You Know You’re in Africa When…
February 7, 2010
- You have dead mosquitoes floating in your coffee and you still drink it anyway
- Everyone thinks your name is “Money” because that’s what they yell to you when you walk down the street
- There are donkeys and horses and other animals standing in the middle of the road
- You can buy a cappuchino for 45 cents
- You have to bleach your fruits and vegetables before you can eat them
- You get really excited when you see another white person
- Color coordinating your clothes is no longer important to you
- You receive marriage proposals on a weekly basis
- Instead of saying “How are you?” to other foreigners you say, “Are you fine?” because that’s what the Ethiopians say to you
- When people send you chocolate you eat the whole thing in one sitting…and you don’t feel guilty
- You worry that when you go home you will shake everyone’s hand as you walk down the street
- You forgot what personal space is
- You worry about getting diseases after you touch the children
- You GET diseases after you touch the children
- Going to post office is exhilarating if you have something
- Going to the post office is depressing if you have nothing
- People you have never seen in your entire life know your name
- You use dial-up internet
- You have an English class with 90 kids, and no Ethiopian teacher
- You go to weddings of people you have never met
- You thought saw a Starbuck’s, but it was really Starback’s
- You organize a soccer game with 50 kids on each team…and it’s not a problem
- You can eat as much as you want for $2
- Washing in a bucket is normal
- You know you’re in Africa when all these things are normal to you.
Carpe Diem
January 24, 2010
The other day, I was reading the definition of “Carpe Diem.” The dictionary says it is an “exclamation used to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future.” With February just around the corner, my time in Ethiopia is nearly half over. And while I have no idea what the future holds, I do know that God has called me to make the most of my present time. He has given me an abundance of opportunities to love the people of Ethiopia, and every day is a new adventure. It occurred to me the other day that I have never shared with you what my week holds here in Mekelle. I thought that if you know more specifically what I do here, you will also know how better to pray for me and the Ethiopians that the Lord has given me the privilege of knowing.
So here we go…
Mekelle Youth Center English Classes
Each morning and evening, Monday through Friday, I teach an English class at the youth center. My morning class is small–usually just 2-4 students…and by students I mean grown men who are either the same age or older than me. Though intimidating at first, I have come enjoy teaching these guys English and learning from them more about Ethiopia. My evening class is made up of about 8-12 high school students. This is my favorite part of the day. Every day I look forward to seeing these students. We have so much fun together. We have so many good discussions…what is important in life, what are our goals in life, influential people in our lives, etc. One day we had a discussion about which is more important: love or money. While all the students said love was more important, one boy, Semere, insisted that money is more important. His tag line that he kept using was “No money, no honey.” While the students do learn English, we also spend a lot of time laughing and enjoying each other!
Debre Genet Primary School
On Tuesday mid-morning, Esther, Karen, Rufael, Stephanos (two Ethiopian youth center stafff guys) and I go to a countryside school outside of Mekelle called Debre Genet. Debre Genet has no electricity and no water. While Karen and Rufael teach an HIV/AIDS awareness class and Esther and Stephanos do sports classes, I teach a class of 2nd graders that has anywhere from 40-60 students! Their teacher, Semeret, uses an old, battered English book that has a teacher’s guide and a workbook. To help the children learn English, I use a lot of pictures, games, and sing ing songs. You would not have believed how excited the children were when I brought a little balloon to toss around with them! They loved it!
The Orthodox Orphanage
On Wednesday morning, Esther and I take a mini bus to the Orthodox orphanage. There are about 90 children who live here. Because of the lack of schools and resources, the children in Ethiopia are only able to go to school in shifts…a morning shift and an afternoon shift. Esther plays soccer with the boys, while I play games with the girls that allow them to practice English. About 20 of these children have absolutely no family at all, while the others may have a Grandma or aunt or uncle that they see on holidays. Though their stories are tragic, they are some of the most joyful, loving kids I have ever met, and it is a privilege for me to be part of their lives. Every week I am met with lots of hugs and kisses and laughter from the girls.
