I have ALWAYS had a fasination with other cultures, people and languages. I thought it was normal to be able to speak a language after a month or so of studying it. (I have now found that this is not true for many people.) It is a goal of mine to learn 6 languages fluently (one beign a bible based language Greek/Hebrew) and 4 at a 4th grade level. I am drawn to languages-the sound, structure/format, similarities & differences between languages, and seeing how they have evolved (ex. tribal languages).
Prior to this trip, I knew Sign Language, French, some Spanish, some Swahili & Tegelu (an Indian language), and a few words in Japanese & Korean. I really had no grasp of how this would be used and to what extreme. Well it has been 3 months so far, and I have used French in every country as cool ministry tool.
In New Zealand, there were many Islanders that came to a conference we were helping staff. I was able to direct people to the conference, play with kids, and pry over people in French.
In Australia, there was someone that was lost that was visiting and I was able to help get them home (
being an intrepretor with a local who knew where we were).
And now the last week in the Philippines, I was able to speak to a man from Cameroon, Africa. He is here as a missionary and has not hear his native language for over a year now. He left his wife and 3 kids to be here to serve the people of the Philippines. It was such a joy to see him light up by simply speaking his home language. We spoke of his country, family, friends, read the bible together in French and tell jokes to eachother. He told me that he often sits in his bed before bed and wishes he could simply talk to his family back home. But he said to be able to talk with him in his language was refreshing, and it took him back home.
It is so cool how God is using me to bring someone ‘back home‘. I am excited to see what will happen in the future and the people that will cross my path. I am leaving the Philippines with a basic understanding of Tagalong and an even deeper desire to know more languages, so that God would continue to use it to demonstrate his great love to the nations.
