Report 2014, February 16 to 22, San (Khwe), Botswana

  • San Scripture Engagement 2nd workshop Khwe

Participants: Pieter and Sonner from Namibia, Kiakanse (only through Wednesday midday, due to needs of her baby and herself not feeling well) and Anna from Kaputura(Botswana), James and Martin from Shakarawe (Botswana), Khwe Bible translators Splash and Moses, Tim Beckendorf (Lutheran Bible Translators [LBT] Bible translator, Eben Le Roux (serving the Khwe and The Seed Company San Partnership Coordinator), and Lucas van Vuuren (serving the Khwe through the Dutch Reformed Church of Namibia), Ruben Dubei (Wycliffe RTS Scripture Engagement Specialist as trainee to be mentored).

Topics to be covered in this and next workshop:

  1. What art forms are present (narration, poetry, music and song, drama etc.)
  2. How, when and where are the different art forms being used
  3. Who can use what art forms
  4. Which art forms are suitable using scripture*
  5. Which scripture portions to start with (door openers and bridges)
  6. Relevance of sharing a clear and basic understanding about God and Bible*
  7. Considerations for going chronological*
  8. Value of story sets*
  9. Value of panoramic cycles
  10. Integrating oral Scriptures and relevant engagement strategies into overall ministry work
  11. Practicing oral Scripture telling en engaging with the Scripture passages*
  12. What is consultant checking*
  13. The reason for consultant checking*
  14. The relevance for and need to develop local primary level consultants*
  15. The importance of addressing the key principle issues Scripture addresses*
  16. The importance of making disciples
  17. How to mentor and make disciples
  18. The importance of repetition*
  19. Evaluate the storying venues and various communication art forms used in practice*
  20. Hone scripture telling  skills and do community testing*
  21. Improve the process of internalizing (discover and own) the truths communicated in the Oral Scripture*

*topics covered in this workshop (in the context of other topics or specifically)

 

February 16:

  • Go from 8 AM to 6 PM with Eben Le Roux and Splash (one of the Khwe Bible Translators) to Kaputura for their weekly Scripture telling session. We travel via Shakarawe to pick up four participants as representatives from the Shakarawe community.  This initiative was started following through on the November 2013 workshop.  It was decided to find one location, where participants from three communities could come together and orally process Scriptures passages in a chronological order, discuss the meaning and address questions in regard to the broader context as issues raised fit into the overarching story of the Bible.  They have been processing Genesis 1-4 and are now working on Genesis 6.  They hold the sessions in the town square (where the office of the magistrate is located) and normally they have a large group of people attending with sessions that go on for sometimes more than five hours.  Due to time restraints combined with poor road conditions, they are now only picking up people from Shakarawe.  The aim is for the attendees to further share the scripture portions with their own communities or in each person’s unique local context. They shared that it took them a long time to process Genesis 3. 

February 17:

  • Met in the morning with Rob Veith, LBT Scripture Engagement Coordinator, who wanted to learn more what we were doing.  He expressed that he would be willing to help with recording the oral scripture passages and is looking forward to work together.
  • In the morning discussions we discover with those already present that it may be good to look further at Genesis 3.
  • When the whole group has arrived in the afternoon with a review of what has happened since the first workshop. 
  • I story Genesis 3 with a short introduction from chapter 1 and 2.  Lucas suggested that it is important that there is sufficient foundation from chapter 1 and 2 and that a short introduction is not enough.  He is right, but I am following through in context of the group using Genesis 3 in Kaputura.  When I start processing the story with the group we learn quickly that in our case for this group it also will be good to completely process chapter1 and 2.  It starts with properly understanding the details of creation and that creation was ‘good’ as well as the relationship of Adam and the woman.  The understanding of the two trees in the middle of the garden is also an opportunity for growth.
  • We talked in our story context about chronological storying, stories that belong together, and how stories belong in the overarching story of the Bible.

February 18:

  • We continue all day to process Genesis 1, 2, and 3 and all of us grow in realizing the importance of this foundation.  It seems a foundation that is being used (it is already available in print and as an audio recording from that text) and needs to be processed well and we take the time accordingly.
  • We finish the day with deciding for Matthew 20:1-16 to be the narrative passage to process and use in community checking. 