Romanat Primary School
On Thursday morning, Karen, Esther, Rufael, Stephanos, and I head to another countryside school called Romanat. Here I teach about 50 9th grade students. Most seem to be the average age of a 9th grader, but there are a handful who are in their late 20’s. It’s a challenge to teach such a large number, but the students are so welcoming. They laugh as I try out my Tigrinya on them. Their teacher has broken English and until a couple of weeks ago, he had no English curriculum to use for teaching his class. Right now we are working on the different tenses of English.
The Blind School
I rush out of my morning English class on Friday at the youth center to join Karen, Esther, and some of the teenage girls from the youth center, and we head off to the blind school to play games with the kids on their break between classes. Some of these kids are partially blind and some have no vision at all. It is a precious to watch the partially sighted kids lead their friends who have no vision. The girls from the youth center are so loving and gentle with the blind kids as they play games with them. Some of the children love to play games, while the others just want to talk, hold our hands, and be hugged. These children board at the school and may only see their families on special occasions. After the games are over, all the kids receive a banana from Karen…a great treat for them!
Boys and Girls Anti AIDS Club
On Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, Karen, Rufael, and I do Anti AIDS Club with the younger boys and girls (7-12 years old). Statistics show that most youth become sexually active around 14-15 years old. By teaching AIDS awareness to these children, the hope is that they will understand the dangers of being sexually active, and remain abstinent until marriage. While learning about AIDS awareness is the goal, the kids learn about making good decisions, staying aware from dangerous situations, etc. We do a short lesson with the kids, and then a craft. They love to color and decorate pages with stickers! They are precious!
Girls Bible Club
Friday afternoons are sure to be exhausting (in a good way) when about 40-50 little girls converge on Esther and I’s house for Bible club. We teach a Bible story in Tigrinya/English, color pictures from the story, sing songs, learn Bible verses, and play games. What a joyful noise to the Lord it must be to hear these precious girls singing, “Our God Is a Great Big God!” It is beautiful! Last week, I was playing parachute games with the girls. When the parachute went up, I told the girls to run under it. I went under too, and as soon as I did, I was dog piled by about 10 girls who started smothering me with kisses!! When I managed to get up, I found my teammate Karen leaning against the wall dying of laughter!
Saturday Afternoon Bible Studies
By 2 o’ clock on Saturday afternoons, the popcorn is made, the drinks are on the table, the doors are opened, and Esther, Karen, and I are waiting for the first group of girls to arrive at our house for Bible study. Though we tell them to come at 2, often they don’t arrive until 2:30…I guess it’s just one of those differences between time oriented and event oriented cultures : ). The first group is made up of high school girls, and the second group is all college age girls, many of whom are on the basketball team that Esther coaches. What a great privilege it is to open the Word of God with these girls each week. Right now we are working through the book of Romans with each group. The girls use Bibles that have both English and Amharic translations. Between broken Tigrinya, English, and Karen’s Amharic, by God’s grace we teach these girls the truths of God’s Word. I cling to His promises that His Word does not return void, and that His Spirit is working in the hearts of these girls. One of the great challenges is understanding their Ethiopian Orthodox beliefs and how they compare with Evangelical Christianity. Every week I am constantly praying that the Lord will reveal Himself to these girls and that they will desire to follow Him with their lives.
What great opportunities the Lord has blessed with me for this present time, and by His Spirit and strength, I want to seize each day with the goal of showing Christ’s love to those around me. Lately I have been reminded that apart from prayer and asking for God’s intervention and will to be done in all these opportunities, my efforts are in vain. It excites me to think of all that God will do when we ask for Him to go before us and for His will to be done. So with great excitement and humility, I would like to ask you to consider something with me. Would you consider “adopting” one of these activities that I talked about and commit to praying for it, for me, my teammates, the students and children who are involved? And if you feel so led, ask me how you could help one of these groups in a tangible way? Would you Carpe Diem with me? What untold things the future holds when we ask the Holy Spirit to move in the lives of these precious people. If you do choose a group to “adopt” would you just send me an email (lydiawalkley@yahoo.com) or leave a comment here? I am convinced that it is the prayers, financial and emotional support, and encouragement of so many faithful people like you that have sustained me this far, and I know that when we partner together in prayer we will see great work in the Kingdom of God! Thank you so much for being part of this with me! I can’t wait to hear from you!
