A bit ambitious and unrealistic

When we landed in [The Mission Field] two years ago, I set a personal goal to finish with our first language in two years. Our [local] language is one of the most difficult for a native English speaker to learn, and normally takes 3-5 years to attain fluency. So, when I would tell people that our team expected to learn the language in 2-3 years, we were met with statements like the one above. And to be honest, they were right. But if our goal is to learn not just one, but two languages, we needed to set ambitious goals for our first term.

possible for a non-native speaker in my final language evaluation. I have friends who have reached similar marks even quicker than I did, and many more that will soon achieve fluency in 2-3 years less time than the average language student in our country. What do we all have in common? We were all trained in how to learn a language, had done it before (in Spanish or Haitian Creole), and therefore knew exactly what we were doing when we stepped off the plane in our new home.

So far, I’ve only spoken in human, earthly terms. Of course, coupled with our training, we must also lean on the Lord for sustenance and grace to complete our tasks and grant success. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” (Prov:21:31The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.
See All...) It will be the Lord who ultimately builds his church. (Matt:16:18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
See All...) However, his servants need to be adequately prepared for the task. It is the lumberjack who chops down the tree, but his ax needs to be sharp. The level of preparation and training a person devotes to a given task is directly related to how difficult or important they believe that task to be. An athlete who spends little time training at his sport either doesn’t think the sport is very difficult, doesn’t place much importance on his performance, or underestimates the requirements of the sport altogether.

While presenting our plans for ministry to potential supporters, it was easy to feel daunted by the immensity of the task. Do we really expect to learn two languages, start and maintain a business, translate the Scriptures, develop an orthography (if needed), teach literacy, share the biblical narrative, and raise up church leaders? This doesn’t seem humanly possible, which is the point. It is the Lord who will build his church. He must provide the grace to sustain us, open the doors that need opening, and raise dead men to life. He, indeed, will build his church just as he promised. But he will build it by means of competent communicators of the gospel. And competent communication is only achieved by long hours of tedious work.

In preparation for a presentation, I found this quote from the legendary CT Studd, a former cricketer turned missionary, quite insightful: “The ‘romance’ of a missionary is often made up of monotony and drudgery; there often is no glamor in it; it doesn’t stir a man’s spirit or blood. So don’t come out to be a missionary as an experiment; it is useless and dangerous. Only come if you feel you would rather die than not come. Don’t come if you want to make a great name or want to live long. Come if you feel there is no greater honor, after living for Christ, than to die for Him.”

—Missonary (Asia-Pacific, name withheld due to working in a “sensitive area.”)