Evangéliumi Hírnök, 1997 (89. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1997-02-01 / 2. szám
8. oldal 1997. február OUR TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND January 1-8,1997 SAME MESSAGE, DIFFERENT MEANS Jesus video in Slavey language The Slavey people of Canada’s North have had the Scriptures in their language in written form for more than a century. Earlier translations are no longer in use, but more recent publications, based on a culturally acceptable writing system and an idiomatic presentation of the Word of God, are in use by a few readers. Vernacular literacy, however, has not kept pace with the availability of translated portions prepared in the language. Literacy efforts of a decade or more ago resulted in a handful of Slavey people reading their own language, but our desired goal of seeing many people literate in their own language and reading the indigenous Scriptures has not yet become a reality. Now a new approach may provide a timely solution. Literacy specialists refer to this alternate method as non-print media. Through a joint effort of Campus Crusades for Christ and the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission, a sound track for the Jesus video is under development. This medium is based on the Gospel of Luke and will present the gospel in an abridged form by combining the video and the sound tracks and releasing it in the vernacular. To date this production depicting the life of Jesus has been made available in over 300 languages worldwide. A few months ago a missionary colleague asked us to have a part in the production of this video in one of the major dialects of the Slavey language. Spoken in the Mackenzie River Basin, the Slavey language is still very much alive and currently used to a greater or lesser degree in all Slavey communities in the region. After prayerful consideration, we accepted this challenge. We felt that this venture would provide a new opportunity for us to go back to the Slavey people once again after an absence of more than six years. Prior to that point, we had worked in five of villages in Bible translation and Scripture-in-Use efforts. Recently, I spent a week in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, with a Slavey literacy consultant who is also a linguist and teacher. (His name is Andy). During the brief week set aside for the purpose of developing the script for the ‘Jesus’ video, Andy read the entire translated script on to tape. This voice recording will soon be ready for a comprehension check to be made in several Slavey villages. We shall remember our trip to the Holy Land for a long time with Rev. Herjeczíci and the Christian Tours USA Inc. We not only saw relatives and friends but also relieved our experiences 25 years ago. We arrived from California in New York on December 31st and spent New Years with the Ferenc Kulcsár Sr.’s family and the New York Hungarian Church, and are thankful for their hospitality, we had a wonderful time in fellowship. Israel has changed a lot in 25 years, as in any large city in the USA, Israel is constantly constructing new buildings including hotels. I believe in Bible prophecy and am reminded of Amos 9:14 in the Bible, “andI will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them. And they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. ” In Israel we ate the best oranges tangerines, grapefruits, bananas, tomatoes, and peppers. Their planting methods are quite unique also, they know how to maintain moisture for the plants. To our amazement the weather in Israel was similar to that of our home in Calif., they grow about the same things that we grow. One thing I will not forget was our trip on the sea of Galilee in the Hallelujah boat. The weather make if she knew and accepted the Messiah as her Lord and Saviour. She was curious to know what the difference was between the Baptist and other Protestant churches. We visited many cities and ruins, I now try to visualize these places as I read my Bible, places such as Samaria, Jericho, Capernaum, we visited Cana, the wedding site where Jesus performed His first miracle, we also ate fish on the sea of Galilee. On Sunday we went to the Jordan River. Tiberias was beautiful, there were lots of flowers and palm trees. Since it was Sunday Rev. Herjeczki read from the Bible while we were ridding in the bus, we also sang hymns, it gave us such a wonderful feeling. was perfect, and the sea was calm. After the sermon we sang a few hymns. Our first day in Jerusalem we went to the Garden of Getchemane and had communion. Then on Friday we went to the mount of Olives, it was beautiful. We saw the old and the New Jerusalem, we went to Mount Zion and saw King David’s tomb and the upper room. Usually at the end of the day we were dead tired. I think we should remember to pray for Lynn, our tour guide, she was very knowledgeable about the history of the Holy Land. What a difference it would On the Sea of Galilea in the Halleluja boat The “Evangéliumi Hirnök” group on the top of the Mount of Transfiguration I enjoyed going up the mount of Transfiguration via cab and looking down and especially got a blessing when as we visited these places, Rev. Herjeczki read from the Bible. We visited also Megiddo. In Caesarea we visited a theater, some of our people sang on the podium. It was unbelievable, they sang without the aid of a microphone, the acoustic was so great, we sat a good distance in the back and it sounded as though we were right on the front roll. I shall never forget the dead sea not only because it is 32% salt and 430 me-' ters (1505 Ft.) below sea level, but I fell in the dead sea with my clothes on with my camera, it was very salty and bitter, I was trying to take pictures of the others who were swimming. Unfortunately my camera was ruined. We enjoyed ourselves and was glad we had taken this HOLY LAND trip. We received such a blessing! Our Lord was always with us. We have looked at the video and pictures many times and have showed them to friends and families. Helen Olah