The First 100 Days
December 21, 2009
Wow! Today marks the 100th day that I have been living in Ethiopia! It’s not that I’m counting the days, but sometimes I like to do little math calculations in my head. For example, if I see a series of numbers, I add the individual numbers up and divide by how many numbers there are in the series. Then I find the average number. I know…it’s weird…or maybe I’m weird. : )
So… the other day I was adding up the days of each of the months I have been here, and adding them up in my head. And today…it’s 100. This got my brain churning and I started thinking about my fears, expectations, and hopes before I got here.
I had fears that I wouldn’t like it here. That I would actually be counting down the days until I could go home. That I would, to use a cliche, just be surviving, but not “thriving.” I had fears that I would lose my joy. That I would not be able to be who I really am. I had fears that I would not adjust to living here and that I would not be able to endure it. I had fears of teaching English, that I just wouldn’t be cut out for it. I had fears of leaving my family and friends, of missing out on a whole year of their lives. I had fears of being on a new team. That I would not get along with my teammates. Fears of not making new friends…particularly Ethiopian friends.
101 days ago these were all thoughts swirling around in head. These were the things I thought and prayed about in the months prior to moving here. These were the things I journaled about. Even as I write this I keep going back to my journal…reading about all the things I was thinking through before I came here. And now…100 days later, it is such a blessing to tell you of how abundantly good God has been in freeing me from these fears, and doing far beyond what I could ever ask or imagine!
Just the other day I was telling my mom how much I love it here! If you know me, then you know that I am fairly outgoing, and that I love meeting new people. After being here these three months, I love that when I walk into town I will see lots of people that I know and that we will greet each other in Tigrinya/English or Tigringlish (as I like to say) ; that I will have thumb wars with Yared and Haben, two precious street kids.
I love teaching English to the high school kids every day. This is my favorite part of the day! What a privilege it is to know them and be part of their lives! I love that this Thursday in our class we will share with each other what Christmas means, and that one of the boys asked me to bring chocolate…so we’ll have a little party!
When I feared leaving my family for a year, God has been revealing to me that He has great and wonderful things that He wants to do in and through them this year, and that soon we will get to share face to face what those things are!
I feared leaving the amazing team I left at The Chapel and joining a new team and making friends, but again the Lord has blessed me with a team who has become like family. He has blessed me with Ethiopian friends…people I can’t wait to see each day…people who bring such joy to my life!
All these things that were fears and worries 101 days ago have become some of the greatest blessings to me and testimonies of the goodness and faithfulness of Christ. Isaiah 64:4-5 says, “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.” And so on this 100th day, I praise God for His acting on my behalf, and coming to my help. He has done what I could never imagine, and He is so worthy of all the honor and the glory!
How You Can Pray:
–Praise God for doing beyond what I could ask or imagine!
–Thank God for the incredible friendships He has blessed me with
–Praise God for this great love He has put in my heart for Ethiopia!
–For wisdom as Esther and I and our teammate Karen lead Bible studies with girls from the youth center
–For wisdom as I continue to teach English…that I would know how to teach the students in ways that they would understand
Thank you for reading this blog, for encouraging me, and for being part of this journey with me. I am continually thanking God for you…my incredible family and friends, supporters, and encouragers who keep me going. God has done great things through you, and I am so grateful.
