Camels and Gators and Dogs, Oh My!: The We-Wu for February 17-21, 2025

A funny thing happened on my way into work on Monday.

But first, some backstory.

In the course of human events, it came to pass that our maintenance crew acquired a Gator. (The driving kind, not the death roll kind. Although, I suppose if you rolled the Gator, there is potential for death. Anyway, more John Deere, less Florida.)

This was a legal acquisition. But the person who stole it last summer was not as socially inclined. What led to the theft, I do not know, but what I do know is that it was facilitated by the convenience of leaving the key in the vehicle.

I get it. We’re a Christian organization, we fall into patterns, we’re not expecting these things to happen. And we did get the Gator back, so no harm, no foul, right?

But when Jesus told us to forgive seventy times seven, he did not tell us to forget. We are supposed to learn from these things.

So back to Monday. What to my wondering eyes should appear but a wild Gator outside the door. With keys inside.

Naturally, I shared this information with my friends and did a little ‘tsk tsk’ and moved on.

Jasper and Zola, my charges for the week.

My week heavily involved Hausa again. It’s a fairly straightforward language, with only a couple of unique characters. Unlike last week’s implementation manual with 52 pages, this week’s camel method (for ministering to Ms) comes in at a whopping 108 pages! I’m on page 14. It’s taking a little more time as there are a lot of tables.

Tables are the bane of my existence.

On Tuesday, I happened upon our Facilities Director. As I left for the day, I casually asked if I could steal the keys out of the Gator the next time I saw them. He said yes.

Another thing still occupying my time is our new booklet. When I tell you people are chomping at the bit to get this, I’m only exaggerating a little bit. (The part that implies they are horses.) And yes, this booklet is super important, but it needs to be done well, not slapdash. There is a ton of preproduction that goes into publishing these booklets. There’s the writing, the formatting, the rewriting, the art selection, the re-rewriting, the tagging, the styles creation… (breathe)

Most people assume it’s a case of Write; Translate; Publish. And eventually, we do get to something like that. More than one language has stalled because the translator or project coordinator has not fully understood just how much work goes into things behind the scenes.

One of the struggles we’re facing with this booklet is that it started as lessons from New Village Church Planting materials. So there are things that presumed knowledge from previous lessons that had to be reworded. The booklet has to stand on its own while also complementing the lessons. It’s a tricky line to walk. (Also, you’re having the conversation over the Internet with people in different time zones.)

On Thursday, I encountered the Gator for the third and final time.

The keys were in the ignition.

My task was clear.

(Ignore the messy desk.)

Yes, I stole the key.

It had to be done. Call it a learning opportunity. Was it annoying for those involved? Almost certainly. Was it likely to be stolen again in single digit temperatures? Probably not. But probably is not definite.

Also, they had another key. But some people did have to take a lovely, brisk walk.

Anyway, we have a new counter for the blog.

It has been one (1) day since I stole the Gator key.

Maybe I’ll start a new collection.

I think that’ll do it for the week. I’m looking forward to some warmer temperatures and trying to keep the floors free from muddy paw prints.

How’s that small stuff coming along?

Bye!