke in the region did not cause breathing problems for him. His plane back to the capital city was not delayed. The trip was a great success, and Bill made new friends and ate some delicious spicy food.

Now we appreciate your prayers as we make plans for another trip (or two… or more!) to the Asia Pacific in the coming months to follow up on the need for more training for the consultants who help missionaries succeed.

EXCITING FACT: More and more non-Western missionaries are stepping out to reach Unreached People Groups! (And it’s part of our Bill’s new ministry to help them.)

CHALLENGING FACT #1: These missionaries tend to use different learning strategies than Americans and Germans prefer.

CHALLENGING FACT #2: There are too many of them for Bill to help individually.

What’s the Answer?

We need to adjust our training so that some of the language learning methods we teach are more natural fit for these learners and better help them to succeed.

And we need to train lots of consultants and language learning coaches so there is always someone available nearby when these missionaries need help and advice.

And that is why Bill went to the Asia Pacific region last month: to learn how to help these missionaries, and to spend time with consultants and those who can be taught to help others.

He spent three weeks with visiting with over 20 missionaries. Most of the missionaries (and 3 of the consultants) were actually Wana tribal people from the Asia Pacific region who have left their homes and villages to reach other Unreached People Groups such as the Da’a, the Lauje and the Banggai.

Just like all missionaries, they have left their home culture and families; they face hardships and sickness.

And just like every other missionaries, they need help lots of help. Bill was able to give them some encouragement and a few language learning tips. But much of his time this trip was spent listening and learning what their specific challenges are.

Now he is busy working on some ideas for better training methods. Lord willing, both of us (Bill and Donna) will go to Asia Pacific together in February to implement some of these new training ideas and to continue to work on consultant training.