Pictures from the Depths of the Earth
December 12, 2009
trying to kiss a camel at the salt mine...and being rejected : )
just a small portion of the volcano exploding!!
at the sulfur flats
goofing around at the sulfur flats
the aftereffects of having my hair in braids for 5 days : )
To the Depths of the Earth
December 12, 2009
How can I describe in words sights what pictures won’t even do justice? Just this last weekend our team has been on the adventure of a lifetime…and we lived to tell about it : ) Traveling through Ethiopian terrain that changed drastically every 15 minutes, spending 30 hot, sweaty hours in three old Land Cruisers over 5 days, driving on “roads” that could rattle your brain loose, we descended from our elevation of 7,000 feet in Mekelle to 200 feet below sea level in the Danakil Depression.
We traveled through the Afar region of Ethiopia, and because it is close to the Ethiopian/Eritrean border we had military men with us the whole time. Our first stop after 9 hours in the car the first day, and 6 hours the second day, was the bottom of a volcano. We arrived at 4:30 dripping in sweat and covered in dirt. We had dinner, and then loaded up a camel with sleeping stuff and water so it could carry it to the top of the volcano!! I never knew this before, but camels definitely have personality, and this camel was one of the crankiest, moodiest camels ever and he complained and moaned all the way up the volcano! I guess I might too if I had to carry all that stuff.
At 6:45pm we began a three and half hour hike up the volcano in the pitch black. If there was ever a time when I didn’t think I could finish something, it was getting to the top of this volcano. I was the last one up, and by the time I arrived, I was ready to vomit. The only thing that kept me going was the glow of what I thought to be the volcano, but actually turned out to the moon! What a disappointment!!
So we got to the top of the volcano and then hiked down the cavern and walked to the lip of the volcano. When I got there, I saw something I have never seen before in my life. Hundreds of feet below was a massive volcano erupting! For an hour and a half we sat right on the edge and watched the lava bubble up and shoot out like fireworks! Unbelievable!
One thing I must tell you about is the bathroom facilities…or should I say lack thereof. There were no toilets in this vast region, and so the only way to go was to just find a big rock or a bush and squat down behind it. This is probably more than you wanted to know, but I honestly felt like a dog…just going to the bathroom all over the ground. But the best part is that the Tigrinya word for “restroom” is shintabate. It shouldn’t take very long to figure out what other word shintabate looks like (just take out the “n”). The driver of our car, Weldu, made the word into a verb, and so he would often ask us, “Does anyone need to stop for some shinting?” And when we got back in the car he would say, “How was shinting? Good shinting?” Needless to say, we died laughing about this every time : )
So the morning after the volcano, we hiked back down the mountain and spent another 7 hours in the car going back to our camp. I thought that I couldn’t see anything else that could be just as spectacular as a volcano. But…I was wrong. The next day we loaded up and continued a further descent in elevation…to one of the lowest spots on the earth. Driving for miles across a salt land, we stopped at a mountainous spot made of dark orange, yellow, and purple earth. Because we were so close to the Eritrean border, our Ethiopian army soldiers went ahead of us to make sure that everything was safe. When we got to the top another breathtaking sight awaited us. Spread before us was every color of the rainbow in these sulfur flats. It was just one more instance of God displaying His infinite glory through His creation! Of course it smelled like rotten eggs, but to hear it bubbling underneath your feet as you walked and see it bubble out of holes in the ground was just amazing. I realized that if these sights were in the US, you would never just be able to walk all over them. They would be roped off with special walkways for tourists, but here we just got to be right in the midst of it and experience it with all five senses!
Our final destination was again…amazing. Driving through the salt lands we came upon a massive salt mine. It was like we stepped back in time thousands of years as these Afar men dug in the salt mines and chopped the salt into blocks and loaded them onto their camels. Literally hundreds and hundreds of camels. I have just never seen anything like it.
This country is so magnificently diverse. God’s creativity is awesome, and I am so amazed at the diversity in this one small corner of the earth! Wow! I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to see more of this great country, and it has just made me love it even more!
