Open Doors

00:01
Dr. Chris Pluger
From day one, day zero even. It was a community effort. There were so many people who were fired up about what were doing, and so many people wanted to be involved. 

00:18
Rich Rudowske
Welcome to the essentially translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible translators. I’m rich Friedowski. 

00:23
Emily Wilson
And I’m Emily Wilson. 

00:24
Rich Rudowske
We are so glad that you joined with us today, and we want to make your life easy for always being able to find essentially translatable delivered to you wherever you are at and whenever you are ready to listen. So, Emily, give us some tips about how you can take a couple simple steps and make that happen. 

00:40
Emily Wilson
Right? So if you live life on the go like most people do, you have an app for listening to music, but your podcast. So we are on those platforms. Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google podcasts, Apple Podcasts, audible, you name it, we’re there. So if you haven’t subscribed, we recommend it. That way you can get the latest and greatest and you don’t feel like, oh, did I hear this episode yet? Or no? So there’s that. But if you want to do some old school, if you want to poke around, see what we’re up to, you can visit lbt.org podcast and you can get all of the episodes. You can leave us a comment. We love your feedback, so please feel free to do that. 

01:24
Rich Rudowske
And then if you’re one of the apps, leave us a rating there and a comment there, too. That actually does some magic in the algorithm world and pushes our podcast content out further and makes it easier for people to find us. So if you want to help people find us, because you’re like, people need to find this, then that’s the way you do it. Yeah. Okay, so enough about that. We had the chance to talk with our good friends, Dr. Chris and Janine Pluger. Chris and Janine worked with LBT and helped to finish a Bible translation in the Nsenga language in Zambia and then took leave from LBT for the last four years. 

02:02
Rich Rudowske
And now coming back, which we’re really excited about, and it’s awesome because the whole time they’ve been gone, we’ve had this stuff in the works and development of work in Ethiopia that is just right in line with Chris’s gifts and his strengths. And in the meantime, he also completed his doctorate from South African Theological Seminary, so he is qualified in that way, too, to serve. And Janine, all the great gifts and the skills that she brings. Both just a wonderful couple. We had a great conversation with them about their past experience in Zambia and what they’re looking forward to. 

02:37
Emily Wilson
Right. Anyone who just takes time to sit with Chris and Janine, it’s just so evident how God’s word is central to their life and just how much joy they have in sharing the hope we have in Christ. But also all of their stories. They are storytellers and they have some awesome experiences and in their time in Zambia and looking forward to what’s happening in the future. In just any time that you are interested in following a great story, definitely follow in their prayer letter. It’s pretty good stuff. 

03:17
Rich Rudowske
Absolutely. So we hope you enjoy listening to this great conversation with Chris and Janine. We are here today with Dr. Chris and Janine Pluger, missionaries to Ethiopia, to talk a little bit about their upcoming work. So good to have you guys with us this morning. 

03:34
Janine Pluger
Thanks. Good morning. 

03:36
Rich Rudowske
So, Chris, tell us a little bit about how you got involved in Bible translation work, what you were doing before, and how did God lead you to serve with LBT the first time that you came to work with LBT? 

03:46
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah, the first time. So I was a seminary dropout. I had started, done my undergrad, biblical languages and theology and all that. Thought I wanted to be a parish pastor. Got to the seminary, realized I didn’t really want to be a parish pastor at that point, so left the seminary, was kind of just not really doing much useful. Ended up being a spanish teacher at lutheran high schools because those are in high demand. I happen to know Spanish, so, yay. And then I was actually googling. I was looking for something on the Internet. I think I was looking for the lutheran study bible from Concordia that hadn’t come out yet. And with Lutheran and Bible in the Google search, I got LBT and I said, whoa, Lutheran Bible translators. I wonder what they do. 

04:30
Dr. Chris Pluger
And of course that didn’t take long to figure that out. And ten minutes later I was hooked. I mean, this was my thing because spanish teacher equals, like, to travel, missionary, rugged lifestyle, whatever, biblical languages in school. Why did I learn Greek and Hebrew? So I could teach high school Spanish. That’s weird. So this was my fit, this was my thing right there. Light bulb moments. And it was all pretty much just figuring out the details after that. 

04:57
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And your first service, I am realizing as we look here that we should fill the listeners in. Your first term of service was in Zambia for about. How long was it? 

05:06
Dr. Chris Pluger
About five years. Five years, 2011 to 2016. And we joined WT about two years before that. So we had a year in school and a year of partnership development and then five years in Zambia and in. 

05:19
Rich Rudowske
Zambia, working with the Insenga language. Tell us a little bit, Chris, about the Insenga language community. 

05:25
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah, the Insenga community. It’s a pretty large language community, actually, as far as all that goes. Somewhere between one and 2 million people is everybody’s estimate. They’re in south central Africa, mostly Zambia, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, kind of in that little junction area there from eastern Zambia. We lived in eastern Zambia, in the town of Petauke, the township there, which is kind of considered the center of insengaland. That’s where the paramount chief has his palace. And so we’ll probably get into this more later, but that’s kind of a real brief overview of the Insenga people. 

