Collection 642 Oral History Interviews with Susan Nivens
Scope and Contents
Oral history interviews with Susan Nivens, in which she discusses her childhood in Michigan, development of her Christian faith, education at Bethany Bible College, joining the Summer Institute of Linguistics/Wycliffe Bible Translators, the relationship between the two; her marriage; work in Indonesia among the Tarangan people; raising a family in the field; the processes of Bible translation; Indonesian village life; Muslim/Christian relations; experiences during a jihad, helping to create and administer the SIL training program for indigenous Indonesian translators; Wheaton College and the Wheaton College Graduate School. The time period covered by the interviews is roughly 1962-2009.
Dates
- 2009
Creator
- Nivens, Susan. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on the use of this material.
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright to the sound recordings in this collection is held by the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives.
Biographical Information
Full name: Susan Jane (Harrison) Nivens
Birth: July 1962 in Flint, Michigan
Family
Parents: Jim and Virginia Harrison
Siblings: A brother; two sisters who died at birth
Marital Status: Married to Richard J. Nivens in August 1983
Children: Three
Conversion : At about the age of six; reconfirmation of her faith at about the age of 15 during a meeting at which Edith Schaeffer spoke om 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Education
1976-1980 - Grand Blanc High School, Grand Blanc, Michigan
1980-1983 - Bethany Bible College, Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. Graduated with a B.Sc. in Christian Education. (Bethany later became Kingswood University).
2008-2010 - Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, Illinois. Graduated with a MA in Intercultural Studies.
Career
1983 - Joined the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL)/Wycliffe Bible Translators
1985-1987 - With husband Richard was assigned to Indonesia. First months spent in Java and then in the city of Ambon in language study and group service.
October 12, 1987-1989? - Translator for the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in Indonesia. Worked among the West Tarangan language group on the island of Maluku province, first in the villages of Doka Timur and Karla-Kalar, and then in the town of Popjetur [?].
1989 - First furlough, back to the United States
1990-1991 - Returned to Indonesia, continued translation work. Had to leave when Indonesian government suspended visas for SIL workers.
1991-1995 - Lived in Hawaii, while Richard Nivens worked on his dissertation at the University of Hawaii, Mona
1993?-1997 - Return to Indonesia, living in Doka [?] while continuing to work on West Tarangan translation
1997-1998 - The Nivens returned to the United State because their visa was not renewed
1998-2000 - Returned to Indonesia and continued translation work but were not allowed to live in villages. Worked from Ambon. Had to leave Indonesia during Muslin jihad.
2000-2003 - Trainer and project coordinator at the national Bible translation organization in Jakarta, Indonesia
2001-2007 - Chair of the SIL field board for Indonesia for the 306 field workers in Indonesia
2003-2008 - Returning with her Richard to Maluku to work on translation projects with local teams
Other significant information
Took SIL’s applied linguistic courses, the Bible Translation track in 1983-1984
Extent
3 Sound Recordings
315 Minutes
Language of Materials
English
Accruals and Additions
The materials in this collection were given to the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives by Susan J. Nivens in January and February 2009.
Accession: 19-01, 19-06, 19-14
July 16, 2020
Bob Shuster
- Bible -- Translating.
- Campbell, Evvy Hay.
- Children of missionaries -- Indonesia
- Church and state -- Indonesia.
- Conversion -- Personal narratives.
- Gallagher, Robert L.
- Indonesia -- Maluku.
- Indonesia -- Religion
- Inter-Varsity Student Missions Convention (13th:Urbana, Ill.) (1981)
- Islam -- Relations -- Christianity.
- Jihad
- Kingswood University (Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada)
- Missionaries -- Leaves and furloughs.
- Missions -- Indonesia.
- Moreau, A. Scott, 1955-
- Muslims -- Indonesia
- Nivens, Richard.
- Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- Translating and interpreting.
- Translators (computer programs)
- Tribes -- Indonesia.
- West-Tarangan.
- Wheaton College (Ill.). Graduate School
- Women -- Religious life.
- Women missionaries.
- Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Creator
- Nivens, Susan. (Person)
- Title
- Collection 642 Oral History Interviews with Susan Nivens
- Author
- Bob Shuster
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Roman Script
Repository Details
Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository