That is: “CONTEXT with a capital K.”
That’s what one of our missionary training teachers kept saying to us 32 years ago, to make it stick. Well, today, knowing the Haitian CONTEXT is still very critical. For example, the Creole word “lapè” means both “fear” and “peace.” So how will the Haitians understand the context in Matthew 10:34? “Do not think that I came to bring fear/peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace/fear but a sword.”
As we develop the Bible curriculum for grade 3 students, we need to be aware of their Creole context (since they speak Creole at home) and their level of French comprehension (since they’re supposed to be taught in French at school.) This complicates how we teach Truth, and which vocabulary to use to communicate the right meaning in a relevant way.
Martha also has a unique context in her ministry with the Self-Help finances. Money here is printed in gourdes, and 5 gourdes is called one Haitian dollar (1 $HT) – but their money is never printed in dollars. [This picture I found at http://www.alhaitienne.com shows an old version of their “two-Haitian-dollars” bill.] Some stores quote their prices in Haitian dollars, but they also accept US dollars (of course, at a different exchange rate.) All this complicates even Martha’s daily cash flow in the Baptist Haiti Mission Gift Shop and Tea Terrace – which exists to serves the Haitian context.
Martha and I also preparing for the American context: we’re flying back to Alabama on April 26 for 6 weeks, Lord willing.
On this trip we will be working on my immigration status, to enable us to stay in Haiti for longer stretches, as we work on this 6-year school curriculum of Bible foundations.
Please join us in praying for:
– God to expedite these legalities during this trip, so that we can return to Haiti in 6 weeks.
– for Haitian partners to help us develop the grade school Bible curriculum in French and Haitian Creole.
– for wisdom and encouragement in our daily contexts of ministry for Him.
Continue praising God with us, too, for:
– our health and strength to serve Him (Martha recently has recovered from a pinched nerve in her back.)
– the joys and friends we gain as we continue learning the Haitian culture and languages.
– the Baptist Haiti Mission’s 350 church-schools reaching 68,000 students (see their web site at: www.bhm.org )
Serving in the Haitian context,
Theo & Martha Enns
Unit 2019-BHM, 3170 Airmans Drive, Ft. Pierce, FL 34946
New Tribes Mission of Canada; Box 707; Durham, ON N0G 1RO; CANADA – http://canada.ntm.org
New Tribes Mission, Inc.; 1000 E. First St.; Sanford, FL 32771; USA.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.