One more thing I must tell you just to make you laugh. One day our group had stopped so our driver, Weldu, could look at the car. While we were standing there, something came flying at me and hit me on the arm. I looked around and found a water bottle cap lying on the ground. When I looked up I saw one of the other drivers, Abraha, grinning at me. Immediately my teammate and supervisor, Jon, came over and said, “Lydia, did he just throw something at you?” I said “Yes, why?” He then proceeded to tell me that when a man throws something at a girl (usually it is a lemon or lime) that means he loves her. Of course I didn’t believe him, but when we got back in the car, Jon asked Weldu what it means when a man does that. In Tigrinya Weldu said “Fehkaree.” We all just burst into laughter because that means love. How funny that love is declared by throwing something at the girl. Don’t worry…I didn’t throw anything back….yet. (Just kidding. I won’t throw anything back. Dont’ freak out, Mom.)
Ethiopian Friends
December 4, 2009
Have you ever had one of those moments when you realized that God has answered a prayer you have been praying for months? I had one of those moments, just the other day and I wanted to share it with you because I know that you have been prayed for this also, and are part of God’s answering the prayer.
Months before coming to Ethiopia, one of my big prayers was that God would bless me with an Ethiopian friend…someone who I could just hang out with…who could teach me about her culture…someone I could share life with in Ethiopia. Shortly after I got here three months ago, our team was studying the Tigrinya language with two language helpers, Emebate and Semhal, 2 girls from the youth center who are now in college. I didn’t realize it then, but these girls would become the answer to my prayer!! It has been such a huge blessing to have them in my life.
I love it that they just stop by the house anytime, they come for dinner, we go shopping together, or out to coffee, and anytime we’re together we just die laughing. But more than all those things, I love that I have the privilege of knowing Emebate and Semhal and hearing the stories of their lives.
Their stories, though much too common in Ethiopia, would be somewhat atypical in America. Emebate is fully orphaned, and Semhal’s father died several years ago and her mother lives in Saudi Arabia in order to make money to send back to the family.
And yet these girls attitudes towards life are not ones of feeling sorry for themselves, but rather wanting to help those even less fortunate than themselves.
Just the other day I had the opportunity to tell Semhal and Emebate that they were they answer to my prayer. What a blessing! How gracious and just like my faithful God to bless me with two friends (not just one, like I prayed for) who I can die laughing with, but with whom I can also talk about the deeper things of life. They are teaching me so much about life in Ethiopia and about following God even when life is hard.
Thank you for praying for my Ethiopian friends and for being a continual part of the journey with me. What a great blessing you are to me!!
How You Can Pray:
–That my relationships with Emebate and Semhal will continue to grow and that I have more opportunities to speak truth into their lives and encourage them.
–For my family and I as the holidays are approaching, and we’re missing each other greatly
–In about an hour from now, as I write this blog, our team will be going on a 5 day adventure to the Danakil Desert…so if you would pray for safety and health, I would be grateful. I can’t wait to tell you about it when we return!
A Stolen Heart
November 21, 2009
What an incredible day it has been. My heart has been in my throat all day as I keep replaying the events in my head. This morning I had the one of the most amazing experiences in my life and I can’t stop thinking about it. Today I met Radi.
Radi is a ten year old boy in Mekelle. Esther and I and three of our Ethiopian friends went to his school today to play games with the kids there. But this was no ordinary school. This was a blind school. Radi is blind.
I have never been to blind school before today, but I don’t think I was prepared for what I saw. As we travelled by mini-bus to the school, I silently offered up a prayer to God, asking Him just to help me. When we arrived, a countless number of kids greeted us at the gate and welcomed us to their school. They instantly attached themselves to us and we walked and talked and got to know their names.
These children live at the school because it is the only blind school for miles around. Some of the kids live 30 miles away and are with their families only on holidays. Oh how my heart longs to just go live there with them and be their mom!
What I could not believe was that they were running around their school grounds like they could see! They were jumping and laughing and making funny faces! As I stood there overwhelmed and just watching them, I just cried. They are some the most beautiful children I have ever seen.
