Value and Pattern of BT in Postcolonial Context

Extracted text from BTpatternvsvalueFinalJerPowerPoint__2_.pdf:

By J. Chung Oct. 19th, 2009

Introduction This presentation is a personal reflection on

experience in the context as a postcolonial citizen in a BT and Language Development organization. This will cover a few suggested patterns of Bible Translation corporal operation. The ultimate goal of this presentation is to encourage collaborative effort for a repository of patterns of functional programs and forming a proactive community of practice towards our common goals.

What is Bible Translation? Bible translation is to understand and commit to God's message, usually via a specific language, then communicate God's message by retelling God's message faithfully in another heart language in a culturally appropriate, natural way in order that the lives of message receivers can be transformed. (J. Chung, Word & Deed)

What is Post-Colonialism? Post-colonialism and postmodernism have some common features They are rapidly changing new ways of thinking and living

with a tendency of reflection and deconstruction against modernism and colonialism. I choose the term post-colonialism in order to remind ourselves to avoid the mistakes that some missionaries have made with colonial mentality in history.

Patterns vs. Values Patterns are the ways of doing and living out Bible

Translation Values are the reasons that we do Bible Translation

Other terms The majority world is a term used in preference to the

largely inaccurate, out-of-date and/or non-descriptive terms developing countries, third world and the "South". (http://www.appropedia.org/Majority_world) , may include our deaf friends communities in the context of BT. The minority world is other countries or places or communities other than the majority world Communities of practice are collaborative, informal networks that support professional practitioners in their efforts to develop shared understandings and engage in work-relevant knowledge building.(Wikipedia, Hara 2009, p. 3)

General Observations of Post-colonial Context Political, Economic and Global

Political/Structural Aspect

Flattened structure

Hierarchical structures being flattened Peter Principle-an issue with one way upward

movement in multi-layered structures Resulting dysfunction in structural systems

Freedom to question authority Post-colonial generation asks:

?

Why does authority become authority? By what authority do we start BT work? By what authority do we check & approve the

work?

Responsibility & Authority

A

Confusing policy Communication issues Lack of balance of responsibility and authority No one wants to take responsibility Mismatch of personnel and authority Accountability of discontinuing leadership Result is a lack of supervision and discipline, then: authority is misused people do whatever they want high cost of financial issues, even worst moral issues

R

Academic and Professional Validity There is mismatch between institutional training and the

need for attitude and competency in the field. Academic qualification and prestige are not available in majority world. High cost

Language barriers

Some people from the majority world, after they received

their qualifications, dont remain in the majority world.

Sources of Authority Our influence is not based on structure or power, but the visions, values and belief and their consistency with our behaviors.

Neither the MBTI nor the HBDI measure other qualities that are critical to successful innovation such as courage, curiosity, integrity, empathy, or drive.(Leonard & Straus 1997:121)

Economic Aspect

The ownership

 Identify the owners of the languages, cultures,

translations and projects. Develop competencies in the self-governing, self-sustainable, self-replicable systems. Owner vs. expat-provider shifts to peer-peer. Both owners and expats will benefit from the point-of-views of each other.

Demand of BT

World Oil Demand

Our

GOD

is bigger than this!

BT fuel supply?

We need: prompt analysis of the real needs, felt needs and the available markets. to consider our advocacy effort as ethical promotion. to be sensitive to the change of the demands because of language vitality, bilingualism and other factors. to know the priority of the BT projects.

Supply to BT

 The supply of human and financial

resources all by the owners themselves can be very challenging. The capability of supplying resources depends on the size and well being of the owners community and network. The role of expats is to ensure that the owners have build capacity. To clarify BT as temporary relief or as on going development.

Supply the Demand The speed of change demands that we assess and fulfill

the BT needs at a faster pace. We need to be the self-sustainable models, financially and spiritually, to the people that we serve.

The Bottle-neck is Distribution Pareto Principle Eighty percent of the productivity is contributed by twenty percent of people. Human resources management and capacity building become even more important

Macro vs. Micro

 There are the holistic picture and the

individual contextual situation. What is the optimum size for operation as an area, branch, cluster and project? How do we share resources and experiences with team members and partners in the larger picture?

Non-profitable organization? Are we, NPO, gaining or losing in our

achievements in BT, financially, spiritually? At what cost?

 If the minority world is declining spiritually, how is this affecting the spiritual supply and demand?

