Lost in Translation

Dear friends,

Our e-prayer letter may not get to you this month because of computer troubles. Please read it on our site at November Prayer Letter.

Thanks!

Aarghh . . . I've been caught for spamming. I'm at my parents house trying to send our e-prayer letter. I kept getting frustrated while AOL kicked me offline. Until finally they said something like, "Your account has been frozen because of a Terms of Service" violation. All I wanted to do was send an innocent prayer letter. That'll teach me!

At any rate, I'm giving up on trying to send our prayer letter to everyone this month. I can't send it efficiently through my parents' e-mail account, and our laptop went to laptop heaven on Sunday. So, when I get home we'll be without a computer for a couple of weeks (we ordered one, but it may take a while to come).

Thanks for your patience!

We've just started to think about homeschooling materials. It's amazing to think that Lucas will be starting kindergarten in less than two years. Our year in language school will fly by, so we've been looking at some materials now before we leave the U.S.

So far we've been thinking about the Sonlight curriculum. It focuses on reading as the primary component. For example, the students learn history through reading books related to different time periods.

If you have any experience or opinions on homeschooling, let us know. You can e-mail us at jon@boydhome.com.

We're still at ABWE for our Field Preparation Seminar. Today we started talking about how to adjust to the field. Very practical! We had a panel discussion with the field administrators and their wives. Tonight we'll go out to eat with our field administrator and his wife--Bob and Lynne Trout. I've enjoyed being able to ask questions that haven't been answered.

It's amazing to think about being in Costa Rica in less than two months. Our coworkers, the Carters, just e-mailed us with some suggestions on housing. They are loving Costa Rica.

Well, gotta run.

I'm sitting in one of the training rooms at ABWE, typing on my laptop. Wireless networks are pretty cool! (Once we got it set up our computer.)

The first three days of this training are devoted to Language Acquired Naturally through Cultural Encounters (LANCE) training. We devoted yesterday to phonetics and began our language learning today. The class was split into about six different groups learning different languages. Holly and I are with Kenny, who is from Hong Kong. May I say that Cantonese is difficult? Yikes, I couldn't even pronounce the word for "I." But it has also been encouraging. Within two hours we were responding to some basic commands in Cantonese and reproducing our own version of those sounds. I'm thanking God for Spanish . . . but if He wanted us to learn Cantonese we'd be up for it.

I've become reacquainted with driving a manual transmission (it's been about ten years), and Holly and I took two wrong turns last night on the way to her uncle's house. That was fun. We finally made it to their house after our 30 minute scenic detour.

Lucas and Eliana -- Harvest Festival 


I just downloaded a program called "Hello," which will allow us to quickly post pictures to our weblog. You know, I'm almost to the point of changing our whole website into a blog because it's so much less work. At any rate, you'll now be seeing pictures, rather than just reading my pedestrian prose. Enjoy!

Yesterday I clocked out at Perishable Distributors of Iowa (PDI) for the last time. I have worked at PDI for over seven years—one year on the PDI side (affectionately known as “the dark side”) and six years on the Sunrise side (ice cream freezer, 15 degrees below zero, etc.). As I leave PDI, I want to offer a tribute to the company and my coworkers, sharing a few of the lessons I have learned there.

1)A company culture makes all of the difference in the world. I worked at another company with three initials (you can guess), and the contrast was vast. At my previous job, I got hurt and the supervisor chewed me out. Our crew always worked with one or two fewer guys than we actually needed. In contrast, I crushed my leg at PDI my first week on the job, and the supervisor was actually concerned about me! PDI has cultivated a culture of care for its employees. Almost all of my supervisors became my good friends. I’m going to miss those guys! Management and warehouse guys are not at odds. We were on the same team. They focus on win-win situations—do things that help both employees and the company. PDI fosters that attitude by offering incentive pay, quarterly bonuses, flexibility in scheduling, etc. I was never denied a day off in seven years.

Lesson for ministry: How we minister in Colombia is just as important as what we minister. Do we build up our Colombian brothers and sisters in every way possible? Do we encourage our fellow missionaries? What kind of team do we want to be a part of? Team ethos is key!

2)Some people will complain about a big raise because they have to pay more taxes. In my seven years at PDI, we encountered many changes in how we did our job. We used to select orders by following a printed out sheet of paper. We used to write the store name on our ice cream cart with a black marker. Now we don a $4,000 computer that talks to us (“Vocollect”), and the labels print when you call for them. The productivity has sky-rocketed. But some people fought against every change. Instead of taking an open view of things, they said to themselves, “This is change, and I don’t like it.”

Lesson for ministry: Ministry in Colombia will change over the years. More Colombians are being trained. They have creative ideas for ministry. We younger missionaries may have creative ideas. Each of us will be stretched as ABWE challenges us to plan strategically in a more effective way. The Colombia Baptist Seminary will undoubtedly change over the years. How will we handle that change? Will be open to God using us in different ways over the years?

3)Never say never! I never pictured myself working in a warehouse. Now I can drive pallet jacks and fork lifts like they’re an extension of my body. I’ve gained a different perspective from the warehouse—that’s a good thing.

Ministry lesson: God may use me in unexpected ways, but I need to be willing to do whatever He wants.

4)The personal touch is vital. I led a Bible study at PDI for about two years. We met for 15 minutes on Thursdays during a break time. I would invite people, and they would say, “Oh yeah, I’ll be there.” But they usually didn’t come unless I followed up with them five or ten minutes before the study started. Praise God that two people have come to know the Lord as a partial result of that Bible study.

Lesson for ministry: I must continue to improve in my interpersonal skills. Colombians probably won’t be impressed by a seminary degree or fluency in reading Greek, but they will notice when we show love in a personal way.

5)Enthusiasm opens doors. I’m thinking of three supervisors in particular who always greeted me with enthusiasm. They let me know that they were glad to see me. They even gave me hugs on occasion (that would fit in well in Colombia). How did that affect me? Well, I always looked forward to seeing those guys at work. I wanted to work hard for them.

Lesson for ministry: Apathy has got to go! I can become too laid-back. I need to daily drink from the fountain of God’s love, so that I overflow with joy and enthusiasm.

6)Life is short. In the last year, two employees have died suddenly (one drowned and one got in a car accident). At times I forget how short life is. We’ve got to be ready! The Bible is clear about what happens to those who have not received the Lord Jesus by faith. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Those of us who have a relationship with the Lord have hope. We know where we’re going when we die.

Lesson for ministry: I need to remember that life is short. I need to live this day fully for God. I need to lovingly and courageously share how God has opened the way for us to come to Him through His Son, who died for our sins.

These are just a few thoughts from seven years at PDI. I will miss the environment and my coworkers. I thank God for the lessons that I learned as I “stacked ice cream on carts.”

Our time in northern Minnesota blessed us with rich fellowship. We especially enjoyed getting to know the Franks, who are from India. Dr. Franks preached two incredible messages that really encouraged me.

He talked about being a servant. Jesus Christ is our ultimate example of servanthood. Dr. Franks painted a picture in our minds about how Jesus would have been in his carpenter's shop. He would have shown patience with rude customers. He would have gladly walked an extra mile for a disgruntled Roman soldier. Everywhere he went, people were drawn to him--not because he stood out in any physical way, but because he came as a servant. I'd never thought about how Jesus would have acted in his shop. Thank you Dr. Franks!