Al Andaluz Journal

Quality time with friends

Anderson — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:57:00 GMT

We had the opportunity this weekend to spend the entire day Sunday and part of Monday with some friends from North Africa. We normally don’t get to spend much time with them as they live about an hour drive outside of Malaga. As I mentioned in the email I sent out the husband has been a believer for about three years but the wife has chosen to stay with their former religion although she does not practice it.

We have had several opportunities over the last several months to spend some time with this couple and strengthen the relationship. At one point some months back it looked like the wife might come to faith in Christ but then she began to back-track. The experience has been an emotional roller coaster for the husband as he has gone from not telling her of his faith in the beginning to dealing with her initial reaction and then to her warming up to the idea and then to her cooling off more recently.

One key obstacle seems to be that she sees defects and contradictions in her husband’s life and in other Christians she has met. She is asking why she should exchange one defective religion for another?

Over the last few days we have been trying to reach out to her with genuine love and concern without attempting to be perfect or draw attention to “works”. Our desire is that she come to see God’s perfect love and forgiveness played out in our lives.

We were encouraged by the time spent yesterday at church. Despite the fact that we are a group of un-perfect people we think that she was able to sense the true communion that exists between the believers. She was mostly quite and did not participate much but you could tell that the wheels were turning.

One way that you could be praying for this couple is for the husband as he is experiencing a significant amount of stress in and through this situation. Pray that God would continue to mold him and mature him into what a Christian husband should be. Pray for the wife that she would be able to see beyond the defects of her husband and other believers and come to discover the perfect love of Christ.

Getting out of work

Anderson — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:55:00 GMT

One of the challenges of being a missionary is training nationals to do the work and releasing the ministry into their hands. We are in a crucial phase right now of getting ready to hand over several ministry projects to people we have been training.

One of these transitions has already taken place. The radio program recording and editing work that I have been doing for the last three and half years is now in the hands of a worker by the name of Ivan. This was not too difficult to let go as it was never something I wanted to do full time anyway. Ivan is starting from a better position than when I started. He comes with experience and a solid grasp on computer and audio work. I am available to help out if Ivan and Ab get into a bind but judging by the way things are going I don’t think they will be calling for my help much.

Another area that we are turning over is the Bible correspondence course program. I have been training several part time volunteers to handle the data entry, copy room and mail room tasks. I’ve also trained one young man to help with the graphic design for course and CD covers. It will take a few more months but we should be completely phased out of this ministry by mid spring.

Another ministry that we helping to start and working on handing off is the community center in Malaga (Centro Cultural Luz). In this ministry we have one key person that we are working with in the hopes that he will become the new director/coordinator. He is a Spaniard by the name of Antonio. Right now he is only part time but we are hoping to raise some funding to be able to hire him full time. He has a great gifting set for the job and I am convinced that he will do a great job if we can find a way to have him supported. He has a family with one young son and other child on the way.

The web based ministry that I have been working with as part of the ministry here in Malaga is also going to be handed over to nationals. At the moment we are exploring several options that would simplify the work and bring it more into line with some of the trends on the internet. Specifically we are experimenting with some of the tools used in blogging, podcasting, videoblogging, online forums etc.

So are you wondering yet what we will be doing if we hand over all our current work load to others?

The truth of the matter is that we will be bring our time in Malaga to a close in about six months and will be returning to Madrid. In Madrid we will be starting a new ministry based on the many lessons that we have learned during our four years in Malaga. In the next post I will go into greater detail about what our preliminary plans are for the next phase in Madrid.

Bible Translation

Anderson — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:09:00 GMT

“the handwritten copy (of the New Testament) which we used had been in existence for some time when we arrived on the field in l950” - E.M. Peabody referring to a translation of the New Testament into the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.

It is perhaps fitting that I should take a strong interest in a translation of the New Testament into the Moroccan dialect of Arabic. Having been raised as a Wycliffe Bible Translator MK has given me a tremendous appreciation for the amount of work that goes into translating the New Testament into another language.

My first exposure to this translation was in 2004 when I sat and listened to a long time believer from Morocco explain how reading the New Testament in his own language moved him in a way that other Arabic language translations did not. He himself did not own a copy of the Moroccan NT but was taking advantage of having access to it for a brief period of time while sitting in the study of a friend who did have one of the remaining copies. He repeatedly asked to borrow the translation but the owner was not about to let it out of his sight.

Not long after that memorable event I was told by a delegate to a large Bible Translation convention that the need for a translation of the New Testament into the Moroccan dialect of Arabic had been presented. According to this report the claim had been made that the New Testament had never been translated into Moroccan Arabic. My curiosity fully aroused I returned to my friend who had the Moroccan NT to verify that it was in fact translated into true Moroccan Arabic. I was assured that it was without any doubt.

I began to sense that the little blue book sitting on my friend’s shelf might be of some importance. My next inquiry was on the internet searching to see if I could find any record of the work. My search came up blank except for one reference to a “New Testament in Mogrebi Arabic” in a museum in the States.

I asked around some more and found that the only people who were aware of the translation were veteran believers and missionaries who had been in Morocco for at least twenty years. Those who had not been around that long had no idea of its existence.

The only reliable information that I have regarding when the translation was done comes from a veteran missionary who arrived to the field in 1950. When I asked about the translation she replied “the handwritten copy (of the New Testament) which we used had been in existence for some time when we arrived on the field in l950” - E.M. Peabody. If we take “for some time” to be 10 – 20 years that would place the translation work in the 1930s. To put this in perspective Cameron Townsend started WBT in the late 1930s.

This dating of the translation would explain why some of the vocabulary used has gone out of common use.

For anyone who might be interested the scanned pages of the Moroccan New Testament can be viewed at www.biblemarocaine.org

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Below is a picture of my father working on the Fotoba translation back in 1982.

Pain in the foot

Anderson — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:32:00 GMT

Today I went in to see a foot specialist about a pain in my foot. About seven weeks ago I sustained a foot injury while playing Football (Soccer for most of you). Eva took me to the ER and they took some x-rays but the doctor did not detect anything and they sent me home to rest saying I had a minor ligament injury.

Well, seven week and three doctors visits later I went to a foot specialist and he found that I actually did fracture one of the bones in my foot. So I’ve been hobbling around on a broken foot for almost two months.

I am at least relieved to know why my foot is still in pain. The doc says it might take a few more months until the pain goes away entirely. In the meantime I am becoming quite agile with crutches.

This in causing quite a few complications. This weekend we are going up to Madrid for a weekend retreat. I can’t drive with the injury so Eva will have do all the driving. Also in November I am going to Austria for a leadership retreat. I will have to change plans three times so I’m a bit worried about that.

Dan

P.S. tomorrow (Tuesday) morning we have the first Arabic class at the new center!

Let there be Light

Anderson — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:55:00 GMT

After years of prayer and months of preparation the “Luz” (Light) Community Center has opened its doors and activities have begun. By opening day we had a total of 28 people (adults and youth) signed up for classes, all of them North African immigrant families.

Most of those who have signed up so far are women who want to study Spanish and who come with their children. For these we will be providing Spanish classes, Arabic classes and help with their schoolwork. Right from the first day we are realizing that we have our hands full!

Some of the women who came on the first day have a fairly good grasp of basic
Spanish while others are starting from zero. Some can converse in Spanish but have never learned how to read or write.

We have found a lady who has agreed to be an Arabic teacher for the center. To begin with she will be teaching the center’s staff (non-Arabic speaking adults), and after that gets going we will start a class for the children of the women who are attending the Spanish classes.

This new ministry has great growth potential! Already from the first week of operation we are feeling like we need more help. One area of need is people who can teach English as a second language (ESL). We could use a lady teacher for the women and a man for the men.

Our goal for this new center is that it would live up to its name. That this center would be instrumental in bringing the North African community into the light.

Countdown 7-6-5-4...

Anderson — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:19:00 GMT

Only one week left until the new community center in Malaga starts offering the first classes for North African immigrants.

There is still a lot of work to be done to get ready for the opening. To begin with we will be focusing on Spanish as a foreign language. We have three teachers who will be teaching Spanish. Eva and another lady from Argentina will be teaching basic conversation and reading and writing to the ladies while a Spaniard named Antonio will be teaching several levels of basic Spanish to the men.

We have received some donations of seats and desks that have enabled us to outfit the classroom and get started on the reception area. Later this month we have a couple coming from the States who will be building us some shelves, computer desks, and cabinets.

We are also working on a sign that will be mounted over the entrance. A friend of one of the teachers has helped us with the design.

We also have settled on a logo that will be used on most of the communications devices.

We have been praying for the last few years for an opportunity like this to open up. Pray with us that community center will be a valuable asset for the Kingdom.

A New Community Center

Anderson — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:44:00 GMT

We have signed up our first seven students for the new Community Center. For the most part they are newly arrived immigrants from Northern Africa who don't speak any Spanish at all. Their needs are not all the same. Several are youth that have found themselves dropped into the local school system with no way of communicating with anyone. Several are middle aged women who spend their days holed up in their apartments afraid to venture forth without the capacity to understand or communicate. We are excited to have the opportunity to extend helping hands to these needy people.