On Thursday 4 men from the Darwin Moore mission team along with Bishop Greg Anderson, went to Katherine to take part in a translation workshop. The aim was to sit and learn and watch as native Kriol speakers translated services from the prayer book into Kriol for use within remote community Anglican Churches.
Our trip down was a cheeky 3-hour drive south which provided the Bishop to give us a quick tutorial on some Kriol concepts. we covered Pro-Nouns, Verb tenses, adjectives, and prepositions.
On arrival, we were very thankful for the lessons in the car as the bishop began to introduce us to the translators all in Kriol.
What followed was by far for me the best thing I had experienced on our mission. walking into a ‘Mock funeral service’ where someone would take us through as we checked spelling, wording and things we could change in Kriol to make the concepts a little clearer. After lunch, we settled into small groups and were able to work on a few different things. A funeral service, communion service, baptism service, confirmation service, and the Lords prayer.
This was the format over the two days we were there.
I am so thankful for the way I was able to see God tangibly working in these remote communities. conversations in Kriol about infant Baptism and church leadership, Anglican church law all pointed to a God who is working in those communities.
The greatest joy though came in trying to understand how to best explain who God is in a different language. As I saw church leaders grapple how to best describe the God who loves us, one thing was made clear, our pursuit as theological students to understand and describe God only does us any good if it draws into closer relationship with him.
This was clear through this time. Those who were involved all had one common goal. To know God deeply and make Him known.
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