We are learning a computer program that is part of our Culture and Language Acquisition (CLA) practicum, and he was irritating me. Telling me where to move my curser and what to click. Telling me what to do and how to do it. I hate that. So I tell him, quietly of course, (we are in class after all) to stop telling me what to do. Then he tells me that I was doing the same thing to him earlier. Is he sure??
What have I learned so far in this class? That Bill and I have a long way to go in how we communicate, and that God will use a culture and language acquisition practicum to mold us more into the image of his Son, Jesus.
The purpose of the CLA class is not to fluently learn a language, although we will learn the basics. The main purpose of the class is to learn HOW to learn a new language and culture, and how to use a computer program that will assist us in doing that. When we get to our field of service, we will be thrust into a foreign culture and language, and will need a system to store all the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and simple phrases we will be learning. The computer program will store words, pictures, and audio for us, so we can review over and over again what we're learning. Some challenges with this program? The program is not the challenge.
Our (MY) flesh is the challenge. Simply put, I don't want Bill to help me. I don't want him telling me what to do. I don't want to humble myself and ask for help when I run into a road block. After all, didn't I just tell him I DIDN'T want his help? Do you see where this is going?
How does taking this course now, prepare me for future ministry? Oh, it is revealing so much of my heart. If you thought for one second that missionaries were better or more mature Christians than non-missionaries, let me put that to rest right now. We all have flesh. We all don't want to be told what to do. We all don't want to humble ourselves and ask for help. We all NEED Jesus every second of our life.
Again, how will taking this course prepare me for future ministry? Besides knowing how to learn a language from scratch, it will prepare me by showing me my desperate need for Jesus. I cannot humbly learn a new language, apart from Him. I cannot love my husband well, apart from Him. I cannot go to Paraguay with our five kids, apart from Him. I cannot share His love, APART from Him. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4,5
Training to be a missionary isn't just for future ministry. It's for here. Now. I still need to learn humility. I still need the discipline to do homework and overcome challenges of learning new computer programs, loving my husband and children, running a home, and being a member of community. And all these things I'm learning NOW are preparing me for ministry NOW and THEN.
Here our class is learning the computer program that will assist us in learning a new language and culture.
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