Project

I wanted to put together a brief video to include all of these points, but when I did, it was horrible.
It was FAR too much information in too short of a time.

So I'm approaching it differently.

Play this sound file... and read this script I wrote.   This is one of my projects that never saw the light of day, because I felt the final result was too ..... noisy.

-chad

======================

Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess

What you are listening to, is select excerpts from Scripture that have been translated into the heart languages of the people of PNG.

What you are hearing, is a portion of PNG that have some Scripture in their language

What you are NOT HEARING, are the hundreds of languages that do not.

Not every language in PNG has such a recording.

Not every language in PNG has Scripture in their heart language.

Audio and Video is a very effective tool for communicating the Gospel.

It costs approximately $8000 to complete a media project which puts Scripture in the hands of 200 Papua New Guineans, for the first time, in their own language.

This year nearly 3000 audio players were put into hands of people …..who shared them.

Countless lives are being changed.

The demand is increasing.

774 languages and counting

144 of them have an audio or video Gospel presentation in their language.

1 technician/project manager team can accomplish 2-4 projects a year.

We need … funding … recordists, editors, distributors, computer techs, project coordinators, managers, village teams…. People with skills and people with funds.

If you are interested in helping there are jobs available without the need to go overseas.

 

HUNDREDS OF LANGUAGES ARE STILL LIVING IN SILENCE.  HELP US TO HELP THEM PRAISE GOD.

 
(list of languages in the sound file)

Abau

Abu

Adzera

Agarabi

Akukem

Alamblak

Alekano

Amanab

Ampeeli

Angaatiha

Anjam

Apal

Arammba

Arapesh

Arop

Aruamu

Awa

Bamu

Barai

Bargam

Bariai

Baruga

Bau

Bedamuni

Bimin

Bine

Binumarien

Bola

Bo-Ung Mara-Gomu

Bukiyip

Burum-Mindik

Busoa

Bwanabwana

Daga

Dedua

Doromu-Koki

Enga

Folopa

Gadsup

Gibaio

Girawa

Goiniri

Guhu-Samone

Gwahatike-Guhu

Halia

Huli

Inoke

Ipili

Irumu

Kamano-Kafe

Kamasau

Kamula

Kanasi

Kandawo

Kanite

Kara

Karo

Kasua

Kaulong

Kein

Kiwai NE

Kobon

Kol

Kombio

Korage

Kuman

Kuni-boazi

Kunimaipa

Kurti

Kwomtari

Lote

Madak

Maia

Male

Malol

Manam

Mandara

Mangseng

Mauwake

Mekeo

Melpa

Mende

Mengen

Menya

Miniafia

Minimib

Misima

Molima

Motu

Mundapa-Vitu

Naasioi

Nabak

Nai

Nakumanu

Namia

Narak

Nehan

Nobonob

Numanggang

Nyindrou

Ogea

Onobasulu

Patpatar

Pinai

Pou

Qaget

Ramoaaina

Rawa

Rumu

Sam

Saniyo-Hiyewe

Saposa

Saveeng TuamOov

Seimat

Siane

Siar-Lak

Sissano

Sos Kundi

Sulka

Sumo

Tairora

Takia

Takuu

Tungag

Uare

Ubir

Uisai

Umbu-Ungu

Uramat Baining

Urim

Usarufa

Vasui-tinputz

Vitu-Muduapa

Wahgi

Waima

Wantoat

Waskia

West Kewa

Wiru

Wolwale

Yipma

Yonkom

Yopno

 

 

Togo, To Go

For those of you who care to know, I enjoy Togo samiches.  I enjoy sandwiches of most kinds, but Togo's is my favorite.  I have fond memories of Togos, not the least of which included my future-brother-in-law, putting an extra few ounces of beef on my number 8, or was it 9.  I've been gone so long I can't remember my togos favorite!!! ACK!  I don't tend to miss food places much in the U.S.  So I don't join in when people start saying 'wow I miss SUCHnSUCH food and I can't wait until furlough'.  When your wife is as great a cook as mine, you tend not to lack in the food dept. 

