Get Global Trip to the Kinaray-a People

I just finished a week-long trip with a group of college students to the Philippine island of Panay. The trip was called "GET Global" (Go Experience Translation), and was organized by two former translators, Ed and Linda. Ironically, Ed and Linda were two of our teachers during Wycliffe's Training Camp, which we participated in exactly one year ago. (Although it feels like it was about 5 years ago...)

While on Panay, the Kinaray-a Bible translation team showed us how they are translating the Bible, and helped us learn some Kinaray-a. The team is led by Bea, a demure yet resolute Filipina who has patiently worked on the translation despite the loss of her husband and open-heart surgery. It is estimated that Kinaray-a is spoken by 400,000 people, and yet they only have a few books of the Bible in their language.

To get the full experience, Bea encouraged us to live with nearby pastors who graciously accepted us into their homes. We all had vastly different experiences, and the Lord was teaching us all different things, but if there was one unifying epiphany that I could identify amongst all of the students, it would be: "I can do this!" Because of this trip, they now believe that one day they could become a missionary.

One of the requirements for our trips is that we stay in contact with our home office in Manila. Here, I am making the daily cell phone call on a sandbar in the middle of a river that was near the village. This is the only place where I could get any cell phone service.


Chatting with Pastor Gregorio (the pastor I lived with, in light blue shirt). In the provinces of the Philippines, it is common to see close friends of the same gender holding hands, or putting their arms around each others shoulders. Holding Pastor Gregorio's hand is a close pastor friend.


Pastor Gregorio's church. (I'm the tall white guy in the center.)


"Very many thanks for taking care of us!" During our last Kinaray-a language class, we were instructed to say this to the pastors and their families.