Immersion Matters

Immersion matters! Now wait, before you go crying “Heresy!” on me, understand what I mean. I’m not talking about baptism here. I’m talking about language immersion—in this case, French language immersion.

For 3 weeks in January, I left my home in Zambia to live in and study French in Lyon, France. I lived in the 21^st-century equivalent of a monk’s cell in a big apartment building. I rode the trams and the subway to and from my language school each day. In Zambia, it was summer, and (as always) it was blazing hot. Since I’m a Canadian, it was a pleasure to experience Northern Hemisphere winter again (although I didn’t have a coat to take along with me from Africa).

Food Immersion

Cheese is my favorite food, and France is pretty much the Valhalla of cheese. I would love to tell you about the many varieties of cheese I consumed along with slices of Lyonnaise rosette sausages or Corsican coppa ham on baguette. But this article is supposed to be about language immersion. Besides being a great place to be immersed in cheese, Lyon is also a great place to be immersed in the French language. The second-largest city in France, Lyon lies at the confluence of the Saône and Rhone rivers, and it has a standard metropolitan French accent.

So, why was a standard accent important for me? My job as a missionary takes me to many French-speaking countries of Africa: Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Benin, for example. I also work with French-speaking Lutherans from countries that I’m currently not able to visit, such as Togo and Burkina Faso. Having lived in Ottawa, Canada, for 9 years, I can tell you that the African French accents are much closer to a standard metropolitan (i.e., European) French accent than anything I ever heard in Canada. So, I went to France to study and practice French for 3 weeks because it has the variety of French that all the African forms are based on.

immersion — *Five Guys (“Cinq Mecs”?) in Lyon. What a blessing*

Linguistic Leap Forward

In Lyon, I did not only study all morning and afternoon in a French school. I also went out and used my French around town. Going to board game clubs and shops. Eating at a traditional mom-and-pop style restaurant called a “bouchon”. Helping several French people locate different books they were looking for in the big, huge FNAC bookstore. Joking about the strange, spaceship-like public toilets with folks waiting for their family members to come out. Shopping for a coat in the mall at the Superdry store. I’m figuring out how to get my cell phone working at the Orange shop.

Immersion was a great experience. I’d never been to France before, so it was amazing to hear French all the time and to get used to listening to and speaking nothing but French. My ear has picked up the pace since my immersion, and so has my ability to express my own “very deep” thoughts—JK!—in French. I think it will be a big benefit if I can go back for another round of immersion sometime next year. But my best French immersion is coming up in March—with a trip to visit Lutherans from Benin and Burkina Faso—and in April—with a trip to teach a workshop on Luther’s small catechism in the Congo. For then, I will truly have great content to communicate in French: the true message about Jesus Christ! I can’t wait to take along the cool new bible I picked up in France.

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news, and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa

Swahili Camp

The first day of camp is always a bit awkward. A beautiful park-like setting offsets the discomfort of sleeping in a strange bed. You tour the campus. You settle on a place to sit in the cafeteria. You recognize old familiar faces, and you introduce yourself to new friends. You bid your established routine farewell and embrace a new lifestyle, at least for a little while.

A Widely Spoken Language

For the last two weeks, I was a guest on the campus of the MS Training Center for Development Cooperation. Located near Arusha, Tanzania, MSTCDC has been operating a Swahili language immersion school since 1967. According to Wikipedia, over 200 million Swahili speakers live in the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

As One Africa Team’s liaison to the LCMC-Kenya, I have been picking up Swahili words and phrases every time I’ve visited over the last two years. In addition, I’ve downloaded a Peace Corps Swahili language course and I listen to the audio recordings on my daily walk.

Until now, I’ve never taken a formal Swahili language course. Our mission team set the goal of missionaries acquiring the ability to work in two new languages. We identified French and Swahili because these are two of the most widely spoken languages on the continent of Africa. One Africa Team’s long-range vision is that in ten years, among our partners there will be over 200,000 communicants who regularly gather around Word and Sacrament and are shepherded by well-trained leaders.

swahili camp class — *me, my Swahili teacher, and my fellow student*

That’s how I found myself in Swahili camp. I enrolled myself in the intermediate level because I reckoned I was past the stage of learning greetings. Still, I found myself swimming, or drowning, in a strangely familiar yet different tongue. Swahili belongs to the Bantu family of languages. Grammatically and linguistically it is very similar to Chichewa, the language many people speak in Malawi.