Other Insights How are post-capitalism and post-socialism

dealing with the issues of supply and demand? Voluntarily socialism when those people having more are willing to share with those people having less in the community. The Worlds resources is enough for need but not enough for greed.(Gandi)

Luke 12:48 Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.

Global Villager

Globalization There are more exchanges and interactions

within the globe because of technology. Open source and open knowledge impact the costly proprietary advanced education and business systems. Because of urbanization, minority groups are being acculturated by the mainstream cultures.

The earth is hot, flat, crowded and dull.

We need to develop partnership with

churches, communities, educational institutes and authorities that have economical and ecological concern. Being earth-friendly can be our common interest. Treasure diversity.

Multicultural/ethnic team Shift from bipolar expat vs. local mother

tongue colleague to continuum of: mono lingual minority, bilingual minority, national, oversea national, expat-national couples, expat How do we manage multicultural conflict well and create synergy?

Cultural Heritage We must be aware of the value of : cultural diversity

losing the beauty of local minority art forms: music,

painting, drawing, sculpture, singing, literature, drama, story-telling, etc preserve and document the cultural heritage. the Bible as a major art form and literature communicating Gods message in culturally appropriate artistic ways.

BT in Bible unfriendly environment

Because of global interaction and diversity of religions, BT doors are opened and closed in different times. How do we deal with these situations? What if the Bible is not considered as a book of

religion, but literature? What if Bible Translation is not a religious activity, but the research of human sciences and the crafting of arts?

Ethical Conflict Integrity of the organization and individual Ethical boundary

Reflect on the civil disobedience issues

People-based or Mission-based Do we change what we can supply to accommodate

peoples need? Do we change our mission to accommodate the context? Do we change ourselves in order to please others( and God?) or ourselves?

Value of Bible Translation

 The value of Bibles needs to be made available

into different languages. BT as the vehicle for God's Word, as a transforming agent. BT as a process of fulfilling our cultural mandate; as arts and sciences. Different organizations have their own core values.

Patterns of BT

Good Jobs We Have Done

 Christ-like downward mobile models Prayer movement, tendency to rely more on God

Open communication and interaction among different levels, via Intranet, Blog, Wiki, visiting Attempt to rearrange the organizations into better structures Creative ways and different media and the use of

technology for BT Start matching competency with training

 Strengthen partnership with a number of NGOs Language development and scripture use make the

outcome and process of BT relevant to peoples life By Gods Grace, some BT have been done and been used Develop Consultant Mentoring system, Policy and Procedure Aware that the Bible is Gods inspiration as well as literature and art Engage more national Etc

Besides Keep and Strengthen the above, we can do even better

Value as Principle, Context as Parameters Decide on the core Fix the orbit

Fill the holes with appropriate action/movements Capture the right particles Empower downward movement Build upward movement Identify energetic particles Transfer energy Maintain the system

Decide the Core

Common Vision and Core Value Ensure that the common vision and values are

known by all members/staff. Ensure that these core elements are included in the daily operation and policy implementations.

Reflection of Theology on Bible Translation Biblical Basis of ethical BT Why do we do Bible Translation? Why do we do BT in the ways that we do? Whom can we partner with? Historical & futuristic What did we learn from the past? How can we do it better? What are we going to do in the short term and long term future?

Encourage Local Ownership

 Local ownership defines the demand and supply Make good use of local resources for local purposes. Be careful of allocating resources in order to

accelerate the progressthe growing path may need to be painful and step-by-step. Communicate well about the expectations and relationship between resources and ownership. The role of expat is to transform others by example and testimony and to be advisors and consultants as requested.

Decide and Fix the Orbit

Reflect & Learn from mistakes Learn from others, experience, feed back. Building Trust: Be honest admit mistake and repent

The issue is not the competence and not even the attitude but the ways in which people project blame onto others, or the policy, rather than evaluating themselves. (Chris Argyris 1997: p. 86)

Apologize and Fix it Realize our negative sinful nature and how we repulse

each other, and how we can attract by positive redemption of Christ We need to apologize, admit our mistakes, fix them, and find a better way to handle them in the future. We need leaders who can be examples of reflecting, admitting mistakes and being forgiven. Hopefully it can keep the continuity of the leadership intact.

