Category: Training
Finals Done: Tired, Enriched and Thrilled out of my Mind
We just finished up another whirlwind round of classes. The last two months have been filled with late nights, neglected emails, and hours spent pouring over Bakoum folktales and the Word of God. The Lord has once again proved faithful to help us wade through technical linguistic information, figuring out how to exegete the passage about Melchizedek and how to deal with squabbling second graders. The Lord’s faithfulness, plus all the incredible things we learned this semester causes the excitement to overshadow the fatigue. Here are a couple highlights: Exploiting the Polygamous “god” for the Glory of JesusDave and I…
August 2017 Newsletter Online!
Check out our August 2017 Newsletter to discover the following: Summer American Tour Plans for the next year Do we miss Cameroon? Prayer Requests and Praises Hare Translation Newsletter: Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Archive
God Bless America: A Response to Secularism in France
I expected France to more like America than it is. Both are Western countries, both have democratic governments and both are committed to religious freedom. So, I assumed that the manifestation of my faith here in France would be more-or-less identical to the expression of my faith in America. As it turns out my presuppositions were wrong. Is Religious Expression…Illegal? We have slowly learned that the “separation between Church in State” in France does not mean what I am used to it meaning. In the States the government seeks to remains “neutral” while allowing all adherents to practice their religion…
7 Tips for Americans Visiting France
by DaveWe have been in France now for 11 months and I feel like that is long enough to begin to dispense some advice for our American friends. We are certainly not French culture experts, but here are 7 things that might be helpful if you decide to visit (or move to) France:— 1. Prepare Yourself to Feel Like a Giant We are pretty used to it by now, but when we first moved to France it was shocking how much smaller everything was. The people are smaller, the cars are smaller, the food portions are smaller, the refrigerators are…
3 Ways to Pray for your (Usually Discouraged) Missionaries in Language School
By Stacey Do you have any friends that are going through language school for missions? Let me give you some insight into what is going on in their heads. (reading) “How are they to hear without someone preaching?…How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15).(thinking) How in the world am I ever going to preach in this language?! And how beautiful are my feet if my mouth is incapable of communicating the Gospel?! We (missionaries) used to flip to Romans 10 to inspire ourselves during the long season of support-raising. These days we eye…
Please Be Praying: First Round of Testing Next Week
Well, we have been in the program here in Albertville for 2 months and it is time for our first round of testing. Our school lists the following goals for us: Our Goals allow you to acquire strong practical competence in: Oral Comprehension Oral Expression Written Comprehension Written Expression According to the European Language Reference Guide (ELRG), we train students from the level A0/A1 (beginner) to the level C2 (advanced) *see chart below. Please be praying that we pass our first test (A1) this week so that we can move forward into the A2 class in September. The test will span…
We’ve Arrived in France!
By Stacey Our new home Well we have arrived and are settled-ish here in Chambery, France. To those who have prayed for us, we really cannot thank you enough. We have relocated our family across the globe and, thanks to your prayers, the transition has been overall very smooth. Here are a couple highlights: I was in line to check-in at the Dallas airport and a man asked me where we were going. I told him that we are going to Cameroon to translate the Bible, but would be spending a year in France first. There was a long…
Yayyy I’m Done!!!!
Whelp, today I finished all of the required classwork for the Certificate of Applied Linguistics at GIAL! This means I have all of the training I need for us to move to Cameroon! We have come so far! Thank you so much for praying for me as I went through the program. I was often studying into the early morning and waking up early for class. It was exhausting and exciting and I could not have done it without your prayers and God’s grace. But we are not done yet. We will have 5 weeks off and then Stacey will…
Goat-Head Anyone?
Yep, that’s right—a goat-head. Who knew we’d have the option of eating a goat’s head for dinner the other night? Dave was assigned a class project to take part in a “cross-cultural” experience and thus we found ourselves experiencing a little bit of Africa the other night. We went to an African restaurant and it smelled like Africa, a Cameroonian woman waited on us, there were pictures of President Obama everywhere (like Africa!), and we were served African food. For those of you who are wondering, we opted not to eat the goat head but got fish and rice instead. …
Learning to Deliver Babies at GIAL
Several years ago I took a good friend of mine to the ER and as I was holding her hand trying to comfort her, I saw that they were drawing her blood. The next thing I remember was waking up on a cot right next to my friend – apparently I had passed out. I wish that were the only time that has happened, but alas it is not. I consistently pass out when I get shots, have my blood drawn, etc. It’s a fairly inconvenient and sometimes embarrassing reality, but I don’t really know what to do about it. …