Still from time to time, something strikes you momentarily and you're hit with a hunger pang you can't satisfy.  For most of you in your home country you can say 'wow I could really go for some Taco Bravo...' and then get in the car and go.  For me, I have to sit, and put it out of my mind.

Today, we were recording 1 Corinthians and these two phrases kept popping up:

"To go" (pronounced TOE  GOE)
and
"togo" (pronounced TOEGOE)

So of course I couldn't help but think of a nice big cold roast beef and turkey with American cheese on a roll.   ..................sorry had to squeegee my keyboard there.....

Anyway I decided to ask what it meant.... because, I know missionaries who went to TOGO, so I thought maybe I might expand my TOGO trivia.

"to go" means 'all will go'  they all go together.
and
"togo" means 'respect'.

So, for those of you today who are all going to TOGOS, I respect that!    In Bola I suppose that would be "to go TOGOs togo"

Fly

Today we were recording 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, and over the headphones I heard a buzzing.  I couldn't tell if it was in the control room or the studio.  Benjamin suddenly pointed, and we saw a large horsefly on the INSIDE of the studio window glass.  It was in the mic'd room!  So I called a break.

I opened the double doors, walked into the sound-resistant room and there was Peter, the reader.  I had a rolled up manual and was swatting at the fly and missing.  The fly was circling around the room.

Peter stood and watched... watched... watched.... I was on my fourth swing...
Then, suddenly Peter swatted his hand, I heard 'thwack, thunk'. 
And sure enough, on the ground lay a dead fly.

Without saying a word, Peter sat back down and put his headphones back on, as if to say 'now, let's get back to recording'.

I congratulated him on his kill, and we went back to work.  I'm still amazed at how effectively he downed the fly.

4 hours turning 7 days into 5 minutes

Yesterday, I was asked to reconfigure an audibible after it was already
finished. That means moving hundreds of files into subfolders, which
would be about about 7 days of work if I did it manually. (okay possible
I'm over exaggerating, but to do this repeated hundreds of times....
seemed like something I could automate) So I've spent the last 4 hours
of work writing a naming standard, and a recording standard and then
scripting it out on my linux machine so that the computer does it all
for me 4 hours turning 7 days into 5 minutes.

So right now, as I type this, on my Windows machine, my MAC is rendering
a video, and my linux machine is converting WAV to OGG, renaming,
sorting, and shuffling into sub folders hundreds of language recorded files.

What I thought was going to be a LOT of work, turned into something I
could use technology to automate because I know how. And now I can use
these scripts for all future projects and be able to quickly turn out
higher quality work, the same way, every time.

That's technology improving Bible translation.

we're MASS communicatin!

Caked

Hand Rolled, Caramel door, CHECK.
Oreo Windows, CHECK.
Caramel and Brown Sugar walkway, CHECK
Caramel Chimney, CHECK
Hand Iced grass, CHECK
....
One Completed Hobbit Hole Cake for a 12 year old birthday, CHECK

One tired wife....CHECK.

Lemons into Lemonaide

Today, we sat down for recording, and the CAM dept, began tilling the roads.
The room began to shake, the microphone was registering all kinds of
noise....
we had to call a break.

We are recording ahead of schedule anyway, so we could afford it.

Suddenly I find myself with 4 extra unplanned hours!

YES! I was wondering how to finish the MAIA files in time for their
dedication in June. I was planning on pulling some weekend work coming
up to get it done before June.

Well, thanks to the help of using 2 computers rendering and converting
at the same time.

I'm DONE!

DONE with my first ever, from beginning to end, they walked into the
door and talked to me first, PROJECT. The first one I didn't inherit,
but was mine from beginning to end. And it's done, and I'm happy with
it, and in a week or so, it'll be out the door with close to 150
AudiBibles to fly themselves into the hands of PNGIANS.

