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The Meaning of a Phrase
It dawned on me a couple years ago that the meaning of “spiritual” had undergone a major shift. I go to Africa for a while, and when I come back things have changed, including the meaning of some...
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Phone Number
In the early 1990s, I was working for the National Organization for Bible Translation and Literacy in Burkina Faso. Among other things, I worked with the African translators. Among them was Nicolas...
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Saved by my skin
I don’t remember where I was or what I did. The reaction it got, on the other hand, is forever burned into my memory. Village in the southwest of Burkina Faso Maybe my memory fails me because it...
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Yugu-yugu
Young men selling used Broni-wewu shoes in a market the town of Tamale, northern Ghana In the markets in Africa one finds all kinds of wonderful used clothes. They can be nicely arranged, or just in a...
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Not just anyone can translate
Because I am involved in Bible translation, I read about translation – all kinds of translation, not just Bible translation. These days, that means reading on the web. I came across an important...
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Crocodiles of Sabou
When I worked in Burkina Faso, I would often travel between Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. That would take me past the town of Sabou which had a small lake infested with crocodiles, sacred crocodiles....
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Kente
Young man weaving Kente cloth When we lived in Burkina Faso we were introduced to strip weaving. Using simple looms, hand-made out of branches and strips of home-cured leather, men wove beautiful...
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Hackles up
Years ago in southwestern Burkina Faso, I was walking down a path near some houses when a little puppy came out, having heard us passing by. He looked to be only 10-12 weeks old. At that age they are...
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Passing the Purse
In Burkina Faso,a person lower on the social hierarchy does not let someone higher status carry anything. Dayle and Eleanor returning from the market in Niangoloko So, when Dayle’s mother came to visit...
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Taamba
Translation of the proper nouns in the Bible is an issue that is rarely controversial and not very exciting. But, it is important. Studies show that proper nouns are the biggest hindrance to reading...
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The Mango
Our first posting in Africa was in 1978 to a small town in Burkina Faso and we got our first real introduction to mangoes. Mangoes During the rainy season, the mango tree produces new leaves, but no...
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Small differences
When we first moved to Burkina Faso, we noticed that people hung curtains in windows and doorways so that the nice side was visible from outside the house, and the plain side toward the inside. This...
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What’s the News
Burkina Faso Village When we lived in Burkina Faso in the Cerma language, we learned that the greeting for someone you had not seen for some time or someone who had traveled some distance to come see...
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The Party Line
Some time ago, I listened to someone in missions aviation tell the story of the introduction of the first helicopter. At the time, the party line was that helicopters were too expensive to operate, and...
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Split Teeth
Don Lauber high school graduation photo My dad has a gap between his upper two front teeth. As I child, I never noticed it until I was told that when I was little, I had the same thing and the dentist...
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Ouagadougou Christmas
We are visiting in Burkina Faso; so I thought I would write my observations of Christmas celebrations here. Daniel and Anne Kompaore with Dayle The in the two days before Christmas, our hosts, Daniel...
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Strange morning
In March 1996, in the middle of Harmattan season, I was scheduled to make a trip to visit translation projects. I got up before dawn to the strong smell of dust. Then, instead of dawn, a sinister...
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It is written, but where
After his resurrection, Jesus was walked with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus when he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the...
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Three older two younger
I had just met a Burkinabé man named Samuel who was visiting friends in our home town. As we chatted, I asked him if he had brothers and sisters. His response: Three older and two younger Jan Swanson,...
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Apollo
When we were working on translation into the Cerma language of Burkina Faso, Dayle and I both got pink eye(conjunctivitis). One of our friends saw the condition and told us that we had Apollo. We...
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