History part 2

Our first Wycliffe assignment was a management internship in Texas. John attended management and cross cultural classes in addition to serving as an assistant to the dining hall manager. These years were a very good orientation to serving in a very practical ministry within a Bible translation context and a  good practice run for moving away from friends and family. The International Linguistics Center is a hub of activity and work for SIL International. The dining hall had two main clientele; there were the staff workers who loved to attend the traditional morning coffee break which we provided free snacks, and a low cost soup lunch. One of John's favorite roles was the creative outlet he had making the soup du jour. I remember Zapotec Pork and Squash soup and Mulligatawny being big hits... I think the office workers appreciated some variety being injected into their predictable lives, via a bowl of soup! 

The main users of the dining hall however were the many linguistics students (future Bible translators) that were studying at what is now Dallas International University  

Working in a commercial kitchen was something John loved to do and being able to work with international and other students added to the desirability of the job, in addition to the perk of doing mundane work for an eternal purpose. 

One other highlight of this particular kitchen was being mentored by Ron Klump. He had worked in Bible translation for many years and was a patient teacher and mentor as he and John worked together for those two years. We still quote Ron in our family; "you can't save both time and money".

R.I.P.  Ron