06:02
Emily Wilson
What about you, Janine? Can you share a little bit about your story and how you saw God using you on the field in the Insenga language community? 

06:13
Janine Pluger
Sure. A lot of what I did, actually, was just working with our family and sort of keeping the home fires burning so that Chris could be available to do all the things he needed to do. When we first got there, Sean was nine years old, and we started the long and sometimes arduous journey of homeschooling through fourth and fifth and 6th grade. And eventually we got to the point where Sean needed more than just me as a teacher, no matter how good I may or may not have been. And so he actually got to go to boarding school in Kenya for his 8th grade year, which was super exciting and a great experience for him. 

06:50
Emily Wilson
That’s awesome. So what is one of your favorite memories, then, of your time in Zambia? 

06:58
Janine Pluger
We had a backyard full of mango trees, and mango season would start sometime in November, last a little bit through December. And every day we had this very courageous group of kids who would knock on the gate and ask us to put our dogs away because they were terrified of the dogs, but they really wanted our mangoes. So we’d put the dogs away, kids would come in, and so I watched this whole process. One day, there were about seven, eight, maybe nine kids, and they didn’t even talk. They went straight to the backyard, and two kids ran up one tree, and two kids ran up the other tree. The other kids stood underneath with their cloths to catch the mangoes, and the kids pulled them and threw them all down. I’m like, oh, wow, that’s really efficient. 

07:41
Janine Pluger
But then after that, they all sat down in a circle. All the mangoes went in the middle, and they took turns, like, each kid got to pick a mango out as they went around in the circle. Until all the mangoes were divided. And I was just absolutely fascinated by this process. And it was so fair and so community oriented. And then they all happily took our little extra plastic bags that we had from shopping and went on their way until the next time they needed more mangoes. And it was pretty fabulous. 

08:09
Emily Wilson
That’s really lovely. 

08:12
Rich Rudowske
Chris, how about you? What’s a favorite memory from your time in Zambia? 

08:16
Dr. Chris Pluger
Well, I mean, the whole thing was so memorable. But one of the guys that I got to work with, his name was Father Tembo, and he’s just the elder statesman of the Insenga tribe, really. He was from a royal family, so he had a little bit of that going on. He had been the Petauke district commissioner, so everybody knew him from his political time. After his wife passed away, he went back to school, was a second career anglican priest, and so he had served in the ministry for many years by that point. Just everybody knew Father tembo. Just such a great guy, full of stories, just very folksy, very, you know, at that point, almost kind of elderly and sangha gentleman that I was driving around with. 

08:59
Dr. Chris Pluger
And were going out to visit one of the chiefs, and this was the chieftainist who lived the farthest out in the bush. She lived down in the valley by the giraffes and the elephants. And it was just quite a trip to get to her palace. She couldn’t even get cell phone reception. She had to have a two way radio so that we could call her up from the district commissioner’s office and say, we’re coming, and that she would be there. This is like a track, right? This isn’t just, hey, let’s go visit the chief. So we’re headed out there, and it’s probably end of April, and we thought we had waited long enough after the rainy season that the road would be pretty good. And for the first 30, 40 was fine. 

09:38
Dr. Chris Pluger
And then we got to this bridge, and it was kind of shady. And I got out, and I’m checking it out, and father temple says, I’m not sure, and I’m kicking the bridge struts, and it’s not shaking too bad. I’m all right, let’s go. So we go over this bridge, and anyway, this happened several times that we get to these shady spots in the road, and we’re getting the tires a little wet and all this stuff. And finally we come to just a river, and it’s a river and it’s flowing and it’s kind of fast and whatever. And it’s just like, how are we going to get across this? And by now, we’ve been on the road for like 2 hours, and we didn’t want to turn around. 

10:14
Dr. Chris Pluger
She was expecting us to come, but there was a little boy fishing out in the middle of the river. So Father Tembo calls this little boy over and asks him, okay, how deep is the water? And so you’ve got the little boy waiting out into the deepest part of the river. And then he checks where the water comes up to on his hip. And then he runs back to the car, and he’s standing next to the truck, and we’re trying to figure out if the line on his hip is lower than the air intake on my truck. And, okay, I think we’re going to make it. I think this is good. And then the boy tells us that there’s actually a road under that water. It’s not a sandy river bottom. There is some kind of pavement under there so it doesn’t wash. 

10:58
Dr. Chris Pluger
Okay, good. So we start off and we’re going. And we’re going 5 miles an hour, tops. And just super slow, low gear. And the water’s rising and rising. And I stop the truck, and I look at Father Tembo, and I say, father, can you swim? Don’t tell me that. And so it was just really a funny look on his face and just such a memorable trip. The whole time we had to stop. At one point, something was coming loose on the truck. And I got out of the car, got sessi fly bite. I mean, that was pretty awesome. But that trip was just really debating. Yeah. Thinking about that makes me think about working with Father Tembo, which I would have to say was my favorite part. 

