- 5 days ago
By 1965 we had two children, with Karol only 3 months old. We went to NZ to start the first summer school of SIL in that country and Joice carried Karol to her teaching classes in a large woven New Guinea basket. We had some amazing things happen and we needed them because we knew nothing about starting a school.
One example happened quite unexpectedly, like such things do, and I referred to it in an earlier essay. A professor of linguistics from the University of Michigan and his wife were visiting NZ on vacation. Dr Pike, the President of SIL and whom he had mentored, informed him about the NZ school, so he called me. He wondered what he could do to help. Professor Fries was well-known in the linguistics field, so we scheduled a public lecture for him at the University of Auckland. It was well attended and allowed him (and me) to meet several university scholars, some who became friends. The summer school became known through the efforts of people like Professor Fries. People “show up” like that because God is in control.
After the summer, we returned to New Guinea, where I continued in my new role as the Associate Director for Language Affairs. I was able to visit 35 different language areas and have a better and broader outlook on the country land Bible translation needs. The following year we returned to NZ for our second summer, again in Auckland
In the meantime, I had applied for and been awarded a PhD scholarship to attend and study at the Australian National University in Canberra, so for the next 3 years we lived in Australia and New Guinea while I did research and writing.
Part of my PhD program included a one-year study residency among the Kewa people. My dissertation was a grammar and dialect study of Kewa.
Joice, as usual, was my editor, consultant, and helper during those three years. She typed up the dissertation, and I submitted it to ANU for approval. My PhD examination took place at the University of Papua New Guinea where three linguists examined my work. The degree was awarded in 1969 and the results published in 1968 and 1971.
After we returned to New Guinea in 1970, we continued with our translation and literacy work with the West Kewa. By June 1973 the NT was completed and a large dedication took place at the government center in Kagua, about 15 miles from where we had lived in the hamlet of Usa (No, I did not name it!).
I had been elected as the director of our work in 1972, a position I held for the next 4 years. I was also a member of the International SIL Board of Directors, so I traveled to the U.S. several times.
During this term, I helped form an advisory group of PNG citizens to help SIL, the same year that the country received self-government. The advisory group eventually became the Bible Translation Association of Papua New Guinea (BTA).
When Kirk graduated from Ukarumpa H.S. in 1976, we returned to the U.S. and spent 3 years in Duncanville, where we had purchased a house. We taught at the Texas SIL and I was also on the adjunct faculty at the University of Texas, Arlington.
Kirk remained in the U.S., working as an apprentice in offset printing, and Karol returned with us to complete her H.S. education at Ukarumpa, our administrative center.
The director of SIL in Papua New Guinea asked Joice and me to mentor the new directors of BTA, David and Sineina Gela, who became part of our family. David, Robert Litteral, and I started the first training course for BTA. Although there were only 6 students, it was a foundational time for the organization and its future development. It continues to this day, now working in over 40 language areas.
In 1981 I was again elected to be the director of SIL in PNG, a position I held until Karol’s graduation from H.S. in 1983. She had been accepted to attend Baylor University for her college studies, where she majored in Education, focusing on Spanish, math, and English.
We spent 3 more years near our school in Dallas, where I taught and Joice worked with students. We returned to PNG in 1986, mainly teaching and consulting, with some administrative duties as well.
In 1990 we were asked to assume the duties of Principal of our training school at Kangaroo Ground, Victoria, Australia, which we did until early 1994. Karol had become engaged to Mike Hardin, an intern in Waco, Texas, so we returned for a home assignment and the wedding.
Joice and I were assigned the roles of Coordinator of Training tor SIL International, so we visited schools in England (where we had taught one summer), Germany, France, North Dakota, as well as programs at Biola, Moody, and Houghton. In 1997 I was asked to assume the role of Vice President of Academics for SIL International, a position I held for 5 years.
The Director of the Texas SIL school (David Ross) and I formulated a plan which we presented to the international Board of SIL. We asked that Texas SIL be restructured into an autonomous school, and in 1997 it became the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, which has since morphed into Dallas International University and is fully accredited.
Karl Franklin