And then I met Radi. Radi came and shook my hand and instantly nestled his body next to mine, like a child does with his mother. With his crooked teeth and pants and suit coat that are too big, he was just precious. He felt my hands and my arms. Running his hand over a band-aid on my hand, he asked me what it was that he was touching. He was feeling my wrist and asked me if I had a watch. I told him no, and that I never knew what time it was. He reached in his pocket and handed me his watch…telling me that it needed “charged” (new batteries). I promised him that I would get it charged and bring it back to him. And he just smiled.
Talking with Radi
When the other kids asked him to come play a game, he went and played. But as soon as his turn was over I watched as he tried to figure out where I was. As soon as he found me, he was right by my side again, holding my hand. I knelt down so I could look up into his eyes and see him smile. We just talked and laughed in English and Tigrinya. Radi asked me to go for a walk with him. I held his hand as we walked in the field. He just stayed right by my side the whole time. He walked me to the gate as we left, and I knelt to kiss his head, and he kissed my hand. He has stolen my heart.
All day I have been trying unsuccessfully to wrap my heart and mind around what I have experienced, but I will keep trying. I just wanted to share with you the abundant joy that God has blessed me with today and I hope and pray He will bless you with it too!
Is It Worth It?
November 7, 2009
8 weeks…the amount of time that has passed since I moved to Ethiopia…and the longest amount of time I have been away from home. Over the last week, I have been struck with how much I miss my family and friends. I miss not being at being at birthday parties for my nieces and nephews. I miss Sunday afternoon lunches with my parents and siblings and their families. I miss not being with my best friend and sister Lily and laughing with her until my stomach hurts. I miss not being able to talk about the deep things in life with friends who know my heart and I know theirs.
And in the midst of aching for those relationships, I asked the question that I have been too afraid to ask until now…for fear that I would be lacking faith if I vocalized it…Is this (being in Ethiopia) worth it? Is it worth the heartache and pain of being so far away from the most important people in my life? Is is worth their own heartache and pain?
But even as I am writing this blog entry, I am reminded of the name of this blog…anyroadanycost. The name of blog came from a song called “Any Road, Any Cost” by Point of Grace. I want to share it with you because right now it says so clearly how I have been feeling, but more importantly it reminds me of why living in Ethiopia is worth it. It is worth it because of what Jesus Christ has done for me, and it should be my joy to share that with others, even when it’s hard.
Leaving the safe and familiar
With their hearts set on a heavenly prize
There were some who laid down their nets
And some who laid down their lives
Not sure where they were going,
But they did not have to know
Because they knew Who had called them
And they said, “we will go”
Down any road, at any cost
Where ever You lead, we will follow
Because we know that
You’ve called us to take up our cross
Down any road, at any cost
It may be fear that we’re feeling
When we see what we must sacrifice
But You promised You’ll go with us
So we’ll trust with our lives
It’s Your love that compels us
To do what You’ve called us to do
And be completely abandoned to You
When I go to the youth center and play Chinese checkers with the younger boys, or when I see Yarid, one of my favorite street kids, and we have thumb wars on the sidewalk, or when I paint the little girls’ fingernails, or have discussion groups and Bible studies with the teenage girls, I am reminded of why this is worth it…because I get to be involved in the lives of some of the most precious, beautiful children I have ever met and love them with the love of Christ.
Thank you so much for your ongoing love and support, for encouraging me and praying for me in this journey and being part of it with me. You are an incredible blessing to me!
How you can pray:
–that I lean hard on Christ all the time, and be always dependent on Him
–that I will know Christ as my sustaining joy
–next week I start teaching Englsh one day a week each in a countryside primary school, an Orthodox orphanage, and a blind school
–pray that I will I have wisdom in planning lessons and that my confidence will remain in Christ
–for the girls discussion group I have started–that I will have wisdom in the topics we cover and know how to speak the truth into these girls’ lives
Welcome to My World
October 14, 2009
Welcome to My World
It has already been over a month since I moved to Ethiopia, and I thought that you might like a little insight into what life is like here in Mekelle.