11:49
Dr. Chris Pluger
My best memory was just that guy was such an influence on me, taught me so many things about life and multiculturalism. And so, anyway, rich, you’ve met, so. 

12:00
Rich Rudowske
Yes, absolutely. Great guy. 

12:02
Emily Wilson
So you got to experience dedication as well. The Nsanga dedication. So what was your biggest takeaway from attending that event? Being a part of that. 

12:11
Janine Pluger
Well, truthfully, I just really appreciate that Michelle was able to video record things, because just like any major day in your life, you don’t catch it. Know, you catch just the tiniest little bits of it. And it was so wonderful to be able to go back later and see all of the different parts that she was able to catch and video and different people and reactions. And then just to have that memory there. Mostly, I was absolutely fascinated at just sort of this mix of kind of a western schedule with all of the traditions that the insenga had spent so much time making sure were a part of their special dedication. 

12:52
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. So you actually made me think of something I’ve never thought about with a dedication. There are milestone events in the life of a project, but then, particularly anybody who’s working, and it’s a significant milestone. Like, how would it compare with that feeling of a major event in life? Was it up there with weddings or any kind of similar feeling? 

13:14
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah, I always joke about that on PD before I show that video. At the end of my presentation, I say, with due apologies to Janine, best day of my life right here. And it really is. It’s a graduation, it’s a milestone. It’s finished your dissertation and successfully defended your thesis. Whatever. I mean, it was huge. The feeling in your stomach, those butterflies, that excitement. Is everything going to go like we planned it? And just the joy of seeing it accomplished? Yeah. I’m with Janine. I’m so glad that we have that video to remember it because I have memories in my head of what I saw from my point of view, but that she captured the whole thing so well and just shaking hands with the people because were leaving within 24 hours. We were out of petauque, never to return. 

14:09
Dr. Chris Pluger
So far, this was it. So this was our goodbye. This was our capstone. This was everything. And just to go around afterwards and shake hands with people and express our appreciation to them and hear them telling us, thank you. Thank you. That was amazing. 

14:26
Janine Pluger
Recommendation to any missionary in the future. Definitely give yourself a week or so after dedication before you flee the country. Because every time I watch Michelle’s video, even now, it still makes me cry. And I think a lot of it was that there was so much going on with the transition and moving and packing up our house that I didn’t really get to appreciate the dedication as much as I could have because there were way too many other things filling my head and then just sort of watching. That makes me a little sad that I didn’t appreciate it, not nearly as much as Chris did. And it’s something that you definitely should give yourself time to absorb and take in and say goodbyes a little more slowly before you leave. 

15:08
Emily Wilson
And for any of our listeners who haven’t watched the video, Michelle Hassel now created this beautiful video from the Insanga dedication. We’ll include that in the blog post. But it’s just how she captured the emotion of the event and all the joy of the Insenga people receiving the New Testament. It really actually makes me cry every time. And I haven’t even been to Zambia, but just that joy is so contagious and brings perspective. I’ve met people along the mobilization trail who. That’s the video that they reference as like, a seminary student was like, you know, I saw that video and I almost signed up. It was just so moving to him. And then he’s, you know, my wife, currently, she’s, let’s be. 

16:01
Emily Wilson
He’s, you know, now passionate about the work because seeing the Insanga dedication and just how hungry people are for scripture in their own language, I guess I’ll. 

16:13
Dr. Chris Pluger
Let Janine go first. 

16:14
Janine Pluger
I was just going to say, in reference to what Emily was talking about, if you ever have any of those wives who aren’t really sure, feel free to send them my way, because I am the quintessential not really sure wife, and you can see how that turned out. I’m still here, we’re still married 25 years later, so it can work. 

16:31
Dr. Chris Pluger
Amen. 

16:33
Emily Wilson
And congratulations. 25 years. 

16:35
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. 

16:36
Dr. Chris Pluger
So three behind the scenes from that video that are worth saying. First of all, the choir music that you hear was one of five songs that were written specifically for the dedication by a special Nsenga choir from all the churches in the Petauge area. So they wrote new compositions to celebrate the coming of God’s word into their language, thanking God for the project, for the workers, for the gift that he had given them with the scripture. So that’s really cool that the music is all customized. One of the other ones, you’ll see a cow in the dedication, and you’ll probably catch the ox cart the second time you watch the video. But the ox cart, they said, was, it’s like the chariot of Zambia. 

17:18
Dr. Chris Pluger
And in the old days, when the chief would come town, he would ride in an ox cart, and that would be the big honor. So when the chief of chiefs comes to the Insenga people, his word went in an ox cart, and they processed it through the town on their way to the venue decorated. And they had a choir behind it all singing. So just such a jubilant exhibition publicly of everything that was going on there at the dedication. And then the last little thing, it’s just so cool. You’ll see, after the ox card arrives, they start unloading it. They have all these boxes of bibles that they’re carrying up to the front, and they’re handing these boxes to the women. And why is it women, why are women carrying these big, heavy boxes of books up to the front of the church? 