Beyond the Time Barrier

 Putting things in different time zones: Go beyond the time boundary: Learn from History, think futuristic, act here and now Keep history records, documents, memories of the organization or community Be aware of accidental events, esp. accidental success Be aware of leverage and opportunities Look at it in an alternate way

Fill the holes

Recruiting 3R people Remainder resource local citizens who can choose to leave but choose to stay

Returner descendents of immigrants returning to local communities from overseas Re-locator local citizens returning from cities to

reinvest in the local communities (in some case, deurbanization) From Greenfield, John Perkin

Beyond individual Multicultural team Focus on preference and diversity make good use of individual strength in a team Create and manage productive/positive conflicts Enhance cross-cultural communication within the organization Care of the minorities, isolated and low technology

communities

Empowering Top Down Downward mobility (Nouwen, 2000); counter

the phenomenon Peter principle Model greatness by following Christs example of sacrificing himself Reflect the theology of suffering Pain is a great lesson.

Build Bottom up Develop a learning organization

of life-long learning individuals. Build up teams with diversities. Focus on individual strength and preference. Reflect a theology of joy and celebration. Manage based on resultd and relation.

Impact and balance between

relationship to God, His creation, others and ourselves.

System Maintenance

 Be a good steward of resources, which include finance,

personnel, knowledge and time, appropriately reflecting life style and using our resources Be ecological and creation friendly with a good balance of stewardship for both the long term and the short term Be an example to excel in at least one area and train/mentor others(esp. leaders and consultants) Bearing the pain of the process of BT and making BT enjoyable Enhance communication with simple, workable communication protocol Make BT beautiful, serving as a master piece for our worship and offering

Ways of Energizing

 Focus on attitudes and passing on passion &

enthusiasm Shift institutional training mentality to modular,

functional, competency-building Establish a community of practice and mutual training and support Provide open source and sharing of training materials Make good use of technology in consultation and training, e.g. Internet, wiki and distant learning Adapt the cascade model of learning by teaching

Multilevel Energy Distribution Knowledge is obsolete in a very short time

We need to develop advanced research abilities at higher levels. We also need to develop resources

of trainers and materials to serve people with limited access to formal/advanced education.

BT in an unfriendly situation

 Engage the local church first, identify a believer community or at

least develop BT parallel with church planting Must the Bible(BT) be related to the context wherein God's presence is already evident?" (Sugirtharajah 2002: p. 112) Praying unceasingly: For open doors For revival in both majority world and minority world

Alternate ways to achieve the goals of BT Prevent spiritual pollution from minority world Win others with Christ-like virtues Look for legitimate ways to do BT Treasure diversity & foster differences Develop versatility and spiritual endurance for hardship Be aggressively patient, i.e. keep doing all of the above while waiting.

De-construction: The Core is changing!!!

The stable structure changes because the Core/Value is disturbed , intentionally or accidentally, internally or externally. Nuclear split and fusion generate energy.

 e.g.

(SIL+WBT) -> WBT + SIL + GIAL + Seed + JAARS + WBT + Seed + IMB + UBS + Bible + League-> (???) SIL + UNESCO + NGO + Gov + Local Com. + ??? -> (???) JAARS + GIAL -> (???) Energy can be destructive or constructive. Anxious! Unmanageable, unexpected chain-effect

tsunami or big bang outcome Relax . It will settle down and re-construct eventually

Conclusion

 There is nothing new under the SON. HE is in control.

Contribution of Post-colonialism A methodology of progressive possessing Resolving/Ignoring the rational dilemma by

admitting the gap between reality and theory Deconstruct then reconstruct Stimulate critical thinking, reflection in both linear and lateral ways

Pitfall of Post-colonialism Human deconstruction without promising

reconstruction Not providing values Neo-colonialism human nature has a tendency to be corrupted by power and excessive resources.

Concerning corporal value . it depends on different organizations.

Q is A, A is Q In Postmodern world Is the Question Answered? is a wrong question. Is the Question the Answer? Is the answer the question? are right questions. Yes, both are right. Where there is no wrong question, there lies the answer.

The Answer of Post-colonialism is Theocratic Imperialism

 Follow Jesus Christ, our King, as our model of

downward mobility to serve as His first coming. Return the ultimate ownership to our King, serve with all His grace and Kingdom value. Learn from the past, define the Biblical boundary of value and context. Operate within here and now, but imagine beyond the time boundary. Look forward to Jesus second coming which will fill the gap between reality and ideality.

Thank you! The End Please comment and feedback to: paidion@gmail.com.