What Just Happened? – multicultural teamwork

Posted on 13 August 202127 August 2021 by Jed & Katie

What just happened? With my motorcycle helmet on and earplugs in, the young African American man’s enthusiastic gestures, given dramatic flair by his dreads, were hard to interpret. The movement of his lips were, to me, soundless. I nodded and grinned – he couldn’t see my grin, helmet obscuring – and he moved on.

Cross-cultural interactions can look like this, even without a helmet blocking audiovisual. Signals can be sent and received but not understood. Perhaps, like the helmet, something is obscuring comprehension: language or accent; ‘worldview’ – ways of thinking about the world; or differences in what is meant by expressions. Next time you have a misunderstanding, it may help to identify what’s contributing.

In PNG, briefly-raised eyebrows mean ‘yes.’ Eyebrows are more efficient than nodding (much of the world) or wagging (India) the head, but easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for! Wikipedia calls the India version a ‘head bobble’ and says, “The motion usually consists of a side-to-side tilting of the head in arcs along the coronal plane. … it may mean yes, good, maybe, ok, or I understand, depending on the context. Head bobbles can also be used in an intentionally vague manner. An unenthusiastic head bobble can be a polite way of declining something without saying no directly.” Thanks Wikipedia for confirming the possibility of misunderstanding across cultures! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_bobble

Among the most disorienting of conversations are those where people appear to be in agreement along the way – both parties are tracking – only for the other person to draw a completely different conclusion at the end! “How unreasonable of them!” (They’re thinking exactly the same about you, probably.)

Lost in the jungle

One survey in 2012 we were deep in the bush, following a barely-visible trail as dark approached. “Barely visible” – at times, I could be standing on the trail and not see where it went. Our guide, we later learned, had never been on this trail either, and he was hurrying to get to the next village before nightfall, when enemy spirits might roam. It had been a very long day, and we were frustrated that he kept disappearing ahead. At one point he came back and asked, “Didn’t you see the signs I left?” He then pointed at a branch on the ground he’d turned to show the direction he’d taken. To him, accustomed to the trackless bush, this was like a neon sign. To us, accustomed to neon signs, it looked like a branch in a jungle full of them…

We didn’t make it by nightfall, and were met by a man with a rifle as we descended a precipice by headlamp. He’d thought we were invading enemies. Our guide proved his worth by clearing that up. Misunderstandings have consequences.

High and low context cultures

Sometimes signals are sent and simply NOT received. This is especially true when a culture is a ‘high context’ culture and the cross-cultural worker is from a ‘low context’ culture. Much goes unsaid in a high context culture, because it’s assumed that one already ‘gets it’ from the context; literally “it goes without saying.” Isn’t it funny that in the west people often say, “It goes without saying,” and then say it anyway? Hint: low context culture! In low context cultures, the expectation is that everything needs to be elucidated verbally.

In 2020 the survey team consisted of 1 third-culture kid, 1 US midwest, 1 US west urban, 1 US northwest, 3 PNG highlanders (2 urban-ish, 1 more rural-ish), 1 PNG coastal. Plenty of opportunities for miscommunication! Our organization in PNG includes staff from 15+ nations and tens of language/culture groups from around PNG. One of my goals as Chief Communications Officer role is to facilitate communication that builds relationships and team and enables collaboration within our organization and with partners. Pray for our staff as they navigate the complexities of multicultural teamwork and build relationships. (See Languages and Mountains – Chief Communications Officer for more on the this role.)

It can be tempting to glom with similar people; sometimes doing so provides energizing rest for cross-cultural workers. But, despite the challenges, multicultural teamwork can bring a level of creativity and flexibility not attainable otherwise. Working in such contexts can be humbling, as people discover that their way of seeing things is one way, not the only way. Becoming a strong multicultural team takes time and talent, and though ‘what just happened’ moments will always be with us, the result better reflects the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12, Ro 12:4-5).