February 19:

  • We process Matthew 20:1-16 by letting the people hear it, practice telling it and discovering the truths.
  • Next they make the following list of words that need to be discussed:
    • Kingdom of Heaven
    • Landowner, the head of a house/family, owner of the vineyard
    • vineyard
    • The money representing the days wages that the landowner tells he will pay (one denarius – which was a silver coin)
    • The times of the day
    • foreman
  • In our large group we process these words and decide which way we should test.  For the times of the day they have specific expressions and show it with their hands in relation to the position of the sun.  They decide to test this.  The end of the day, for example, is expressed by saying ‘when the sun hits you in the back.’  They also choose to be more generic by saying ‘the owner of the land’ (verses 1, 8, 11) and ‘working in his filed’ (verses 1, 2, 4, 7, 8).
  • We also talk once more about the relevance of proper introductions and how all the stories fit into the context of where we find them in the Bible, as well as that they are part of the larger overarching story of the whole Bible.  Since most people know about Jesus, we use a simple introduction for this story and only as it is relevant to address that the story is part of other stories about the kingdom of heaven.
  • We work on asking the questions, but this seems still a difficult thing for the participants.  In that context we will go as a group to Kaputura where Sonner and Anna will tell the story and I will model the questions once more with Splash translating for the group.  Eben is able to let the people in Kaputura know that we’re coming on February 20.

February 20:

  • Early in the morning we leave for Kaputura to do community testing.  Since we arrive right at the beginning of their morning tea break it takes a while for the people to come together.  By the time we start there are 28 adults, including younger and older people, the village chief, his son, and another official.  I model the questions and one person even immediately in reviewing the story picks up on the comparison that is in the story of ‘the kingdom of Heaven’ and what happens in the story. I continue to review the story and choose to come back later to the teaching that this one person learned already.  The people of Kaputura also ask questions and there is good discussion about the narrative, as well as the words that needed to be tested. This session last a couple of hours and towards the end one of the Kaputuran’s even tells the story.  The times of ay used seem to communicate very well, but in retelling the story people mix the expressions and sometimes also use the regular hours of the day as on their watches, yet showing with their hands still the position of the sun. The people do express a hunger for more stories and Splash and Eben confirm that they plan to be back like usual on Sunday. Kiakanse is part of the storying session and also asks some questions, seemingly wanting to draw the others into the story.  People share what they have learned and some of it is at the level that we should not be jealous of others, about the generosity of the landowner, as well as that our rewards of Christians are all the same, regardless if we were saved early in life or late.  Others compare it to making ourselves more important just because we were longer Christians than others.  Towards the end of the story I can then lead it back to the early observation about the comparison given in the story.  Tim comes along as an observer only for this session.
  • Next we travel to Shakarawe, where we divide in three groups to share the narrative in different parts of the community, providing the opportunity for everybody to tell the story and for three people to ask the questions.  One group consists of Pieter and Moses telling the story with Pieter asking the questions.  Ruben is observing.  Since the story is new to them, Moses repeats it once more.  They ask the people specifically if they want to be the landowner or one of the men who grumbles.  There is a small group of people present (less than a dozen). The second group consists of James telling the story two times and Splash asking the questions.  Eben and Lucas are observing.  There is only one family present as they come to their house.  The third group consists of Martin and Anna telling the story, with Sonner asking the questions.  The story is new, so Sonner tells the story once more.  The questions are still difficult for them, so they ask me to help some and martin translates the questions.  The last part of the story where the landowner responds is also repeated once more.  There are 18 adults present and about 8 children.  Quickly one of the persons shares about the comparison in the story which she clearly understands.  In general only a few people respond to the questions, but as we encourage others, they slowly respond too.  We arrive home tired after a long day of work.

February 21:

  • We start with evaluating the community testing from the previous day. 
    • Sonner told the story slowly and this was seen as good, since it gave people time to process
    • Sonner has a good use of Khwedam words, which for some of the Botswana is a bit more difficult since they may often speak another language instead of Khwedam and more people are starting to borrow words from other languages as they speak Khwedam
    • In Kaputura the youth is really responding and engaging well
    • In Kaputura it was good to have the Namibian Khwe guests, as well as the white people.
    • There was on all accounts a real hunger for more stories
    • There was sometimes a fear in answering questions (shame if answering wrongly?)
    • There was a need to make room for and encourage elderly people, women, or sometimes the men to speak
    • One person saw the lesson for him to be to keep bringing people to Jesus all the time, until the end (11th hour).
    • One girl felt that they need to be asked like the workers at the 11th hour
    • One girl didn’t initially want to come because of being afraid that it was another church coming (in with their program and teaching), but when she learned that it was a study of a Bible story she came.  Afterwards she said; ‘These stories I never hear in church.’
    • Since they entered into a person’s home, Eben feels that in their situation Lucas and he shouldn’t have been there and that it inhibited that session from  reaching its full potential
    • Eben notes for future reference that with all the travel time needed that visiting these two communities makes it too much for one day
    • The key terms seem to communicate well even though there may be different preference between communities
  • We also talk more about helping people to get a basic understanding about God and the Bible using the stick person analogy, as well as helping people learn in context of what they already know and understand using a puzzle. 
  • We talk next about the different workers that will be needed and that each of them will at least look for one other person to become part of being trained.  Eventually we need:
    • Story tellers
    • People that can help as oral Bible translators
    • Music, song, and drama preparers
    • First level consultants
    • Audio recordists
  • I also talk about the importance of making disciples and how this approach through telling the stories publically in the community can be part of that process.  On the Namibia side they already receive training from Degnos (the Service and Witness centre of the Dutch Reformed Church in the north eastern part of Namibia and in Afrikaans stands for: Diens En Getuienis Noord-Oos Sentrum).
  • We also look at how to increase networking among all the Khwe.  The Namibian people can go into Angola, but nothing is organized at this point.   Tim said that the Khwe in Platfontein have received materials but that they haven’t responded back yet.  Eben suggests that we invite some of them to come for the next workshop as guests, so they can observe how the Botswana and Namibia Khwe process and then join in participation.
  • The Khwe Scripture materials that the LBT team has prepared in Botswana are well accepted in Namibia.  They notice the differences, especially in the audio materials, but they don’t seem to mind. There are solar powered radios that use SD cards and Sonner is listening almost continuously to the Khwe OT records that are on the SD card.
  • We looked back at the workshop and how it impacted them.  Anna shared that the whole program in Kaputura and the workshop had given her renewed hope for life, as she had almost given up on it.  The feedback was in general very positive as it was meeting a real need and the community checking was giving them some great practical experience and courage.  Our venue of the workshop at the Krokovango Crocodile Farm worked well and there were minimal logistical complaints.
  • The group ends with thinking through which 4 narratives each of them want to prepare for the next workshop as part of an initial story set as well as how they could share them in their communities (carefully considering suitable stories for the specific audience they are aiming to serfe ).  They spontaneously worked and planned until we called them for supper close to seven in the evening.  They were also encouraged to keep testing any key terms well.

February 22:

  • After dropping off the Shakarawe participants I take Lucas, Sonner, and Pieter to Namibia (Ruben can’t come since he doesn’t have a visa).  We meet Octavian Retegan from Romania, who in January of 2014 moved to Sonner’s community as a young single missionary to start serving the Khwe.  He is from the Pentecostal Church and is still looking for direction as to his specific task.  He wants to serve in a holistic context and we invite him to join us for our community session in Poze (about 50 kilometers further east on the Caprivi Strip.  He has another African friend with him who monthly goes from Rundu to Katima to a Bible school to teach on the weekend. Both of them join us for the workshop.
  • In Poze, which is Abram’s home village (who was part of the first start among the Khwe in Namibia in 2012 but is working in the fields), Sonner and Pieter lead a storying session with about 25 people from the village present (out of a total of 60 possible if the whole community would have been home).  While Sonner shares the narrative, Pieter asks the questions and they have good response.  Some ask questions and again one person sees right away the application of the comparison in the narrative.  At the end they also involve Lucas and me.   Lucas then has the village chief and the children act out part of the story to clarify the part of the landowner hiring people at different times of the day.
  • Afterward we drop Pieter, Sonner, and Octavian at their home villages and then I drop off Lucas at his bakkie, so he can continue on to Rundu.

February 23:

  • Ruben and I travel to Maun to pick up Masenyani Baloyi (Bible Translation Coordinator of the Bible Society of South Africa) and then travel on to D’kar where we arrive shortly before 6 PM.

My overall impression is that it went excellent.  It was crucial for the participants to get some practical experience through the community testing effort.  The assignment for the next workshop we agreed on for each individual is to:

  1. Identify at least 1 person that can be trained to help with the oral scripture program (a local story teller and/or a person to help preparing oral scripture passages.
  2.  Learn 4 new stories that can work together (and the list is to come to me via Eben and Lucas by the second week of March)
  3. Tell the new stories at least 5 times publically each week

The progress made still needs to be considered in context of the unique situation of these people groups and, from my perspective it continues to reflect the newness of considering using relevant approaches, by using stories from the Bible in a cultural relevant setting and addressing issues that the people can relate to.  For them to start sharing the stories in their communities themselves is significant.  Sufficient time and workshops need to be given in order for them to grow in ownership of the project, as well as allowing them to progress at their pace to establish a firm foundation for them to see this approach effectively work and be it to well integrated in their world and ministry as lay workers, pastors. and elders.  Currently most of these people still don’t have access to easy transportation, most of them don’t have electricity and running water, and their planning is from day to day.  Their communities are mobile phone accessible and they know how to use phones for listening to audio, etc. It is great to see the efforts Splash, Eben, and Lucas in context of encouraging local initiatives.

The small handheld Olympus recorder from Pieter was quickly out of battery power and he wasn’t able to buy more.  The volume of the equipment was also low.  We explained that they were only provisional and we were looking how something like this would hold up and could be used.  I didn’t hear about any others that Eben may have shared.  The recording I put on James his telephone was still working for him.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Durk Meijer, Wycliffe RTS Ethno Communications Specialist

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