I'm very very glad this 6 month project is completed!

Birthday Bwoy

Today is my son's birthday. He's 12. For those of you who knew me before
I was married, you might be asking 'where did the time go?'.
I'm asking myself that.
I know what the last 6 years have brought. We've been in PNG since
March 2007. Our son was 6 then. Now he's 12.
His birthday celebration is rather simple. We got him a used Wii game
that we had bought 2 years ago on furlough. NFL Madden 2007. Yeah, it's
not the latest nor the greatest. But he liked it.
He got an SF Giants cap. Although we can't get the games here, it
doesn't stop him from having a favorite team, and we did get to see the
World Series this last year!
Some friends are coming over, and they're going to watch the latest DVD
on center, "The Hobbit". I borrowed it from a friend who got it for his
birthday. It's a Hobbit themed party, and Kendal is making him a Hobbit
Hole birthday cake.
It's definitely 'home spun' and simple. There are no places to go to,
no real fancy gifts, but he loves it. He got to choose what we ate for
breakfast and dinner.
We like our simple celebrations, and although it lacks family and
friends from back home, it has its own special charm. The gifts are
rare, and simple. And my kids have grown up knowing the joy of a care
package, or the recognition of thought behind a gift rather than the
gift itself. They aren't exposed to English TV marketing and so their
expectations are low and often they are happy with whatever comes their way.
I think in living here, we have traded things that have little substance
with things that have great substance. Of course the biggest sacrifice,
is family and friends. And so, we allow ourselves to take a moment and
say 'next year, when we're on furlough, our birthday wil be with......"
And I absolutely love that my kids say 'with'.... and not 'at'. They
don't say 'it'll be AT funland and we'll ride go-carts'. They say
'it'll be with cousin Jake, and Grandpa, and....'

That to me, makes all the difference in the world.

Teachers Blog

http://livingletters.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/the-village-programme-a-unique-way-of-doing-school/

Morgan Freeman it Ain't

Morgan Freeman has a well recognized and soothing narrator's voice. He
is sought out because of his voice to do commercials, documentaries, and
voice overs.

His timbre, his tone, his fluent English reading, are the reasons he is
chosen to sit in recording sessions.

Our criteria is a bit less exacting.
We're looking for people who can read.

Sometimes we get fluent readers. Often times we don't. Even fluent
readers are not experienced in how to record, so they may read well, but
they touch their face, make lip smacking noises, touch the page, jitter
their fingers, and otherwise pollute the sound recording with extraneous
noise.

The less fluent readers make a lot of mistakes. To adjust for this, I
do a lot of editing, and rely heavily on someone who knows the language,
to tell me 'we need to retake that' when there are pronunciation mistakes.

Since we're recording Scripture here, you can be sure, that mistakes are
bad bad.

That's what recording is. Listening for mistakes, coaching readers out
of being monotone, and trying make the Scripture come alive as best as
possible.

A recordist in PNG, is much more than a technician, he has to be a
linguist too. I may not know the Bola language, but I know when someone
is reading it wrong... if that makes sense. I know vocal patterns, I
detect when someone needs to drink water, or is not inflecting
properly. I read hundreds of words I don't know to make sure none are
being missed.

Yesterday was one of those days I was trying to apply the patience of an
elementary teacher who is teaching children to read for the first time.
It was taking forever to get through a single verse,with so many
mistakes, and hard to pronounce words. I actually stopped for a moment,
closed my eyes and prayed

"God, give me patience!.. please!" It can be very frustrating, but then
you have the reward of knowing at the end, there is something
permanently recorded that generations can listen to!

water what now?

I Cor 3:6
    I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

Recently, a translator posted this story because it occurred to him, that in PNG, the act of watering your garden is non-existant.

=================
In almost every part of this country (except for a very few areas like the rain shadow area around Port Moresby, where they in fact have to import produce from the highlands) people have to make ditches, drains, and mounds in order to get rid of excess water.