18:03
Dr. Chris Pluger
And one of the committee members said this, he said, I think we should have women carrying the bibles up, not the committee, not the translators, not the know. They should be the women, because most of us heard about Jesus for the first time from our mothers, and it’s the mothers of the Insenga people who brought us the word of God as children for the first time, and that should be their honor. Then it should be their special privilege to bring the word of God and present it ceremoniously to the chiefs at the front of the service. I just think that’s super cool. 

18:36
Emily Wilson
Beautiful. 

18:38
Rich Rudowske
So then you folks left service with LBT in 2016, right after the dedication, as you mentioned. Tell us a little bit about what you’ve been doing in the meantime and how you’ve seen God at work through that in preparing you for another round of overseas missionary service. 

18:54
Janine Pluger
So, interestingly, before we had even left the field, Great Plains Lutheran High School had contacted us to see if I would want to do a position called the mission Advancement Assistant. And I looked at this list of tasks and I said, you know, I’m not really sure I’m the person you want for this. But then we arrived, and two months later, they still needed somebody, and they said, oh, just come in and interview. And so I did, and that’s what I’ve gotten to do ever since then. 

19:20
Janine Pluger
I work with the mission advancement department, and it’s a fantastic job, and there are so many things that I have learned in this position that are really helpful in getting to share our message now that we’re back with LBT and just the technical things of using a mass email program or input on what a good newsletter should look like. Know, direct and punchy content, stuff like that. Know, maybe I had the skills, but I’ve really been able to hone them and be much more efficient and effective with that right now. 

19:55
Rich Rudowske
How about you, Chris? 

19:56
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah, well, as Janine said, we’re here in Watertown, South Dakota right now. I had a call to teach Spanish again at Grape Plains Lutheran High School, which is about 120 kids out here in South Dakota. So I did that for four years. This fifth year now, I’ve been back with lutheran bible translators and really focusing on getting back to the field. But four years as a high school spanish teacher, again, I got to interact with a ton of great people and taught a bunch of kids, and the faculty here is great. I guess one big accomplishment that got me ready for this job in Ethiopia is I was able to finish my phd. So that’s good. 

20:35
Dr. Chris Pluger
I have that box ticked just, I don’t want to say that teaching high school Spanish really got me hungry and ready to go back to the mission field. Like, teaching high school Spanish was a bad thing, but it just showed me, okay, this is what you were doing and now really gave me the desire to go back to the son. The four years that I was teaching is the four years my son was in high school. So he’s off to college now. And we just both kind of felt it. I mean, at one point, Janine and I are eating dinner and Sean’s at work and it’s just the two of us again. And we’re looking at Sean graduating in a couple of months and we’re thinking, man, I miss know, I miss the mission field. I miss all of that. 

21:22
Dr. Chris Pluger
You know, I had never really thought were leaving LBT permanently. I always had in the back of my head, yeah, I would go back to that if the time was right. And the time is right. So here we are. 

21:34
Rich Rudowske
Awesome. 

21:35
Emily Wilson
So you’ve shared a little bit with us at Lutheran Bible translators. Your joy in sharing about the ministry with other people who don’t know that Bible translation is a thing and we call it partnership development of building that prayer support and financial support. So what does partnership development mean to you and just sharing a little bit about what goes into it? 

22:02
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah, I’m up to my eyeballs in partnership development right now. I gave a presentation last night at our church to a group of ladies that went really well. And we stayed for a half an hour after talking to people. It was just really fantastic. And I’m getting ready to leave on Saturday again for another ten days. I love PD. If I wasn’t going to go to Ethiopia and help translate the Bible, I’d stay here and talk about Bible translation all the time in it’s like, oh, yeah, I’m actually going to get to do what I’ve been talking about doing eventually. But meanwhile, I love talking about it, too. And a lot of that comes from teaching. And so you talk about God preparing you for mission service. Well, God prepared me to prepare for mission service. 

22:43
Dr. Chris Pluger
I think being a teacher really helped my PD because I feel like I can connect to people. I can teach them something at a basic level without sounding super basic and just say, look, this is what it’s like to not have scripture in your language. And this is the work that goes into putting scripture in a language. And I kind of walk people through that process as part of my presentation and some of the challenges, physical, mental, spiritual, academic, linguistic, cultural, all those things and then say, now there’s one more challenge, and you can really help us out with that. And that’s with the financial challenge of how direct support mission works. 

23:21
Dr. Chris Pluger
And there’s no magic dump truck full of money for Bible translation, but it comes from individual people like you, who love having a Bible in English, the language you understand the best and who want to share that blessing with other people who don’t have it yet. So I really like doing PD. I said that already. But it’s fun. It’s fun to go meet new people. And, boy, to stand in front of a room full of Lutherans and say, guess what? There are languages in the world that don’t have a single verse of scripture translated yet. And they’re like, what? Bible translation is such a lutheran thing to do? And that’s not to disparage people from other denominations who do Bible translation, but it’s really in our dna. Boy, God’s word is pretty important to Lutherans. 

