A Day in Bowie

 

A Day in Bowie

I'm sucking in my breath as I realize it's been close to a month since I moved to Bowie, Texas and began school at BBTI. Were someone to ask where the time has gone,  I'm not sure I would have a clear answer. While planning to come to BBTI, I told myself I would  probably have to find something recreational to do, or find some good books to read, in order to not become idle. How naive can be the human mind!

What I do know is that I'm learning many valuable things, on both the intellectual and spiritual level. In both areas, the lessons learned haven't always been all fun and patronizing, but they were absolutely worth the work and pain. 

I see a hand in the back. What does a day at BBTI look like, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Its hard to tell where one day ends and another begins, but I believe I'll start with the alarm clock. I'm not a person to allow my life to be controlled by an alarm clock, so I normally roll out of bed a bit later then my smart-aleck phone notoriously asserts to be the proper time of 6:00. If the shower fails to wake me up, the coffee finishes the job, and by the time I've eaten a bagel (or flapjacks if I feel led), and walk out the front door, I'm fully awake, and ready to face the world.

"The world" as it relates to me, and appears to me at my initial evacuation from my quarters, is as portrayed in the above photo. It is a wonderful world, with grass and trees, cows and horses, grasshoppers,  and ants the size of your aunt. The three hundred-yard walk to school is calm and relaxing, the sun being only high enough to shed it's glory and not its heat upon the earth.

School begins at 7:55, and normally opens with a short meditation on scripture. Next is World Survey, where students take turns reporting on a missionary, country, or a people group to pray for.

Articulatory Phonetics

Phonetics class begins at 8:30,and lasts until 10:00, with a short break in between. (Michael, my Phonetics teacher, may be reading this, so I won't mention him) 

Phonetics is the study of how individual human speech sounds are made. It is an exhilarating adventure into the here-to-fore unknown internal workings of the Pharyngeal, Oral, and Nasal Cavities, the Articulators, and the corresponding Points of Articulation. I won't take the time to elaborate on those terms, since I'm sure you have been able to speak quite well without understanding them so far. We learn Phonetics in order to Recognize, Record, Recall, and Reproduce  all human speech sounds, which are the foundation of all languages. (Michael would be proud that I remembered the four "R"s)

Culture 

Culture class starts at 10:15, and is taught by Steve Schnell. Dr. Schnell graduated from BBTI a long time ago, and served in Cambodia for years, then returned to serve at BBTI, where he is much used of the Lord in all aspects of the ministry. Over the years, he has earned degrees ranging from Sanitation Engineer (aka, sewage plumber) to Professor of Anthropology (earned on the field in Cambodia). He is a fine man, learned in all wisdom and understanding, and is favored by God and man. 

Anthropology is the study of what culture is, how they are formed, and in our case, how individual cultures relate to Christian evangelism. The goal is to prepare the missionary to notice and understand the culture he/she engages, in order to be effective in missions. If you think culture and missions are not related, consider the native African couple who killed their baby because a western missionary ordered the man to leave his hammock after the baby was born. The culture was that the father of a newborn male must lie in a hammock a certain amount of time after the baby was born, or the baby must die. The missionary either didn't know about this cultural norm, or ignored it, and caused the death of a child. In one sense, that's stupidity and ignorance on the missionary's part, but in another sense it's a lack of understanding and preparation to face the culture. In many (or most) cases, the effectiveness of the gospel is measured by natives' understanding of it in terms of their own culture, not our western one. 

Grammar

Culture class ends at 12:00, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when we have chapel service from 11:30 to 12:00. Usually we have an hour of class between 12:00 and 1:00 in the afternoon. When Dr. Schnell or Michael don't use it for review and exercises, Brian Alford teaches grammar during this class. I am amazed at what all I thought I knew about grammar, but either forgot or never learned, which is not all the fault of my primitive education as an Amish kid. 

Work Detail

Work detail is that period in time in which we, the students, engage in manual labor, performing various tasks that need to be done, ranging from cleaning up shops, building tables, gutting old houses, landscaping, and working towards earning a degree in Waste Disposal Services. Work detail starts at 2:00, and ends at 4:00 for the ladies, and 5:00 for the men. Since I'm not a lady, I naturally work until five, at which time I am free to return to my barracks. 

What I do after my release from work detail largely depends on the day of the week. If it is not Wednesday, I spend the evening studying and doing homework. When the opportunity presents itself, I try to make and eat food, and do other unspeakable house tasks. If it is Wednesday, I'm a good boy, and go to prayer meeting, which usually doesn't help me get to bed early. 

Karena

The horses you have seen and heard so much about are not here simply for special effects. They are well trained riding horses, and I often go riding in the evenings with the Schnell boys and Mr. Wes, a man from town who owns some of the horses. 

After our first ride, Mr. Wes told me he has a young paint who had little prior training, and needed to be worked with on a regular basis. I agreed to help him, and now I have a beautiful horse to call my very own while I am here. 

"My horse" is a sweet and gentle five-year-old paint, whose name I changed from Isis to Karena. (It's all part of the missionary training) I named her Karena after the Karen people of Burma, a people group under extreme oppression by the Burmese military.

Karena and I have bonded well.  I think I have learned as much about life and my relationship with God during our time together as she has about riding. As mentioned, she is a gentle horse, and I have learned that I must treat her carefully and patiently as I train her to understand and do what is expected of her. Harsh and rash words, angry gestures and punishments, and impatient corrections could turn her from a gentle and willing learner to a confused and ill-tempered beast. 

Many times, as I spend time with Karena, my mind goes back to my early years as a believer in the Lord Jesus. How patient He was, and still is with me! He overlooked my faults, and handled my spirit delicately and gently, giving me only gentle corrections, in measures that were not too large to destroy my faith. Sure, He saw (and still does) all the different places where I needed growth and correction. But those are not His focus. He has earned my trust, and He will never destroy it by being unreasonable or harsh with me. 

Recent events have proven my immaturity and pride, and He needed to apply correction, but He did it without driving me from Him. Instead, I was drawn closer. I love Jesus. 

Naomi Elaine Marie Carpenter

And finally, I am pleased to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and....

Just kidding, Michael. 

In a world far removed from my family, including my young nieces and nephews, the pain of separation is much lessened by this cute little red-head. There are two babies on the premises, one the daughter of my Phonetics teacher, the other the son of a student couple. I have to say, I favor the former. 

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There you have it: a small taste of life here at BBTI. I hope you have been inspired, and that you have gained a lofty view of the school here. It is quite worthy. 

How you can pray:

• That the students would be able to process and retain the important portions of the mountains of information that gets shoved into our brains daily. 
• For Miss Lisa's hands to be healed. She is a student. 
• For both my room mate, John Carlo, and me to receive direction from God as we knock on doors, and peer into windows in search of God's will for our lives in a place to serve. 
• For the snakes, scorpions and spiders to remain friendly allies to our cause.