Water:
Since about a week after Esther and I arrived in Mekelle, we have had no running water in our house. It is a problem that has yet to be solved, but there is usually enough water pressure at night to fill up a huge barrel with a hose. From this barrel we wash our dishes, filter our drinking water, flush our toilets, and “take showers”…more like pouring a pitcher of cold water over your head (see picture below). So technically…I guess I could say I haven’t showered in three weeks : )
Transportation:
For getting around town, Esther and I usually walk everywhere, but in the event that we are in a hurry or are exhausted, we can get a ride in a “Bajaj” (see picture below). Bajajs come from India, and in Hindi, “bajaj” means “cockroach.” It is funny because that it just how they move…like little bugs scattering along. It’s like riding in one of those bumper cars at an amusement park. But for only 1 Birr (about 8 cents) they are a quick way to get up the road.
Food:
Esther and I do most of our cooking…lots of fruits and vegetables from the market, bread, peanut butter and jam, spaghetti, soup, and even tonight I made flour tortillas for tacos! Once or twice a week, we go to our favorite Ethiopian restaurant called Hakfen, where we have injera, femtibs, and tegabino…our favorite dishes (see picture below). I know it doesn’t look at appetizing, but it really does taste good!
Medicine:
Laughter. With so many big changes to our usual ways of living, Esther and I have found that they way we deal with them is by laughing. So many days we laugh til we cry, and usually at the dumbest things (see picture below).
For real medicine, like for when we get amoebas or bacterias (easily curable), it cost 9 birr for 20 pills…about 75 cents. We get these pills after giving “a sample” at the medical clinic. Haha. And yes…the pills do work : )
Hopefully these descriptions and the pictures give you a little glimpse into life in Ethiopia…and hopefully they made you laugh…not worry : ) If there are other things you want to know about…just ask! Thank you for all your love and support and encouragement…I am so thankful that you are part of this journey with me!
Until next time!
Language Listening
October 8, 2009
It has been nearly three weeks since I started learning the Tigrinya language with Esther, our teammates the Nykamp’s and their son Matthew, and two other American women. We use a language learning method where the 1st 100 hours is all listening, and no speaking. There are four girls in their early 20’s who are our language helpers.
our awesome language helpers
While we listen, they point to objects, repeat them, and then have us point to them. It is similar to the way a child learns a language…by listening first and then picking up words and speaking and messing up. It has been a very interactive, productive and fun way of learning Tigrinya, and when we go out to the market, bread shop, grocery store or work with kids at the youth center, I am sometimes surprised how much I remember and can use in interacting with others.
But this whole method of learning language has gotten me thinking about a different kind of language listening…listening to the language of God…through His Word. Too often I come to His Word, read it, decide what I think it means, and try to apply it to my life. Instead though, I need to come to the Word ready to listen…to hear from God and allow the Holy Spirit help me understand what He is saying.
In this whole language learning process I keep thinking of Psam 46:10 that says, “Be still and know that I am God” and Proverbs 1:5, “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.”
It seems that in all aspects of my life, listening is key to learning…listening to God speak through His Word, listening to my language helpers so that I can learn Tigrinya, and listening to the wonderful Ethiopians I have met so I can understand and appreciate their culture, and hearing the stories of their lives and learning how to serve in response to them. Listening without speaking is hard thing to do, but I know that I have learned and will continue to learn so much more, if I can be quiet long enough to understand.
And so as my prayer continues that this year I will be a learner, I am also praying that I will be a listener…first to God and His Word and then to those around me so that I can learn to love and embrace the Ethiopian people and their culture.
Thank you again for being part of this journey with me. I am abundantly grateful!
How You Can Pray:
–Thank God for His sustaining grace
–Pray that I will listen and seek God first as I try to figure to whom and what I should devote my time
–Pray that I will have wisdom and confidence as I teach English, and know how to best teach my students
