Jonathan and Heidi Bamford are ‘cooped up’ in home quarantine in the Philippines, but not feeling it. As a kindness, people are taking turns ‘rattling their cage’. Recently one of the ‘rattlers’ called for Jonathan, so he went out on the balcony. The man held up a handful of plastic “Can you fix my flashlight?” he said.
Jonathan replied, “What isn’t wrong with it?” An inexperienced person might have been tempted to say, “What’s wrong with it?” That would be a big mistake. After asking a stupid question like that, you might have to stand there listening to everything that is wrong with the flashlight or chainsaw or rice pot, etc. etc. etc. It is much better to stay on the positive side of things. The list is often much shorter and gets to the point much more quickly.
“The bulb isn’t bad.”
“Good! We can work with that. I’ll get my soldering iron and see what we can do.”
When they have finished three comprehension-testing sessions on a portion of scripture, Jonathan sends the draft to Heidi so she can run an accuracy check and make a back to English translation for their consultant to use. “What’s not wrong with it?” she says.
Heidi’s help really speeds up the process and her suggestions greatly improve the translation. Every time Jonathan makes a change in the translation, Heidi must make a corresponding change in the English back translation so that it always accurately reflects the Isnag version. This is a tedious job and he appreciates her diligence. This week Heidi processed Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus so that they could be sent back to the consultant. They are excited that these books are pretty much ready for the next onsite consultant check.
Please pray that they will be able to continue making progress on the translation. They are currently focusing on 1 and 2 Corinthians.
The photo shows where they are during home quarantine, but please do not ask them, “What isn’t wrong with it?” The list would be too long. They are truly blessed.