24:03
Dr. Chris Pluger
And with the Reformation and all of that, we get it. We get what it’s like to not have the Bible, and we get what it’s like to get the Bible. And it’s not a super hard sell to say, hey, this still needs to be done. Would you help? 

24:20
Rich Rudowske
Absolutely. And it’s such a privilege to be a window on the world for the church, too. Sometimes we don’t get the opportunity to see and experience those things, how God’s at work. So, Janine, how do you get involved in the partnership development process? 

24:33
Janine Pluger
Sure. Such a really cool idea. Not that anybody has any doubt, but God absolutely knows what he’s doing. I’m not sure if you can tell from listening to this podcast. Chris is kind of the more extroverted of the two of us. The part I get to, you know, he says please, and I get to say thank you. So that’s what I get to do. And it is just a perfect split of duties, because I’m the more introverted. I like quiet introspection. And each month, each week, each day, even, I get to see new people that God has prepared to join us in this work. And I see their names, and I can picture them living in Wisconsin and Missouri and Texas, and I can pray for them. 

25:13
Janine Pluger
And I have the opportunity to say thank you and to invite them to give us a day that’s special to them, to remember them on when we’re in the field. And then we can write them a little note and say, hey, you know what? Today we got to record a podcast with LBT thank you for supporting us and giving us the opportunity to share this with others so that people know. People know that this work is happening and that it still needs to happen and you’re part of that. 

25:40
Emily Wilson
That’s awesome. Bringing everybody into the ministry and seeing how the body works together. So, Chris, you recently made a visit to Ethiopia with Rich and you got a chance to see what your upcoming role is like. Can you share a little bit about your visit and the work that’s currently happening, what your future role is going to be like? 

26:02
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah, I was so blessed to make that trip, and there were some things with COVID and whatnot that weren’t quite sure it was going to happen, but it’s so much nicer to move to a place that you’ve been to than to go completely blind into a brand new foreign country. Before this trip, I had never been to Ethiopia. We flew through the airport twice, but had never left the airport. And just to say, hey, let’s move to a country neither of us has ever seen, that’s crazy talk. But the ability to go and to stay with Jim and Susan, who’ve been missionaries there for like, what, seven years now with lutheran bible translators, and to hear their version of, yep, bring this, you don’t need that. You can buy. Know this shop has great. Know, fresh bread on Wednesday over here. 

26:46
Dr. Chris Pluger
Just all that day to day life stuff. We’re talking with the ladies last night about how hard it was to set up in Zambia because were starting from know our house didn’t even have indoor plumbing when we first got there. But now I know exactly what to expect when we get to Ethiopia. So just from a logistical lifestyle point of view, huge blessing to go and see and take pictures and come back and say, hey, Janine, it’s going to be okay. This is how it’s going to be. And she knows it’s going to be okay, but she kind of wants to also know how okay it’s going to be. And so that was great. 

27:20
Dr. Chris Pluger
But even on top of that, then we had two full weeks there, a very full schedule of meetings and people we got to see and projects we got to take a look at. Such a blessing to know what kind of work I get to do in Zambia. I say, I was the advisor for one project in Zambia, and now I’m switching roles in Ethiopia. I’m going to get to be the consultant for multiple projects. So take the experience we learned in one project and apply it to multiple. So at least they don’t repeat our mistakes. They can make their own mistakes if they want to, but at least they won’t make the same mistakes we did. Hopefully, if I get to help out a little bit. 

27:58
Dr. Chris Pluger
So we got to meet all kinds of folks, the leaders at the Makani Suzu’s church, who are kind of directing all of these different, really exciting translation projects in different parts of the country. We got to see a workshop where those folks came together to start talking about long range strategic planning, which is really exciting because that’s not something I ever got involved with in Zambia. It was kind of like a here and now what are we doing tomorrow? Kind of thing. But this is big picture stuff. And to watch that process start, that was really cool. I got to shake hands or not, I guess because of COVID but at least fist bump with a whole bunch of people that I’m going to be working with. 

28:36
Dr. Chris Pluger
And the next time I see that person might be in their village when I come to do a consultant check on their book of act, six months or twelve months or two years from now, we’re going to get to see each other kind of in action now and say, hey, I remember you from that workshop. And then the other fifth of my job, I guess I’m supposed to be 80% with the consultation, work with active projects, and then 20% teaching at McCanniersu seminary in their Bible translation track for future translators, future advisors. And I got to meet those students. And so as much as I love teaching and I love my high school kids, boy, this is a whole room full of people who want to be Bible translators when they’re out of School. That’s amazing. I’m your hero. 

