Friends!
Greetings from Dallas! I can't believe this week is almost over. It has been an amazing experience already. We've been busy and tired but learning a lot. Let me tell you a little about what the Discovery Solomons has been up to!
We're staying at the International Linguistics Center in Dallas, TX. It's home to GIAL (Graduate Institute of Linguistics), a branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators, a branch of Pioneer Bible Translators, and a few other SIL organizations. The team is split in half, five interns on the arts side and five interns on the linguistics side. The arts side went through a training workshop called Arts for a Better Future, while we linguistics types took various classes including phonetics, phonology, literacy, language survey, scripture use, spiritual warfare and vitality, family life on the field, etc. It was hard being split up from half of our team all day, but each day we had three meals together and family time after dinner where we got to bond and have fellowship. Our team consists of 10 interns (9 girls and 1 guy), 2 leaders (Lee and Tracy) and an expert in ethnomusicology. We also have the privilege of having a native Solomon Islander named Malcolm who flew to the states for the ABF workshop and will be flying back with us and helping with our work. He's helped us so much with language learning and culture learning. We've been learning Solomons Pijin, the trade language of the Solomon Islands. It's actually not too hard to pick up, as many of the words have English cognates and the grammar is simple. I wish I could describe every experience I've had, but there just isn't time!
We leave on Sunday at around 7:00 pm for a few long days of traveling. Then we'll be in Honiara for a few days getting acclimated and purchasing food to cook throughout our time together. Then everyone on the team except for me and two other girls will take a boat to Malaita and begin their workshop in the Festival of Pacific Arts. Kit, Candice and I will stay behind in Honiara and work with Karen Ashley, a full-time missionary living in the Solomons collecting data about the languages that will be represented at the festival. After a week, the team will return to us and continue working at the festival. The second half of our trip is kinda TBD right now. The future looks open and bright!
What's been hard:
- Staying awake through some of the afternoon classes. It's not that they weren't interesting, but I found myself exhausted most days.
- Forcing myself to practice speaking Pijin. That's the hardest part of language learning. Malcolm has been great at pushing us to practice speaking with him and encouraging us and telling us how well we're doing.
What's been great:
- Getting to know my teammates.
- Hearing missionary stories. The linguistics side has had numerous opportunities to hear stories from Wycliffe missionaries who worked in the field for decades. It was amazing to hear their accounts of God's provision and faithfulness and the difference they saw in the lives of the people they served.
- Worship through song. Our group of interns is quite musically gifted. We sing praise songs before morning devotionals and it's always beautiful. Also, one day the linguistics side got to join the arts workshop with the other half of the team. There was a dinner afterward with all of the workshop participants. The hosts had people volunteer to show of their artistic talents, so we got to hear lots of original songs and excellent musical performances. Many times, we all sang together in harmony with different instruments. It was one of the best worship experiences I've ever had! I'm so blessed, y'all!
Answers to prayer:
- I clicked with my teammates pretty much immediately. They already feel almost like family. Also it's kinda nice to have only one guy. Guys can be very distracting.
- All my funds have come in and I am so grateful. It has been a sign that God wants me in the Solomon Islands right now.
Prayer requests:
- Unity and cooperation between Kit, Candice, and I, as we will be the only part of our team in Honiara for the first week. Pray that we will get along and Satan won't have a foothold.
- That I would recognize the boldness of the Holy Spirit inside of me and be open to forming relationships with the locals.
- Travels and health!
- Tracy's knee. She injured it today and it's been hurting her ever since. We're all very worried about it being a hindrance to her service. Please pray against the Enemy's influence in the name of Christ!
I apologize if this email is a little jumbled and mostly contains events and facts. It's very late and I need to go to bed soon. We've had full days, but good days. Thanks to all of you for continuing to pray. God is listening and working through all of us. Look for more updates to come!
-Lauren Perkins
(1 Peter 5:10 really spoke to me the other day.)
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