Adam and Jena Demark serving at New Tribes Missionary Training Center 
Right now at the Missionary Training Center, the third semester class is engaged in our course called “Culture and Language Acquisition Practicum.” However, we all call this class “Dobu.” One thing that a tribal missionary must do before he can ever hope to teach the Bible is to learn the culture and the language of the people. In order to learn a language, the students take courses such as Phonetics and Grammar so they can learn how to make different sounds that they are unfamiliar with and also arrange words in grammatical ways they may not be used to. For culture, they have practiced techniques and also researched kinds of cultures so they can think outside of their American culture and hopefully correctly access the tribal culture.
“Dobu” is the class where they try to pull everything together that they have learned at the training center. The “Dobu” instructors dress up in complete tribal “disguises” and act out the “Dobu” tribal culture. They speak some English (which is the trade language), but they mostly speak their tribal language where they served. Students are engaged in sessions where they are trying to learn language and culture using the tools they have been given throughout the training.
Thank you for your part that allows these students to learn these important language and culture principles. We are truly thankful for your heart to help our missionary candidates get the training they need. Through your partnership in our ministry here, you are helping to train students so that more remote people groups can hear the Gospel.
Thank you!
