March Rowbory News: Luke before you leap
From our monthly newsletter. Do get in touch if you’d like to get this by email. Luke 8:22-52 Fear and FaithOne day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.”… One Tuesday we considered much of Luke chapter 8 from verse 22, noticing how Jesus showed his followers …
Pilkington of Uganda
While studying Bible translation and mission in Kenya, I came across some stories of one young linguist missionary to Uganda called Pilkington. There’s a great out-of-print book called ‘Pilkington of Uganda’ which is well worth a read and it seems the Internet Archive have made it available. He was a remarkable young man much loved …
Covid-19 Tips from Nigeria: A second burial Ceremony
It’s hard in these coronavirus lockdown days when loved ones die and you can’t be with them at the end and when funerals can’t happen. Christians know it doesn’t really matter for the dead, but for the living. Some funerals are being live-streamed, but every attempt falls short. What can be done? It occurred to …
Languages of Wilder Confusion: hidden dangers for international collaboration
I’ve appreciated the numerous short, thought-provoking articles Jim Harries has written (and also here) on topics of cross-cultural communication. One that got my attention recently was Building Castles in the Sky: A case for the use of indigenous languages and resources in Western mission-partnerships to Africa, particularly in the light of 2 realities which are close to home …
Sickness and Immigration, Revenge and Xenophobia
Based on 2 real people I have had contact with, but with names changed. Have a read and a think. Comment if you like below. Joseph was suffering from some leg pain without any particularly obvious cause. Clearly someone with a grudge against him or envious of him in some way must have caused …
The Curse of Assumed Similarity
Near-misses are the bane of the translator’s life and work. In the same way that a falsehood is more dangerous when it contains a large element of truth, terms or thinking that seem nearly similar between cultures create a very dangerous translation environment. One handy example of this is the term ‘curse’. What is a curse? …
Don’t look back… but… Kirk Zero by 2037?
It suddenly dawned on me that May was coming round, and for most of the past 8 years that meant there would be some kind of trouble and rumpus regarding the Church of Scotland annual General Assembly. It’s actually a great joy to be able to put all that behind us now. Indeed, Phillip Jensen …
The Highland Clearances Revisited
Growing up in 1990s post-industrial Scotland, the harrowing narrative of the Highland clearances was evoked time and again as a metanarrative to explain (or excuse?) the pitiful state of the nation. I remember the none-too-subtle play The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black Black Oil being performed (rather well) at the High School of Glasgow. …
Proud to be (partially) Ugandan
OK, I’m not Ugandan in any political sense – and probably to be honest only sentimentally – but still it’s one of the countries I’m probably proudest of. I came across this which fanned those flames again: In the minds and affections of the home Church in modern days the place of Uganda has been …