02.04.10
Learn the Language
It is increasingly evident to me, from all of the missionaries I speak to and the few places that I get to visit that it is essential if a missionary is going to “make it” and prosper on the foreign field he’ll have to learn the language. In a recent prayer letter, Mike Fluech missionary to Malawi, relayed the story of lending his open-air preaching voice to the aid of a police officer attempting to get the attention of the angry crowd to locate the owner of a parked car that needed to be moved. When he yelled out in Chichewa (the native language) for the car owner to come at once, a hush fell over the angry crowd of over 500 souls. As they looked at the white man that spoke like them the crowd actually broke out in a round of cheering and applause. The missionary is naturally viewed with suspicion in a foreign land regardless of what his intentions are; and knowing the language of the native people goes a long way in diffusing that suspicion. Don’t you want all of these foreigners to learn English if they are going to stay here? While in Zambia with missionary Mike Dobbins it was amazing to see the look on the faces of many of the nationals as they heard Mike address them in their native Bemba. As you can imagine it is basically impossible to be an effective personal worker without knowing the native tongue of the people you are ministering to. Mike Roberts after eighteen years in Vietnam speaks fluent “street” Vietnamese and he attests to the fact that simply knowing the language (which shocks the nationals) opens many opportunities to be a witness. Count Zinzendorf, the German nobleman that founded the Moravian settlement of Herrnhut, once made a visit to the island of St. Thomas which had a thriving mission work among the slaves there founded and staffed by Moravians from Herrnhut. After a thrilling visit the Count had a special surprise for the 800 slaves gathered on the last night of his visit for a special church service. After only a brief stay on the island Zinzendorf stood and began to preach in Dutch Creole which he had begun to study since arriving on the island. The local slaves were greatly moved by this act, and many souls were saved that night as a result of the preaching. If you decide to go to the foreign mission field make up your mind before you ever start deputation to learn the language!
