News Stories
Challenge Number 1: Language learning
30/01/2008 1:52 pm
Ready for a Challenge?
Phase 1 in Cambodia is exciting and challenging! It is a long term missionary’s first year in a country that desperately needs Jesus.
During phase 1 we have the opportunity to see and experience life in Phnom Penh. We get to bargain in the market, taste new foods, have someone help us in our home, ride a motorbike, explore the city, see Angkor Wat, live through local holidays, and ask lots and lots of questions about everything. We get to visit different churches and ministries all over the country to see what God is doing around Cambodia, praying about what He might have us involved in one day. In local team meetings we get to learn more in depth about culture, and have the chance to fellowship and support each other as we attempt to survive and begin to thrive. Our Orientation & Training Coordinator provides wisdom and encouragement as we walk through our first year together.
Language learning is our main focus – speaking, listening, reading, and writing Khmer. Each weekday we go to a university class and have an individual tutor session, as well as our own personal study and practice time. At the beginning we struggle to pronounce sounds, and later to remember words. It is thrilling when we can say a whole sentence or actually understand a part of what someone says to us.
They say your first year here is the hardest – beginning to learn a new language, adjusting to the climate, becoming acquainted with new bugs and creatures, getting used to new noises, making new friends, settling families, missing home, and adjusting to everything that feels so different.
Daily we pray for the Creator of Cambodia to transform us and our minds so that we might glorify Him as we learn, observe, explore, and study the Khmer language, culture, and society. We enjoy the relationships that are developing with our Khmer neighbors and fellow missionaries. We look forward with anticipation to what God is preparing in the future.