This weekend starts in just a few hours, like most every weekend. My wife and I will be sitting around the table of a couple who is faithfully attending the church. We will be continuing our weekly discipleship. I am excited about this opportunity. This couple is special to us, I believe God is working in their hearts in a very special way. Tomorrow morning I will be at the church for another time of discipleship with another man who is attending the church. Sunday we will be learning about Barnabas in the morning service and Abraham in the evening service. Although there is not anything special going on we still believe it will be a great weekend!
Adjustments: Say What?
One cannot address the many cultural adjustments as a missionary planting churches in another country without addressing the most obvious adjustment, the language! A foreign language is the largest adjustment that must be made and is the hardest to overcome. Why? Because learning a new language does not happen over night, nor in a week, month, or even a year. Learning a new language is really a life-long effort. We are learning and will always be learning. Tonight I was with a family talking over a few things that are coming up and I learned two new words. It is just something a missionary must commit himself to. One of the greatest misconceptions I have come across from others is, “Spanish is an easy language.” To speak Spanish correctly, it is anything but easy. There are certainly other languages that are harder, but that doesn’t mean that Spanish is easy. I entitled this post “Say what?” That is basically what you feel like saying for many months. I will start to think I am getting the language and will meet someone who speaks with a slightly different accent or perhaps they slur their words ever so slightly and that little difference becomes near impossible for me to understand. I am a firm believer that learning the language is also the most important adjustment that a missionary must make. Without the language we just cannot communicate effectively. Translators can help, but only so much. It is a beautiful thing to sit down and talk about the truth of Jesus to others in their language and watch them as they begin to understand. In addition to this, living in a country where you cannot understand anyone would be horrible. It isn’t so bad on a vacation or on a 1 1/2 week missions trip. But when someone is trapped inside a place where they are not able to communicate, they cannot adjust to life there! How do you by food, pay bills, answer questions, work through any immigration issues, etc? Learning the language is a must, and it is absolutely worth it. I still have a long, long, LONG way to go, but being I love the fact that I am at the point where I can talk freely and listen freely in this language.
A famous saying here in Argentina was coined by a futbol (soccer) coach named “Mostaza” (meaning “Mustard”) Merlo (he received that nickname because he has “mustard” colored hair). “Paso a Paso.” This saying means “Step by Step”. He was referring to a team he was coaching. They would improve “step by step”. Meaning it is not an overnight thing. It takes time. I realize that in America we also use this phrase, but Mostaza Merlo made it famous here. That is how you adjust by learning the language, “paso a paso”, step by step, little by little.
All the work and struggle to learn the language is worth it!
Quick Update: Kid’s Day
This Sunday is “Día del Niño” here in Argentina. Yes, we actually celebrate a “kid’s day”. This is another opportunity for us to have a great Sunday. For the next few weeks we will be concentrating on how God used specific people in the Bible and how God desires to use each of us. This Sunday we will be focusing on Stephen and Hannah. These are great days for our young church!
Adjustments: To The Front Of The Line Please
Living in a foreign country necessitates making adjustments to fit into the culture. As I said in last week’s post, some adjustments are harder than others. Today’s post is about an adjustment that has become a part of our lives in the past month. This is not a hard adjustment, in fact it has been something we love! Long lines are a part of life here in Argentina. I guess they are a part of life most anywhere. We have become spoiled with conveniences that keep us from having to stand in long lines in order to accomplish something, like automatic drafting for paying bills (here we stand in long lines at general payment centers where we can pay almost any bill. Although no one wants to spend excessive time in long lines, they are a part of life here. With that being said, we have learned of something that has benefitted us in these last several months. Women who are expecting a child or who have infants are ushered to the front of lines! Leslie just had our fourth daughter. She would go into stores with very long lines of people trying to buy groceries and be asked to come to the front of the line. It is a wonderful thing! We were registering our newborn to receive her birth certificate, and the line was very long to pay, the attendee told me to take the baby with me, I was then ushered to the front of the line and payed the fee before everyone else. We love the way Argentina shows respect, concern, and love to mothers with infants and expecting mothers. This is not something we are accustomed to but it is spoiling us.
The people around like to see the baby and comment about how big she is and how beautiful she is. They don’t know her, but it doesn’t matter, the people here love to see a young baby.
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