During the big El Niño drought of 1997, an Australian support worker at Ukarumpa advised her village friend whose garden was right by the river, to get a bucket of water from what was left of the river, and pour a bit of water at the base of each plant in her garden.  The local woman responded with surprise - such a thought had never occurred to her!
=================

Here people don't water their garden because of the excessive rain.  They plant something, and it just grows.  But then again, in our home country, you don't burn away the tall grass (kunai) to make a place to plant.  They till the soil by hand after burning away brush and chopping trees down.    The place once called 'lone tree' (because it had a single tree on top of the hill) now has hundreds of trees. 

Things grow quickly and easily here.

I thought it an interesting translation to culture dilemma.

Dad's two favorite words 'I'm bored'

Whenever I hear 'I'm bored' from one of my kids, they get put to work.
They know this. I have a board of chores, and whenever I hear 'I'm
bored' they get one, mandatory.

Today my daughter let it slip, and I said ' WOOHOO!! Okay kids, follow me!'
my son said 'But I didn't say it dad! IT was her!'

I took them outside and taught them how to change a flat tire.
My son was very into it, my daughter, no so much.

"Geez, I'm never going to say that again around dad."

I replied, "hey, you're lucky, it was either that, or splitting fire
wood. This time I chose to educate you, instead of give you a chore,
but say it again and see what happens!"

Common Ground, Thanks Grandad

Today during a break in recording, I was trying to find some common ground with the men I was working with.  In conversation I realize they were from a beach area so I assumed they were fishermen.  We began to talk about fish, their stories, my stories, and I decided to try and tell a joke.

Jokes do NOT often cross cultural boundaries, so I told him 'I'm going to try and tell this joke, but it may not be funny to you.'

I then told an old fishing joke my grandad told me:

"Tambuna papa bilong me, wanpela day, em i go long kissim pis"  (one day my grandad went fishing)
"Na em tromawae hook, na wetim" (he cast his line, then waited)
"wanpela bigpela fish kaikai huk, nau paitim paitim, na tambuna papa, em pulim pulim" (a huge fish bit the hook, and then my grandad began to fight to reel him in)
"na dispela pis, em kirap, na kaikaim han bilong em" (now this fish, leaped up, and bit off my grandad's arm)
"tasol papa, em paitim em, na banisim insait long boat na kissim em" (but my grandad, still caught him, and got him on the boat)
"behain, mi bin askim tambuna, Papa? Dispela Pis, em stap long wanem saiz?" (later I asked my grandad, "how big was this fish?")
"i bekim, 'Dispela bik'"  (holding up 1 hand, he replied, "This big")

The joke got a big laugh.  They liked it quite a lot....

thanks Grandad.

Bakovi Dagi

In the Bola language, Bakovi Dagi means 'God'.
I've recorded 50 chapters of the New Testament and must have heard this
phrase several dozen times, in my earphones.

So it's no surprise that this morning I woke up and began my prayers,
"Bakovi Dagi, thank you for this day, for my wife, and kids....."

and didn't even realize what I had done until later.

Ever see that scene in the 13th Warrior where the man by listening
suddenly understands the language of the vikings? It's never happened
to me. I wish it would! But, until it does, apparently I do soak up a
few terms.

Reading

This is Peter, he speaks Bola.  He's one of the readers I am recording this month.  We are recording an audio version of the entire Bola New Testament for play on AudiBibles and cell phones.  Previously a Jesus Film was also created, and we're converting that to play on cell phones too, as many Bola speakers have cell phones capable of playing video.  (amazing isn't it?.. they live in huts made from bamboo and grass, but have cell phones that play video.  They have no power in the village to CHARGE their cell phones, but they find places to charge them.)