29:21
Dr. Chris Pluger
You want to do what I’m doing? That’s super cool. So to meet them, talk to them, hear their stories, hear their passion. A lot of them are from languages with no scripture, and so they want to go right back to their own town and start working. Some of them have had scripture their whole life and want to be advisors and help share that blessing with others. And then, Chris, come teach us. You look like an interesting guy. Come tell us things so we can be wise. Just really amazing. Such an inspiration. I got home right away and, of course, put some pictures, new slides into my presentation so I can say, this is where we’re going to live, and these are the kids I’m going to teach. Whatever. Young adults. So, yeah, it was very inspiring for me. Very motivating. 

30:02
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. So talk a little bit about your impressions. Janine, from what you heard from Chris about Ethiopia and how did he do out there getting pictures and telling you what’s going to happen. 

30:14
Janine Pluger
So the pictures were great. I love WhatsApp. Whatsapp is how we communicated. And every day, I’d get two or three or 20 pictures of, this is what the grocery store looks like. This is what our house looks like. Here’s a little walkthrough video of where we live. And mostly, it’s super comforting to me to be able to see and picture myself somewhere. And I’m sure you could all imagine it’s a little stressful with packing up everything you own and moving thousands of miles across the ocean. And so just even seeing a picture of it makes that stress much less. And it looks cool, it looks fun. I’ve never, ever lived in a big city. 3 million ish people, I think, in Otis. And that’s fascinating and a little frightening, but to see a picture of it, that just makes it easier. 

31:05
Janine Pluger
And I also love seeing the faces of the people that Chris will get to work with, because that’s why we’re know all of those people are the people who have a need, and Chris has the ability to teach them or to learn how to consult and work with their projects, and that’s why we’re going to be there. So that’s also super helpful. 

31:31
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, absolutely. And thinking about your upcoming relocation, what do you think is priority? Like, when you step off the plane, how do you just maybe explain to the listeners the adjustments and what you kind of tackle first when you move to a place like this? 

31:48
Janine Pluger
Okay. Truthfully, we are tempting to take both of our cats with us. So number one priority, getting them to the house and into a building where they will most likely, probably hide in a closet for three days and not speak to, you know, that’s immediate. Immediate. Beyond that, I just super look forward to working with Susan and Jim and figuring out how to shop and how to cook, know, setting up house. We are moving in four suitcases and maybe one extra duffel bag full of clothing. Where do I go to find a colander to make spaghetti? Do they have spaghetti? Can I use the water from the sink to make my, you know, little things like that in America you would never think about and you’re. 

32:39
Janine Pluger
I should probably make sure that’s okay, because the last thing I want to do is be sick with food poisoning our first week in Ethiopia. 

32:47
Emily Wilson
It’s a thing. 

32:48
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah. The other huge priority, then, is going to be language. A. Yeah. Such a learning curve there. Amharic is the language of wider communication in Ethiopia, especially there in Addis and in Zambia, I say were able to cheat a bunch with a whole lot of English because of Zambia’s history with Great Britain, and there’s a lot of English that’s being used, and a lot of people understand quite a bit of English. And just from my two or three weeks there, that’s not the case in Ethiopia, you cannot get away with as much English. And so we’re really going to have to focus on language learning probably for the majority of the first year that we’re there, just so that we can be useful, just so that we can communicate with people and the taxi drivers and the shopkeepers and the project people. Just everything. 

33:36
Dr. Chris Pluger
We’re going to need so much Amharic, and it’s so far not an easy language to try to pick up. So that’s going to be a big focus. And I appreciate the support that I’ve gotten from my LBT supervisor, who says, yes, that’s your number one job, and make sure you save time for that completely different Alphabet. Yeah. 

33:56
Janine Pluger
And let’s just envision this. Here we have the person who has gone to school and has a phd to do this job, telling his wife, who currently only speaks one language. This is a really difficult. 

34:12
Dr. Chris Pluger
When you say it like that. 

34:14
Janine Pluger
Yeah. Thanks. 

34:17
Rich Rudowske
So we know what you’ll be doing for a little while, Janine, then. Any thoughts as to involvement? 

34:23
Janine Pluger
Like, okay, so you had mentioned the need for the sign language program, and I’m not sure still if I’m the person for that, but I could absolutely see being a support role in some way. I don’t know how, but it’s one of those God things. Like, I have been interested in sign language literally since the third grade. No reason why I don’t have any deaf people in my family. But in third grade, in high school, in college, I even was in a sign language interpreting program for an entire year. I have technically half of an associate’s degree in american sign language interpreting. And so I keep thinking there’s got to be a reason for that. Why do I have that desire or passion? And so I could still see that being a possibility. 

35:12
Janine Pluger
And in some way, much like my mission advancement job, where I said, yeah, no way, that’s not really for me. God’s up there laughing. 

35:23
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, it’s amazing how these little threads in life, just as you keep going on, it’s been my experience, too, that God just kind of weaves them together and you’re like, oh, okay, I see now how that fits. So that’s pretty exciting to think about. 

35:34
Emily Wilson
So what is it that brings you joy in your work? Janine? 

