I have attached a photo in this post. If you look closely you will see things on the pulpit (above the balloons). Those “things” are what makes this a beautiful picture.

I had the opportunity to go to Iglesia Bautista Berea (Berea Baptist Church) last night. It was their 6th anniversary. They had a beautiful service of celebrating what God had done in the past six years and challenging the church for the years ahead. Pastor Hernan is a great man of God who is working hard in the church. I am encouraged when I go to visit there.

Back to the picture. As the guest preacher stood to preach, people in the church started walking up with their cell phones and placing them on the pulpit (the cell phones are the “things” you see in the picture). There were at least eight phones (you cannot see them all). At first I thought this was strange. Why were these people walking up to the pulpit? But I figured it out and was pleased at the reason. These people were recording the preacher’s message on their cell phones. They not only wanted to hear the message but to have the opportunity to hear it again! They were excited to hear God’s Word preached! The beauty is not in the cell phones laying all over the pulpit but the hearts and passions of God’s people that the photo displays.

We can be excited and passionate about God’s Word! We can look forward to the preaching of the Bible! We can believe that God has something for us in each and every message and lesson we hear! We can have the desire to do more than just listen but to make notes of the message (paper, audio, or video) so that we can revisit what God spoke to us about in each message. This kind of hunger is something every Christian can have! Do you have this hunger? You can have this hunger!

I am not a “professional” at language acquisition, neither do I have the “language learning gene”. I struggle along in the language I am learning, making many mistakes as I go. But I believe that this is the way we learn languages, by speaking with mistakes and listening with misunderstandings. I believe that learning a language is not in the number of months I have had in language school, but in the number of hours I am spending speaking and listening in the language (this would include language school but certainly not limited to it). This is the last post of this blog series on language learning (at least the last for now). In past posts, we have shared with you the different ways that we, as a family, are learning Spanish. The bottom line is that we look for opportunities to speak, listen to, read, and occasionally write in Spanish. The opportunities that Leslie and I have are different from the opportunities that others have, but I believe that we all have opportunities to learn another language. So what else are we doing? In short, we are always looking for more opportunities to converse in Spanish. I leave you with one of our latest opportunities…

La Peluqueria

I went into the “Peluqueria” for the first time in May (a “Peluqueria” is a barbershop). It is a one-man operation. The owner is the same man who cuts the hair. As I sat down in the barber chair, the man asked me, “So where are you from? Why are you here?, etc.” (These are the same questions we are asked everywhere by anyone we speak to for the first time). All of this was done in Spanish. I told him about why we are here and told him I am currently learning Spanish. He responded quickly with “You haven’t learned much, have you?” (how about that for blunt honesty?). We spoke for a while. He is an Atheist. He loves politics and is very conservative politically. He grew up in La Plata, just a few blocks from the Peluqueria. Since that first time, I have been back to his shop a few times. We talk more and more. He wants to talk about politics and I would rather talk about virtually anything else I can think of, but we converse back and forth. At the end of the hair cut, I pay him and ask him if I can come by some time and talk with him, practicing my Spanish. He corrected my Spanish all through the hair cuts and that is something I look for. He told me he really enjoyed correcting me (I found that funny) and that I could come talk with him anytime. I don’t know when or how I am going to “fit this in” to my schedule that is already loaded down. Even so, I see a great opportunity to speak, listen, and learn and even a greater opportunity to share the truth of Jesus. I like the guy. He is blunt and doesn’t think he needs God and/or Jesus. That sounds like me before I was saved. This is yet another opportunity God has placed before me. For a Christian, language learning is much more than learning a language, it is the opportunity t0 share what Jesus has done in us!

I am interrupting our current blog series on language learning for something that has just been made public. A few years ago Vision Baptist Missions published a documentary called “Light in the Darkness”. I have never seen anything like it! It opened up my eyes to the need of the Gospel in India as well as other countries around the world. Many churches bought the DVD and showed this documentary in a service. It has stirred hearts. This 30 minute documentary is professionally done and is worth your time to watch it. I have imbedded the video below. You are free to watch it and share it with everyone you wish. I pray that God blesses and stirs you through it!

One of the greatest advantages we have to where and how we are learning the language is that we get to be an active part of a great church in La Plata, Argentina. Lighthouse Baptist Church (Iglesia Bautista El Faro) was started by a missionary friend of mine over 10 years ago. The missionary trained a man named Jorge who has been the Pastor since the missionary lead the church to be indigenous. Pastor Jorge is a godly man who has been a very big encouragement to me. He has allowed me to pray in the church, give a testimony, and give the offering devotion numerous times! With all my grammatical errors he encourages me to try again. He has allowed me to go with him on special visits before. He and his wife, Johanna have become our friends!

There is much more to learning the language while attending church. For one, it is obvious that everything spoken during the service is in Spanish. Any greetings are done in Spanish. Everything is in Spanish! Every time we meet is an opportunity to learn the language. Sunday School, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and Saturday visitation. Special events like men’s meetings and work days at the church are also great times to learn the language. Our daughters look forward to every service. They like arriving early so they can play with their friends (their friends also speak Spanish). On top of it all, we have made friends that we have been able to spend a little time with outside of church. Every hour counts as we are learning the language. Attending Lighthouse Baptist Church is an incredible blessing and honor for us! I can tell you they are far more a blessing to us than we are to them. This is another way we are endeavoring to learn the language.