Peter reads at what I am guessing to be a fourth or fifth grade level.  He's young and enthusiastic so his reading is good, but he often makes mistakes.  This is where I come in.  I edit my recordings on the fly to make sure that post-production is faster.  I use Adobe Audition or Audacity for my recordings, I use an AKG mic, or a Audio Technica, I'm using a SHURE USB interfance with a RANE pre-amp.  I don't run throuhg a compressor or a noise gate, but I could use this DBX if I wanted to.  I don't want to.  Peter doesn't shout. (-;

As you can imagine the process of recording has a lot of stop and go.  A word is missed, or mispronounced.  It is VERY important we be grammatically correct for multiple reasons
1 - it's the Bible.
2 - People listening to this, and looking at the Bible, may in fact increase their reading ability so we want to be accurate with pronunciation. 

For this reason, I'm recording, checking levels, pausing, editing, restarting, etc,... AND scanning the Scripture in a foreign language for words that may have been skipped.  Meanwhile one man sitting next to me.. Peter, checks to make sure pronunciation is accurate.

It can look like a rather boring process... three men, in front of mic's... saying things like 'stop, start over, good job... pause...' and then being quite for long periods of time.  If you were to watch me do it, you might think I spoke Bola.  I don't.  But I can read.

Peter, has a heart for the Bola people getting God's Word, or he wouldn't be here.  His home is way across the ocean on another island in West New Britain (Kimbu).

He tends to get down on himself when he makes mistakes, but I remind him, that's why we have editing.  When he makes mistakes, culturally, he becomes more shy, and thus more quiet.

So for you audio geeks... imagine, that every couple of verses, I have to stop, and restart, and also check my levels, because the readers get shy when they make mistakes.

You have to learn your reader.

PETER starts off a -12 or so, maybe -9, but after a few mistakes, goes down to -10db
But if he doesn't make mistakes, he jumps up to -6 at times.   I have to keep an eye on the mic gain.

Pastor Benjamin, rarely makes mistakes, he reads at a high school level.  However he is older and his voice gets tired more quickly, so we take breaks, and often only do 1 chapter at a time.  Which means, I'm always checking levels, editing out long pauses, etc.

So, what may look boring to the casual onlooker, is actually an adrenaline filled, constantly vigilant, always looking at things, trying not to tweak or make changes but reacting when I need to.... high energy process.

Which is why when I get home, all I want to do is sleep.

People ask me 'why are you so tired'.

Yesterday, a translator tried his hand at recording and said 'wow, I got home, and just fell asleep instantly.' 

SEEEEEE!

God can use the illiterate

(this story has more power if you recognize the role of women in this
culture, and also the current context of a lot of violence against
women. For this woman to speak took courage in multiple ways)

This is from the Oral Bible Storying work in the Sepik:

Susan is a pastor's wife in the remote Kwomtari area of Sandaun
Province. She has always been soft spoken and quiet during gatherings as
she listens to others speak and express opinions. Susan is humble and
submissive in her attitude and behaviour. She is however illiterate. Why
was she selected as one of the Oral Bible Storytelling team members from
the Kwomtari community? Susan has a deep faith in God but has been
frustrated by her inability to read and therefore participate fully in
leading the women's fellowship group or even sharing Bible stories with
her children. It was for this reason she was chosen but God had a much
bigger picture in mind.

After the first OBS workshop Susan began to share her stories first with
her family and then with the ladies' fellowship group in her village.
The other women on the committee however were not pleased. They felt
Susan was trying to put herself forward, to make a name for herself.
They were literate and Susan was not so she should keep to her place.
Her husband seeking to shield his wife forbade her to tell the stories
outside of the home. Just recently over 150 women attended a regional
women's meeting. There was opportunity to clarify the goal of the OBS
method. When the stories in God's Word, become part of the heart and
mind of a person, whether literate or illiterate, they come alive and
impact lives. Susan, a woman once shy and lacking in confidence, opened
the devotional time by telling a Bible story. The ladies listened
spellbound.

Susan's husband found another way to encourage his wife. If you travel
to the Kwomtari area you may witness Susan telling a Bible story during
the church service and her husband then following her by preaching his
sermon based on the message contained in the story she just told.
Together they are planning an outreach trip to other Kwomtari villages
and beyond.

Yes, God had something special in mind for the Kwomtari and he used a
most unlikely person to deliver it.

Laughter and Chickens

Every two years we have an odd event.  Hundreds of missionaries gather to discuss weighty things, strategies, policies, etc, on how we will minister in PNG for the following 2 years. 

As a result, there is stress, which means, laughter is good medicine.

This year, I did not have time to rehearse a complicated banjo number, so I decided to do more of a comedy act with my banjo as the main prop.  Sadly, the video and audio is actually well done, and yet, I don't really play banjo so much as strum around for effect.

One of my side-ministries is trying to do things that help people 'STAY'.  To increase their longevity, it is important to, from time to time, laugh.  So I wrote this comedy act, with a friend, to get a lot of laughs.  Some of the jokes are impromptu, and some are written but not rehearsed.

Please excuse the poor mic'ing of the event.  I tried to make it easier on our sound techs by sharing a mic, but the end result is that I had to do a lot of leaning and looking back and forth.  Like I said, very very little time or rehearsal went into this.  The laughter you hear, is 300 or so non-profit volunteers from all over the country, who know me, and my guest, Andrew.  It'll be funnier for them.

Hopefullly in 2 more years I'll be able to post a more serious banjo piece but, in reality, I can't take myself that seriously... after all, I play the Banjo.  (still 2 years ago, my dueling banjos between me and my laptop was something to see).

And before you get all 'this is what he spends his time doing?'  remember, I spent very little time preparing this number... and also, yes.  I do spend some portion of my time encouraging others in creative ways.

I hope you enjoy...

2500

I listened to Francis Chan last night preach (via .mp3 file) on 'what do
you do that has eternal significance?'.
And I thought 'Every thing I do here, has eternal significance, and
everyone who supports us to be here, is doing things with eternal
significance.'

Today was a banner day.
-I trained a translator how to record audio Scripture.
-I setup the recording studio to begin 5 weeks of recording the spoken
BOLA New Testament
-I mastered and burned 3 DVD's of a LUKE video
-I passed my first quality exam for an Audio version of Luke
and....
-I received 2500 new AudiBibles, pictured here. 2500! Our typical
order is 1500, but we blew through that in 3 months. That's right, 1500
Audio Bibles went through our doors into the hands of PNGians.

That's a Lot of Bibles!!!
2500! WOW... look at all those boxes! I better stop blogging and get
to work. I got to put Scripture on all of those!

communicating

Sometimes we get requests that have us write a blurb or a photo.

This month we've had 2 or three 'flat stanley' requests... we've done those for kids in school, because it helps them see the world as BIGGER than the one they live in.

We have gotten pen-pal requests from kids in Awana programs who are required to speak to missionaries, or who want to know more from our kids.

And this week we got a little 'can you send us a pic of what you do'... so here's what I sent them regarding me:



Chad works at several jobs.  He is currently spending 12% of his time as a network engineer with CTS, 50% as the E.C. Secretary and 38% of his time doing Scripture Use Media.  Recording Tok Ples scriptures so that the people of PNG can hear God's Word in their own language is very important to him.  Sometimes he travels to the village to get the recordings done, and sometimes he edits the recordings at his office back in Ukarumpa.  Audio recordings help some people in PNG who can't read, to hear the Word of God in their heart language.

Passports!!

Here's a crazy little story of how planning ahead actually ended up
burning me.

2 years ago I noted down our US passport expiry dates, and then, a year
in advance put it on my calendar to 'renew passports for the kids'.

2 weeks ago that reminded popped up. So I wrote to the proper people
and asked "how do I renew my children's passports" and got back 'the
consolate embassador is actually coming next week, you asked in great
timing, this will save you a trip to port moresby to get the kids
sited! show up next thursday at 3pm."