However, during the Middle Ages, Arab traders interacted with the natives living in coastal cities of East Africa and Zanzibar. Between 20%-35% of the Swahili language is of Arabic origin. Every once in a while I stumble across a word I recognize from the time I spent on the Balkan Peninsula half a lifetime ago. I smile when I hear Swahili words like “faida,” “mzeituni,” and “bakshishshi” – these are words of Arabic origin that also entered Bulgarian conversational usage via the Ottoman Turks.

Boot Camp is Hard

Maybe you’re wondering why a fifty-five-year-old man is learning to speak a new language. Yes, it’s connected to my work responsibilities, but honestly, that is not adequate motivation. In most instances, I can get by with English or use a translator. Why have I invested so much time in learning to speak this foreign language (or any other)?

People open their hearts when they hear you struggling to string five words together in their native tongue. They recognize the effort you are making to understand their language, their culture, and their worldview. And when you speak through a translator, you lose the ability to connect to another human being directly.

swahlli camp — *we interviewed this farmer to learn how coffee is grown on the school campus*

God has given me both the ability and the interest to learn foreign languages. To whom much is given… I am putting myself in the uncomfortable position of talking at the level of a three-year-old. I dedicate my Swahili camp experience to God’s kingdom and glory.

Whether or not you speak a foreign tongue, the same principle is true. Sharing the good news of Jesus’ salvation with another human being requires humility. It requires us to listen before speaking. It means we strive to understand where someone is before we point him in the right direction. And it takes time.

These two weeks I’ve spent at Swahili camp is just another small step towards the realization of St. John’s vision of people from “every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9) I don’t know what language we will be speaking in heaven, but God will have no trouble communicating his love for us all.

Amani ya Bwana nanyi (may the peace of God be with you)

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi.

Picture This!

A picture is worth a thousand words – in any language. Members of the Obadiah Lutheran Synod (OLS) in Uganda speak English, Luganda, Lusoga, and many other Bantu dialects. It is a challenge to communicate Scriptural truths across linguistic and educational barriers. It’s even more challenging to explain abstract concepts like justification, redemption, and Christ’s humiliation and exaltation to students in Confirmation class. But a well-drawn picture can tie timeless truth to a tangible target.

Dr. Terry Schultz is an experienced WELS Missionary who creates print and music materials for WELS Multi-Language Productions. Dr. Schultz supports WELS’s mission work around the globe. OLS President Maksimu Musa requested One Africa Team’s assistance training Sunday School teachers. OAT turned to Dr. Schultz, who has graphically portrayed the Apostles Creed with full-color illustrations. He and Missionary John Roebke engaged 35 Sunday School teachers and OLS pastors with the task of translating these illustrations into lessons.

The Pictures

The 1531 edition of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism contained 23 pictures printed from woodcut images. Like these images, Dr. Schultz’s drawings help a teacher tell a simple story to explain a complex teaching. A courtroom scene depicts a young man standing before a judge with his accuser to one side and his attorney to the other. The next scene shows him standing before God flanked by Satan and Jesus.

*He has redeemed me…not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood*

Another picture unfolds the drama of a kidnapping and payment of ransom. The next scene represents the divine story of Christ’s redemption – not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood. A comic book panel of pictures illustrates each of the stages of Christ’s humiliation.

A composite illustration presents the stages of his exaltation. Dr. Schultz carefully crafted each picture to maximize understanding and teaching. A teacher’s manual with minimal text supplements each picture, bearing in mind the target audience’s literacy level. WELS MLP has produced three booklets to date – one for each of the three articles of the Apostles’ Creed. Dr. Schultz is finalizing the illustrations for the Sacrament of Baptism, with the other chief parts of the Catechism to follow.

The Teachers

Attendees began each day of the workshop with animated singing and dancing. In addition to performing local melodies, the group learned a few African American spirituals from Dr. Schultz. OLS pastors delivered inspiring devotional messages in English. Dr. Schultz infused his own brand of energy into the workshop as he introduced each picture to the participants.

After this, the Sunday school teachers broke into smaller groups of 3-5 people. In each group, an OLS pastor walked through the concepts behind the picture. Thirty minutes later, each small group took turns teaching the lesson to the larger audience. Some teachers appeared more confident than others, but by the week’s end, all of them had made significant improvement.

The Picture Ahead

Unfortunately, time did not allow for Dr. Schultz to present all 45 teaching posters to the group. The teaching posters and manuals remain with the OLS in Uganda. We encouraged the pastors to work through these materials with their Sunday school teachers. The pastors have a much better grasp of both Lutheran teachings and local culture.

Regardless if Dr. Schultz returns to Uganda, the OLS now has a powerful instrument for instructing youth and adults. Can you picture their faces gathered around Jesus’ throne someday?

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi