Two words: Language School
For some, these words bring back great memories with precious friends.
For others, it strikes fear and dread into an anxious heart.
For some, it looks like a big class with many members.
For others, it looks like designated time with a tutor in a house or office…
…or, in (my) case of earth-quake-broken offices and petrol shortages, at a coffee shop.
Some endure cold temperatures while putting in the hours of formal training.
And anyone with children runs into these moments while studying independently:
We take A LOT of notes.
And we drink A LOT of coffee.
Sometimes, we may even get to have a little fun!
Learning a language is both a great blessing and tremendous burden. We go to the field with an intense desire to reach the lost of our country with the gospel, but we can’t do that until we put in the long, hard hours of committing to memory countless words, characters, sentence structures, and tenses.
Learning a language can be fun, but it is more often a source of great discouragement. We often feel like we aren’t where we want to be as we fail to see the progress we have made and only see how far there is to go.
We covet your prayers as we labor in language learning. We will do our part and put in the time, but we are desperate for the stamina and grace straight to our hearts from the hands of Jesus. Not many things make us realize our need of Him more than our inadequacy in language learning as we wade through the various other challenges of the first term.
We must humble ourselves as He did to carry this great message of Love to the nations of the world in their many different heart languages.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8).
We long for the day when we can share this message in our target languages. Until then, you will know where to find us.
Thanks for sharing your photos! It is so cool to peek into your the variety of classrooms and tutoring sessions and see how different they are.
Thank you for your comment Miranda and for keeping up with WBTS. We plan to continue sharing these glimpses into our lives through photos so stay tuned!
Love seeing these! They are a reminder of how much more we need to be praying for those who are learning another language! It’s tough emotionally and physically! Good job, Amber!
Thanks, Mindy! We sure do appreciate your prayers and all your precious family does for us! I’m glad this little peek could take you back to your language learning days. I certainly have a greater respect for anyone who has learned a language and an awareness that they need our prayers!
Amber I love this post! I remember in language school thinking I’m never going to get this down, but then one day you realize you are speaking in the language and understanding your teacher and people around you! That’s one of the best days ever!
Beth, good to hear from you! Not sure I’ve had that day yet! I get bits and pieces and people around here like to stroke my ego but I know have a LONG way to go! Looking forward to this day for sure! I did have a day where I realized I was talking just to talk instead of avoiding conversation! Baby steps!