35:38
Janine Pluger
Despite the fact that I am an introvert, I really love getting to know the people and where I’m good at. That is in a one one setting. So in a high school, when I have the chance to work with a small group of students and just really get to find out what makes them tick and what they care about, that brings me joy. And so I look at the pictures of all the people and all the different missionaries that we’ll get to work with, and that’s exciting. It’s not going to be every single one of them, but there are people in those pictures who I’m meant to connect with and get to know and find out what makes them tick, and that’s really exciting for me to think about. 

36:23
Emily Wilson
Chris, is there a particular facet within the role that you will be filling that you’re just particularly excited about? 

36:32
Dr. Chris Pluger
Yeah, in some ways, Janine stole my answer because I really like the people, I like the relationships. I like being able to fondly Father temple. Yeah, he was know. Oh, yeah. And the translators, whatever. But I think my unique spin on that answer then, is going to be, I love the light bulb moment. I love the light bulb moment when someone that I’ve been working with, who’s been struggling with something finally gets it, or when I have been struggling with something and through the patient mentoring or help or explanation of a very long suffering african person finally gets western me to feel, oh, that’s what you’ve been talking about, my light bulb moments. Maybe this is teaching rubbing off. Maybe this is me just liking to think that I can communicate ideas well. But that’s what I love to see. 

37:24
Dr. Chris Pluger
I love to see somebody who didn’t know something before walking away with an understanding of it. And that’s why I love PD, because people, bible translation, that needs to be done. I get it now. And they leave my presentation fired. Know. Oh. I never really understood this about what Jesus is saying there in this verse of scripture. But now after our talk, I get it. Or me again. I never got why people acted that way in this situation, but now I understand that I was missing something as an American. Love the light bulb moment. 

37:57
Rich Rudowske
So as missionaries who are working in Bible translation, having helped a language community to have access to the New Testament, and now hoping to go and do that with a whole bunch of other folks, talk about the role of your faith and the Bible in your own lives and why that’s so important to you. 

38:17
Dr. Chris Pluger
Well, not to oversimplify, but I really like church. I really like going to church. I like listening to sermons. I like singing hymns. I like thinking about theology and whatever the pastor is talking about in the sermon. I like reading church books, and the Bible’s pretty key to all that. Church doesn’t have a lot of content without the scripture. And of course, Jesus is at the center of everything that happens in church, and I really like him, too. And so I guess it’s just part of kind of the rhythm of your life that you read some scripture in the morning and that sort of sets your day. And then you’ve got Sunday church and Bible studies or whatever it is that you’re doing. And it all kind of focuses around that. 

39:00
Dr. Chris Pluger
The church as the house of God, the meeting place of God’s people, and then it’s all just informed and permeated by scripture. And that might be a little bit vague, but that’s kind of where I feel right now. 

39:12
Janine Pluger
And for me, it’s just kind of the next step in the journey. So you’ve gone through this training. You’ve been in a situation once where you got to help with a project and see the results of that and the joy of somebody else having scripture in their own language. And that helps you to double down and dig into your own Bible, study, your own learning of scripture. And so I just recently started over from the beginning, I started at Genesis, and this time around to dig a little deeper, I started a journal. So I just sort of read through and jot down thoughts, and it’s just kind of taking my faith to the next level. And the way that I do that is by studying my own English Bible. 

39:56
Janine Pluger
And so that is an encouragement, then, that what we’re doing, what we’re uprooting our lives and getting the opportunity to move and live in a foreign culture is to help others have that same opportunity. 

40:09
Rich Rudowske
That’s awesome. So what do you guys think the church in the west can learn from some of your ministry colleagues in Africa? 

40:15
Dr. Chris Pluger
I think the big thing is the importance of community. Janine and I were talking about this last night, and from day one, day zero even of our Insanga project. It was a community effort. There were a couple of people who were especially on fire for it. Father Tembo was kind of at the forefront, but he was at the forefront because 50 people at a workshop had said, you’re the one to lead this project. And they had kind of nominated him or pushed him out there in front. There were so many people who were fired up about what were doing, and so many people wanted to be involved when we tried to hire. We’re trying to hire three translators, and we had 25 people apply and come to our workshop. 

40:57
Dr. Chris Pluger
We want to have people review our text, and we get 35 people who show up who want to give their opinion about the Bible and use a red pen to go through a 50 page manuscript of the Gospel of Luke. It’s just a community thing. And I think a lot of times in America we’ve got this rugged, independent, I can do it myself mentality, which just might be true a little bit, but you’re missing out on so much when you’re not involving your community. 

41:28
Emily Wilson
So what advice would you give to people who are considering intercultural ministry? 

41:34
Dr. Chris Pluger
If you’re the kind of person who’s considering intercultural ministry, my first piece of advice would say, go for it, because if you’re thinking about it, you’re probably more prepared than most people. Just do it. But the single biggest piece of practical advice is learn to drive a stick shift car before you go to the field. I’ve heard that one, especially if you’re going to a british style country that you’re learning to drive on the other side of the road. You don’t also want to be learning how to use a stick shift at the same time. Right. 

