Recently I had a language and culture evaluation to see where I am at in this process of learning who the Ga’dang people are and how to effectively communicate with them. Knowing this will also help me to know how much further I have to go before I am ready to begin preparing Phase 1 Chronological teaching lessons.
As some of you know, this has already been a long, drawn out process for me with plenty of interruptions. My last evaluation was in late 2011, after having been in tribal language and culture study for approximately 8 months and just before we went back to Canada for furlough (which turned into 14 months!). I came away from that evaluation a little discouraged as I was only at Basic Mid level, or about 2 on a scale of 1 to 10.
When we returned to the tribe a year ago I got back into studying and with the help of a different program called the Growing Participator Approach, I pushed ahead as much as I could. Needless to say it has been a tiring year with lots of encouraging and some discouraging moments as I have come to understand more of who these people are that the Lord has sent us to minister to and how to communicate with them clearly.
Going into this evaluation I felt much more confident than before and knew that although I still have a lot of work ahead of me to reach the goal of being able to teach Bible lessons I am further than I was a year ago. The consultants stayed with us for 3 days (there were 2 of them, 1 expat and the other a Filipino). During those 3 days we visited with many of the people in the village and discussed Ga’dang culture in detail. They also had me and my language helper, Gaton do a number of dialogues where I had to not only use the tribal language but also non-verbal cues and speak in a way that reflects Ga’dang thinking as well.
In the end, the evaluators were pleased with my progress and gave me lots of encouragement to keep going, as well as some helpful advice on how to fine tune some of my activities in studying to make them even more effective. So, where am I at now? Progressing High, or about 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. This is very encouraging for me as it means that I am on track and will hopefully be ready to prepare the Bible lessons for the first group of people that we will teach next year.
Please be praying for me as getting through these last levels of language and culture study are the most difficult. This is where I get into the depths of the Ga’dang people, so to speak, and understand what really makes them tick. Pray for our team as we work together to reach the goal of sharing the Gospel message with the Ga’dang people. We are in Satan’s territory and he doesn’t like it one bit. Thankfully we serve a God who is always watching over us and protecting us as we move forward.