Lesson Learned.

As an AFM student missionary we are sent out with two main goals. The first is to fulfill the call that we’ve answered. When a person signs up with AFM they go through an in depth interviewing process with the intentions to best match them with one of the available calls. Once you have chosen from a more specified list it is then understood that supporting the existing mission and the career missionaries will be you main objective while in the field.

The second main objective you are trained to accomplished is language acquisition. A large part the month long training course at AFM is spent practicing the skills necessary to acquire a language in the most effective and efficient manner. This can prove to be one the hardest things, both to train for and later to accomplish, as a student missionary going to the only people group on the planet who speak this language. Most situations require a completely different understanding of grammar, pronunciation not found in western languages, and a great deal of culturally specific conversation styles.

For me it sounded like a daunting undertaking but after much prayer and Bible study I found this. The origins of the language were a result of sinful distrust in God, which then led to the separation of peoples only after they attempted to defy God in building the tower of Babel. (Genesis 11) Because of sin God had to separate the human family. But the plan to redeem that family and eventually to bring it back together at the great heavenly family reunion involves overcoming the separation of language and culture to seek out the lost members of the family of God.

In His closing words to His disciples Jesus says, ‘And these signs will follow those who believe, in my name…they will speak with new tongues.” Mark 16:17 So what this means to me is that Jesus promises that through the teaching power of the Holy Spirit those that believe in Him and go into all the world will speak the Good News of peace to the fellow man in new tongues.

So with this promise in mind I set off to speak with confidence and to take personal ownership of my language learning experience. Now, nearly 7 months have passed of embarrassing mispronunciations that included saying, ‘I have a door on my arm!’ when trying to say ‘I have a spider on my arm!’ (lellangewan meaning door and kelelawa` meaning spider) That or saying ‘I have a serious joke for you.’ instead of saying ‘I have a serious question for you.’ (ungke` meaning joke and ingku` meaning question.) Learning mistakes like those and many other, I have nearly filled a small composition notebook with vocabulary and phrases.

The most interesting part of language learning is the small insights on culture you pick up while practicing. It really caught me off guard when I learned they used the same words for saying ‘I am living now.’ and when they tell someone that they’ve had enough food like, ‘I’m full now.’ The phrase is ‘Mebiyag ku ne.’ Like many culture insight they take a while to develop and grow in your mind until you realize the implications behind what you’ve learned, followed by an epiphany. So I’ll explain:

For a Palawano the main goal of life is survival for not only you but your family and friends. Meaning to have a house to call home, healthy family and friends, and food in everyone’s stomach is enough to be more than thankful for. Once I understood the implication behind how they value life because of how fragile it is here in the mountain, I started to appreciate even more their invitations to share food with each other. In America we’d be sharing just another thing from the pantry, but for a Palawan they are offering to share a part of their life with you. It’s a large part of their love language and they are showing you that they really care for you.

Finding your way into a Palawano’s mind and intellectual belief system can only be accomplished when you have a place in their heart. As a wise person once told me, ‘No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you are care.’ The way you show you care for a Palawano is with food. Therefore, the way into a Palawano’s heart is through their stomach. The lesson of Abigail’s actions in 1 Samuel 25 ring true, where she got through to David’s vengeful mind and later found a place in his heart was through appeasing his stomach.

Lesson learned and applied, and now I wonder what’s next in the vast open ended mysteries behind these people I love so much.