Now I should have known this next bit, it was my failure. I think I was
too busy to put 2 and 2 together. The LAST time I did this was around 4
years ago and I had a slew of paper work to fill out and copy, etc etc..
BEFORE the siting.

So what I should have had was all my ducks in a row, all my papers
copied, applications filled out, etc.. before 3pm today.

But I didn't. Because I forgot that's what you had to do. I had no
idea the consolate SITING was the LAST part of the process and not the
FIRST part.

I asked the right question, but at the wrong time....

Anyway we show up today 'here we are. the Owens' what do we do?'

And the next hour was all 4 of us running around with our heads cut off
trying to get birth certificates, passport photos, social security
numbers, etc.

But the cool part was... we did it! We actually got passport photos
taken and printed, we got in the door moment before they closed!

Still, you don't really like to have to jerk your family into panic mode
unnecessarily.

Now, hopefully, even though our papers weren't turned in all neat and
orderly, we'll still get 2 passports renewed for the kids.
The reason I do this a year in advance is:
1 - to get a free siting when the consolate is here
and
2 - to get the passport renewed before the visas get printed.

-chad

output

today, we put out 40 Kwomteri Audio Bibles
20 Bo-Ung Audio Bibles
21 UmbuUngo Bibles


that's 81 Bibles that went out of this office today, and into the hands
of Papua New Guineans who either can't, or prefer not to, read.

NICE!

I am da REPLICATOR!

The way we distribute AudiBibles requires SEVERAL steps:
1 - the audio has to be recorded
2 - the audio has to be edited (remove mistakes and check grammar and Scripture accuracy)
3 - the audio has to be post produced (remove lip smacks, make sure volume and EQ are at good levels for our players)
4 - the audio has to be organized (placed into the proper order by filename so that it the chapters play in the right order)
5 - the audio has to be converted and compiled (into the proprietary format for the player)
6 - the compiled audio has to be placed onto a Micro SD card
7 - the Audio player has to be charged (power), and the SD card has to be put into it, tested, and then a small plastic door has to be screwed into place to prevent SD card theft.

Step 1 takes the longest
2 - the second longest
3 - the third longest
4,5,6,7 all relatively short periods of time.

But.. step 6, can take a LONG time.
The way we WERE doing it, until today, was to have a 10 port USB hub, on a linux machine running a script that would copy files from a CIFS share. 
It took 15 minutes for every 10 SD cards and it was a huge pain to put them into those USB to MicroSD adaptors, plus the Linux script would fail and we wouldn't know which card was the issue... etc.

So, I proposed we purchase an SD card replicator.  It was an idea that another technician had as well, but he hadn't the time to pursue it.

We got it yesterday, a translator came in an said 'we have to get 96 Audio Bibles into the village by May 4'.

It was time to use our new replicator.
WOW is this easy and fast.

It takes 2 minutes to do 15 with NO errors and NO hassle now.  No USB adaptors, it is soooo amazingly simple and fast.  We're on cloud 9.

Today we may actually get a lot of Audio Bibles into the hands of PNGians, faster and easier than we ever have before!  I'm pretty excited about that, as I'm constantly trying to find ways to improve our productivity. 

Doing MORE with LESS is preferred over doing LESS with LESS but that's the reality of our situation.  We have 1 technician here (me) for the time being... so tools like this, are super helpful!

Work Done

This week:

-scheduled the next 2 years of meetings and work for the executive committee
-organized and documented a house relocation for 8 households
-completed post production of Genesis and Luke in Maia language
-completed 1 episode of Luke dvd Uka
-upgraded linux server from fedora to ubuntu 12.04 w/wiki
-built a web calendar
-attended 2 days of committee meetings
-made a birthday video
-executed a 40th birthday party for my wife.
-fixed emergency plumbing problem this morning when pipe burst

It has been an intensely busy week, with a lot of stresses outside of
the work load, but amazingly God has blessed us through it with a high
level of productivity (completely unexpected) which in turn relieved
some of the stress because I was sure I would never be able to get all
that done in even a month, much less 5 days. I'm blogging this at 1am
of course, because when I am busy my brain is busy, and I end up not
sleeping. I think... I think.... I can rest now....

40

The woman I love turned 40 this week. Tonight we celebrated her.

The last few weeks have been... those kind of weeks. Where you wake up
on Monday morning and pray 'Lord let me make it to the weekend in
tact...please.'

One of the things I've been working on in the background was a surprise
40th party for my wife. She doesn't like BIG surprises, she likes to be
told to expect a surprise. So about 4 days ago I told her we'd be doing
a little something tonight.

I baked 3 cakes. But we opted to have her blow out a single candle
since she has a cold.
I made a platter of crackers and cheese (Cheese is like Ukarumpa caviar,
it is costly and people LOVE it so they swarm the cheese plate, but
there is a bit of missionary guilt there too, so they don't over
indulge, so that everyone can share the cavia....cheese)

I delegated some activities to two different groups of ladies, to make
my life easier, but also to invoke the feminine element to the party.
I hired an industrious high school student to wait tables and wash dishes.
I asked people to bring a dish to share, and made the party potluck.
Which, here, is a very acceptable thing, and the food was GREAT!.
I built a playlist for mood, starring a lot of popular songs from 'our era'.

So...

we had 45 people, from all over the world.
we sat and shared a meal together, and played an awesome mixer game.
There were posters to write words to the wise about turning 40, around
the room, and notecards to write Kendal a loving note.. we wore name
tags that said how they knew Kendal,etc

Then, I played a 3 minute video of Kendal and baby pictures up to modern
day.

Then we moved to a game where people had to race to draw, sculpt or mime
something about Kendal. The game got hilariously crazy.

People were having fun.

We sat Kendal in this throne, put a ridiculous hat on her, and brought
her cake, and posed for pictures, etc.

Then I ended the festivities by playing the guitar to her and seranading
with 'She's got a Way' by Billy Joel. Yeah it might be a bit cheesy,
but I humble myself this way to honor her in public in front of her friends.

In the end, a great time was had by all, and for 1 night, she felt on
top of the world!

It was a good night, which highlighted a good day. She finished her
village program work, and we got a good email that answered a huge
prayer request of ours.

God seemed to time everything so that Kendal could have a very good
day. Thanks to Him.

Stress

The other day I stood up in front of over 400 people as they asked me questions before they eventually voted me is as the Executive Committee Secretary.  The question asked was "how do you cope with stress?"

-I go outside, inhale, look at the scenery
-I go for a walk or a drive
-I punch my punching bag
-I listen to music
-I play my banjo
-I pray
-I vent and talk with my wife behind closed doors

Today was a crunch day.  It was one of those days when the weight of the world is trying to crush you.  Sure I could write out all the things going on, but it's enough to know that it wasn't a great morning.  On top of all that stress, nothing was working right.  Even the computer mouse was failing.

One of the major things, is that because of my new responsibilities, I now had only 6 days to do 2.5 months worth of work.  I had to finish post producing Genesis, Luke and Acts.
I got 12 chapters into Luke, I was on a roll, when I realized, I was working from the wrong source files and had to scrap all of my work.

STRESS + WASTED TIME = not a good mood for Chad.

I did some of the things on my list at lunch time.  Definitely prayed! 


After I got back from lunch I learned a new answer to 'how I deal with stress'.

I WORK.

Being productive is the best thing for stress.  Completing things, getting them done, getting them OFF your plate, is hugely helpful.  Not only did I finish a ton of paperwork I'd been unable to get to.  I posted Genesis, and 98% of Luke, in only 4 hours.

WOW.

That drastically alleviated my 6 day crunch, so now I can proceed with much less stress.

Sometimes, the way I handle stress.... is I work.  I don't work like a work-aholic, I just narrow my focus, tune the world out, and go at it, until it's done.

FLAT