The commitment is to work in the language and culture of the ethnic group.
Many affirm that the culture and the language go together and are inseparable, for that reason it is necessary to learn not only the language but also the culture.
When the missionary learns the culture of the people and their way they see their “world”, they understand their language better.
As someone sent to transmit the message of Jesus Christ, the ability to communicate in the midst of a different language, as well as to carry the message according to the culture that receives it; Is fundamental.
Both culture and language are expressions of the assumptions that lie beneath the worldview of the ethnicity and must be learned correctly to discover the worldview of a people.
Language: To reach an ethnic group, the missionary must learn the language of the place where he / she will be ministering if you want to have a profound impact.
The missionary needs to learn some of the basic languages (English, Arabic, French, etc.) and then the language or dialect of the specific ethnic group to reach.
Hence the importance of linguistics, phonetics and morphology in learning new languages for your work in the field.
The learning of a language is a social activity and not only of study, which will help the missionary to become familiar with the people and their culture.
“Learning a language is a complex process that involves a cultural contact, hundreds of hours of hard work, intentional study and a clear objective in mind.
That is, nobody gets it if they are not motivated.
” Ronaldo Lidorio, Brazilian missionary and missions teacher.
“When the people of the country saw that I knew their language, they told me that for them it was a sample of respect and appreciation for them that I had learned it before arriving”.
Missionary in Brazil Culture:
For transcultural worker to learn a culture, a language and a worldview, it is imperative to live within the unreached ethnic group and develop emotional relationships.
Therefore, it is assumed that the missionaries live among the people they serve.
By the grace of God, missionaries must become genuine friends of the host society and earn the respect of individuals, families and leaders.
This should not be done with deceit, with the sole purpose of taking hold in the place or becoming influential, but to follow with humility the principles of the kingdom of God.
As active members of a community, missionaries must relate with other people in contexts in which the assumptions and values of the culture are informally transmitted:
in houses, markets, gardens, fields, places of informal visits, weddings, birthday parties,
funerals, religious celebrations, etc.
By living in this relational way, you will experience and understand the informal means of communicating and learning their values.
Meeting these challenges of acquiring the language and adapting to the culture requires a long term commitment both by the “SENDERS” and the “SENT”.
To get involved in real projects to reach unreached ethnic groups, visit www.iglesiasenmision.org
Church Team in Mision