A Walk on the Survey Trail

Posted on 23 July 202127 August 2021 by Jed & Katie

At long last we put foot to trail and set off for the walk to the next village. That first step marks the end of a long process of divvying gear, packing up, loading up, receiving gifts, finding somewhere to put them, saying goodbye, thanking everyone for their hospitality, sharing our plans, laughing at a memory, discussing trail options and how long it would take, affirming the connection we’d established, checking the room one last time, thinking of another question to ask, shaking a few more hands, taking photos with new friends, asking, “Is everyone ready?” again, taping up a hot spot on someone’s foot so it wouldn’t blister, discussing the possibility of reconnecting in the future… several false starts later, the first steps are an accomplishment!

A community exploring the intergenerational use of their language using the Wheel of Vitality

If you’re me, your bare feet conform to the contours of the trail, feeling every stone and root, the hot sand of the beach or the cool mud of the bush. My feet have known the cut of a machete, the fangs of a snake, the thorns and sharp rocks of many a trail. Through hard living, they have become wise.

Devin and Karl. I could play on this stuff all day!

Feet feel the way as eyes, nose, ears, and skin take in the rest of the scene: friends and teammates on the trail before and behind, trees shading boulder-strewn ground, sloping away to the sea on our right. Ocean waves drum unceasingly on the shore. A breeze flirts coyly, by turns cool and muggy, the tang of the tropics. The trail crosses a cliff, demanding full attention and enjoyment of the adventure and view. Then we hit the beach.

As feet push into the warm sand, the brain turns to teammates and to how I, as team leader, can affirm their good work and encourage work on gaps; to what we’d learned from research in the previous village and questions not fully answered; to the time and work remaining; to misunderstandings that had arisen with our guides; to how pleasant it was just to be here, putting feet to the Good News (Ro 10).

Devin, Karl, and some locals on the fun part

The path turns inland through grass over our heads, sea breeze blocked, sun more urgent in its affections. Many years before a teammate had nicked an eyeball on such grass… so many had come and gone from the survey team since! Banter back and forth as sweat prompted shifting of loads and thoughts of water and shade. Then lo and behold, a clear knee-deep river crossing and trees opposite! New faces popping up from here and there from the village to which we were headed, but little more than “Hello” from me, wanting to prolong the stillness.

Nothing better than dropping the pack and immersing fully into the water. The delicate balance of relaxing while resisting current and holding breath. The liquid world summons full consciousness as the normally thoughtless rhythm of breathing is halted. Time runs slowly to oxygen’s end, the thud of heartbeats marking its passing. The river, nearing its anonymization in the sea, has lost none of its joy and purpose; it too is fully present as it obeys its maker’s design.

Fording one of many rivers plunging to the sea

And then I arise, feet finding purchase among the stones, lungs breathing deep, life’s ebb and flow renewing. It’s time for another village with a different language, time to connect with a new set of beings made by their Creator. The Living Word seeks to be incarnate through Scripture in their language. He is already present in Spirit, but his message is not yet clearly and fully expressed in their tongue.

6 surveyors, 3 guides, and another local

Furlough & Partnership – Canoeing Sideways

Posted on 16 July 202116 July 2021 by Jed & Katie

Furlough is an important part of cross-cultural work, but it can be difficult! Before I get to that, I’d ask you to pray for two things:

Surveyors Crystal and Mary are on a survey trip to Gulf Province. Pray they’ll have wisdom, proficiency, and good teamwork. Pray for Hanna, the translator they’re working with, and her team, some of whom are on the trip to build relationships in villages. Pray for two YWAM staff who are accompanying the survey team to grow in their understanding of sociolinguistic research. Pray for Mary’s husband Devin as he looks after their child while Mary is away.

We’ve recently connected with several couples – ex-colleagues or on furlough – who are facing significant challenges in their marriages. It’s not uncommon for husbands and wives to have very different experiences overseas, and to then pull in different directions. Pray for healing and unity!

Furlough being difficult: in 2011 we were floating sideways down a muddy river in a dugout canoe that was ridiculously long and narrow. All four surveyors were scrunched on a small bench in the middle, laughing at the awkward scene we were making, but careful to keep our balance. At the far end of the canoe was a PNGan man with a pole… which broke on one of his first punts.

Many survey photos from this and other trips at https://carter-pathways.com/?page_id=7, scroll down. If you want to hear the story behind a particular photo, we’d be happy to share! This survey began in a helicopter.

On furlough we’re scrunched together, going somewhere sideways, not knowing what to expect. MANY of our colleagues have gone for furlough only to never make it back to PNG. We are 1 of only 4 teams remaining in PNG from the 21 teams we started with in 2010.

As in that canoe, we aren’t steering on furlough… YOU are. God uses you, his Body, to care for cross-cultural workers, send them to their place of service, and support them while there.

Without the Church providing transport, overseas workers get dumped in that muddy river.

Furlough is a faith-growing exercise for cross-cultural workers. We do what we can, then wait trustingly – balancing the while – for the Church to say, “Yes, we want to make that happen!” (If you’re ready, get in touch, go to Partner, or ask us for suggestions about work that aligns with your interests.)

The girls were a lot smaller last furlough!

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24)! There’s room to improve this partnership in both directions.

More inspiration from Hebrews 10: For we are those who “have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way”! “Let us draw near to God” and “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” (vs 19-20, 23) so that we will “receive what he has promised” (vs 36).

Let us be faithful in following and proclaiming this Way, for “it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (vs 31)!

Mur Pano Survey – Madang Province – 2011

Posted on 30 June 202127 August 2021 by Jed & Katie

After completing research in Mala, we reboarded the dinghy and made our way up the coast to Mur village, where detective work was called for. Reports claimed that an undocumented language was spoken there. Could we ‘discover’ a language? Sounded exciting!

Communication infrastructure is such that contacting people in advance of our arrival in their village is usually impossible or impractical (though mobile phone service has significantly expanded since 2011). Mur was one such place. We sat in the shade cast by a house on stilts, awaiting the arrival of a leader who would know what to do with these strange visitors. It is not uncommon for us to be among the first foreigners to visit remote areas of PNG.

PNG offers great backdrops for research!

After a wait, we were accorded the hospitality typical of PNG villages: a house to stay in, food to eat, and all the conversation we could handle! It really is a fantastic environment for learning about each other. There was one weevil in the sago pudding: a young lady had recently died, and the community stopped everything to properly mourn. In villages like these, everyone is related.

We participated respectfully and bided our time, but our detective work paid off after some days. The language situation was as follows:

1 language dead, no longer spoken, but remembered.
1 language named Dawang, reportedly related to Wab to the NW, spoken only by one old man in the village. His name was Moses, photo below. See When a Language Dies for more on dying languages.
1 language called Molet was related to another language, located inland, named Asaro’o.
And finally, yes, an “undocumented” language. You can find it at Ethnologue. Notice the ISO code, [tkv]? Well, some people name stars or islands after their children. We got to link an ISO code to our first daughter’s name, Tikvah; she was born that same year.

Each of these groups has a rich history, but without writing, it can be hard to get at. They had an origin myth of three brothers who’d come down in canoes from the west, one stopping at Mur, one continuing down the coast, and one paddling across to Umboi Island. Lo and behold, Mur Pano is related to two other languages in the areas described: Pano (formerly Malasanga) down the coast and Karnai on Umboi. This supports their origin story.

Languages isolated by time and distance tend to diverge over time, so though the three brothers would have spoken the same variety, there are now three distinct languages. They have some shared words and similar grammar, but are indeed distinct languages, no longer mutually comprehensible, and requiring unique literature in each case.

This trip was before our development of participatory research processes. Because we used individual interviews and lengthy tools, research took more time than it does today, and we’d sometimes work late into the night.

Moses, the final speaker of the Dawang variety of Wab

Why so many languages in this one village, Mur? Because some decades ago authorities asked them to move to a single location for easier administration. Relocation from traditional lands and close contact with speakers of other languages often results in people shifting away from some languages towards others, as had occurred in Mur.

During our 2020 survey to the same coastline, which researched languages between Mur Pano and Mala, we stopped briefly at Mur because our dinghy was based there. I stepped out and wandered into the center of the village, remembering our first survey and old teammates. As at our first arrival, there weren’t many people there – they were likely out in their gardens. Though there is translation work going on nearby, Mur Pano people haven’t been able to partake in a significant way to date. If you were one of the 1,000 residents of the village, how would you think about the possibility of Scripture in your language? Would you judge it worth the effort? Will speakers of Mala and Mur Pano be among the “persons from every tribe and language” singing “You are worthy!” to God? (Rev 5:9).

Thus ended my first research trip, in 2011. In both the Mala and Mur Pano language areas we’d discovered a need for translation; in the later we’d ‘discovered’ an undocumented language. From 2010-present (Jun 2021), the survey team has conducted research among 70 language groups in PNG, some large, some small, most of which would benefit from Scriptures in their language.

Pray for the Mala and Mur Pano, and the 70 language groups we’ve researched in the past decade! Consider playing a part in researching and advocating for other speakers of minority languages by partnering with us!

Want to read the full survey report? Here it is: A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Mur Village Vernaculars. Tell us what you think!

First research trip in 2011 completed! Many since. There are 840 languages in PNG, plenty to research still!

Mala Survey – Madang Province – 2011

Posted on 17 June 20219 July 2021 by Jed & Katie

Airplane windows that open! Brilliant. I breathed in the increasingly humid air as we descended in the Cessna 206 down the steep northern slopes of the Finisterre Mountains toward the sea. Our first language survey, with all of the unknowns that any first brings, multiplied by being in the Land of the Unexpected – Papua New Guinea.

*Taking my first wordlist in a village context.*

Language survey: research the sociolinguistic situation to identify needs and desires and suggest strategies for meeting them. Sociolinguistics: languages and how people use them. Simple, right? Not in a country with 840 languages. (See What Is Language Survey for a further intro.)

Starting in August 2010, half a year before this first survey, we’d been near Madang town. We were attending the orientation course all new staff go through, looking south towards the Finisterres. Now we were among those mountains. Soon, I was prone at their feet… laid out with a pounding headache, likely a combination of caffeine deprivation and elevation change from our main center and home town, a mile high in the PNG Highlands. Speaking of coffee: coffee grown IN THE VALLEY WHERE OUR CENTER IS was brewed every day at the office. Hard to resist (I later would).

*Our boat had a bit of engine trouble on the way. A Leatherman proved helpful.*

After an inauspicious start, I was able to join my teammates in the land of the living, conducting research. Malalamai village was a great place to begin my research career: a village of 400 people near another village of 400 people called Bonga. These two villages were the only locations where the language was spoken. Dying? Not in the least! Their language, Mala, was spoken in all domains around the village, with other languages were reserved for outsiders. One of those other languages, Tok Pisin, is the language of wider communication we were using to converse with them.

One of my research tasks was to collect a wordlist, their equivalents for 170 words like stone, sky, come, she, father, etc. A funny one: horn! No animals native to Madang have horns. We later revised the wordlist to avoid trouble words like this. These words from the residents of Malalamai were compared to words from Bonga and other surrounding villages in a process called lexicostatistics to ascertain how similar the language varieties were lexically. Answer: Malalamai and Bonga were almost identical to each other, but were very different from other varieties in the area. Conclusion: the Mala people would benefit from literature in their own language. They, like most language group in PNG, had none.

In 2020 I was in a fiberglass dinghy off the Mala coast on the way to another language group. Since our visit in 2011, the Mala had been invited to a workshop run nearby – I believe it was an Alphabet Development Workshop – but they had not attended. This was at least in part because they were in disagreement about what their language should be called. The Mala people remain without literature in their language.

Want to read the full survey report? It’s at A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Malalamai [mmt] Language Area (name since shortened to ‘Mala’). Let us know what you think!