42:05
Emily Wilson
Well, that is very practical advice. 

42:09
Dr. Chris Pluger
I mean, there’s all kinds of stuff you can say. You can ask missionaries who are there? Our favorite questions were, what did you bring that you never used? And what did you wish you had brought but you didn’t? And that got some really good discussion started. But, yeah, the stick shifting is really crucial. 

42:26
Emily Wilson
What about you, Janine? 

42:28
Janine Pluger
Kind of playing off of Chris’s answer. Yeah, just do like, literally, you could say that I was brought along kicking and screaming all the like. This is totally Chris’s passion. I can acknowledge that there are a relatively small handful of people who have the gifts and abilities to do this work and also the desire to do it. And so as the support, as his wife, that’s my privilege. I get to do this, but that doesn’t make it my passion, and so just do it anyway. You’ll be surprised at the things that you find joy in, at the experiences that you have. And I’m not going to lie, it’s not an easy thing. It really isn’t. But the benefits far outweigh the challenges, especially when it all comes to the end. 

43:23
Janine Pluger
When you get to see those final projects come together, when you get to see the results of why you’re there. 

43:31
Emily Wilson
So how can we be praying for you as you prepare for your move to Ethiopia? 

43:37
Janine Pluger
For me as a mom, this part is super hard because we are leaving Sean here. He’s a freshman in college and he’ll be staying right here in South Dakota. And we are not only taking ourselves, we’re taking his home and everything kind of right out from under him. And so that’s my biggest prayer when I write thank you notes. That’s what I’m asking everybody. Pray for Sean, that he grows in his independence, that he makes wise choices, that God would grant him a little extra measure of safety and wisdom, and to let him be and grow in the way that God would have him do for the work he has prepared for him. 

44:21
Emily Wilson
Absolutely. What about you, Chris? 

44:25
Dr. Chris Pluger
I’m going to go for language. Just, I feel like it’s kind of hanging over our heads as something that when you go to a brand new place and you can’t even sound out the words and guess what they’re saying. Because like Emily said, the Alphabet’s different. There’s just a steep learning curve. And like Janine said, so many doors are open when you speak even a little bit of the language there. It’s such an important thing for the relationships and for the people meeting that we want to do and for the work that will eventually get done. Just pray for an extra measure of wisdom and memory skills and all the things that you need when you’re learning a new language. We’d appreciate that, too, but mostly Sean. 

45:08
Rich Rudowske
Absolutely. Yeah. And Chris, since you’ve been to Ethiopia, once you know at least one word that gets you a good way is, what’s she? 

45:15
Emily Wilson
Is she? 

45:18
Rich Rudowske
Absolutely. It’ll get you a long ways. I have a saying in the language about that, but we will definitely keep you in our prayers, inviting listeners also to keep you guys in prayers. We really want to thank you for your time today, your heart for service in God’s mission and what an awesome story to take that experience, that hard won experience in Zambia and in God’s time to apply that in Ethiopia. So we’re really looking forward to seeing how God works through all that. 

45:43
Dr. Chris Pluger
Thanks a lot. 

45:44
Emily Wilson
Yeah, thank. 

45:48
Rich Rudowske
Know. I’ve been working with Chris and Janine for a long time. I had the privilege of being colleagues with them in the same region as were both in the field. And Chris is the one who’s always like, let’s go. Let’s do it. Oh, that’s a good idea. That’s a good idea. And Janine’s the one who’s like, let’s tap the brakes here. Let’s take a look. Let’s make sure this makes sense. And so I never thought I’d hear the day where Janine’s like, you know, if you have doubts like that, if you’re not sure, then just do it. And that’s awesome. But it’s a testament to know the opportunity that lays before you and how God can be at work in those, you know, kind of a leap of faith is required in there somewhere, too. 

46:21
Emily Wilson
It’s true. In that process of discomfort, in the unknown, there’s so much growth that happens and that it might not be the forever or maybe it’ll be for a time and then a pause and then back in, but that God is working through that and just what a blessing that they’re coming back and that Bible translation is still just on their hearts and they want to share that with others. 

46:47
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And just a great partnership with the lutheran church in Ethiopia, growth in the seminary and growth in their capacity to be leaders in Bible translation. And that Chris and Janine just get to be right at the heart and in the thick of that. So really awesome story. Thank you for listening to the essentially translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible translators. You can find past episodes of the podcast@lbt.org slash podcast or subscribe on Audible, Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow Lutheran Bible translators’social media channels on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Or go to lbt.org to find out how you can get involved in the Bible translation movement and put God’s word in their hands. This episode of essentially translatable was produced and edited by Andrew Olson and distributed by Sarah Lyons. Executive producer is Emily Wilson. 

47:35
Rich Rudowske
Podcast artwork was designed by Caleb Brodewald. Music written and performed by Rob Bite. I’m rich Friedowski. So long for now.