“When you’re a celebrity, it’s perfectly fine to show up on anyone’s doorstep and ask them to walk you through how they make their living.”

During language learning, our workers are encouraged to find local language helpers to practice with, especially when learning how to ask questions and describe processes of daily and work activities. When Jason and his wife Emily first moved to South East Asia with their three children, they made up five of the six Westerners living in that small town. As a result, they really stood out among the local people. This earned them a sort of “celebrity status” that the family wasn’t sure how to deal with at first. While it could be exhausting answering the same questions over and over- “Where are you from?” “Are you rich?” “Why do your children dress like that?”- Jason soon realized that this status allowed him certain access into people’s lives that he wouldn’t have otherwise.

The beginning stage of language learning involves finding out how to ask questions and describe daily routines, such as tasks around the house or one’s occupation. Jason got in the habit of walking around town and simply walking into someone’s home or business and asking them to describe how they made their living. While that may seem intrusive in our culture, most people were happy to host “the foreigner” for a few hours, and were proud to show off their shop or trade. As a result of this, he learned about the many different occupations people have in his town- including mat weaving, pressing palm oil, sculpting clay pots, raising chickens, and building fishing boats. This has allowed him many hours of valuable language practice, as well as given him the opportunity to start building relationships. It is Jason’s hope that these relationships will grow and allow for deeper, spiritual conversations later on.

Join with us in praying for Jason, Emily, and their children as they continue to grow in their ability to communicate, and that God would bless the relationships they’re building in this town.

*Names and places changed for security purposes.