Taking the Plunge

With my Khmer language teachers, Srey Roat & Thary

One of the things I love when reading Bible stories is seeing how patient God is with His servants. When I look at guys like Gideon, Moses, and Jonah, and how God uses them despite their struggles with trusting Him, I know there’s hope for me. A few days ago I experienced one of those instances of God’s tender, patient provision for me in my weakness. During language acquisition training at MTI, we were exhorted to of dive in right away, start practicing our new language in our communities, view language learning as ministry, etc. all of which sounded wonderful and exciting to me at the time. I don't think I take myself too seriously in general. I'm willing to be laughed at and I really love people, so what would be the problem? Then I got here and, while part of me wanted so badly to take the plunge just as they had encouraged us to do, another part of me really struggled with it. I've had one full, intense week of one-on-one Khmer lessons (2 hours/day for 5 days) but getting out to practice was harder for me than I thought it would be. I knew it was time to start pushing myself further out of my comfort zone. So, one morning as I was heading out the door (a little later than I had intended) I just started praying and confessed to the Lord my fear, asking Him to direct me to the right people in my community to help me practice language, the people He knew would be able to encourage me, and with whom I could possibly develop relationships and eventually share His good news. I made my first stop at a little cafe very close to my apartment. The place was empty except for two employees, a man and a woman. I ordered a frappe and then started practicing some of my conversational Khmer phrases with the young lady. There was one word that I was mispronouncing that she tried repeatedly to correct me on. After numerous tries I finally got it satisfactorily, but by that time I felt like they must be thoroughly frustrated with me so I took my drink and sat down at a table. To my delight, the young woman came and sat at a booth next to me to continue talking. She was very friendly and expressed willingness to help me in the future. I was so encouraged by this very immediate answer to my desperate prayer just minutes earlier. It made it so much easier to talk to a number of other people afterward and I'm seeing more and more opportunities open up, including another young lady who is a school teacher and lives on my street. She and I talked tonight and are going to meet tomorrow so that she can help teach me Khmer and I can teach her a little English! 

If you'd like to hear a little of my fumbling with my new language from one of my Khmer lessons click here