To one day make the gospel clear to a people who have never heard this glorious message, a missionary will focus exclusively on learning a new language and culture for their first two to five years overseas. The good news of the gospel is worth it! Carl Henry wrote, “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.” We could also add that the gospel is only good news if it is clearly understood. We have been given this glorious message from a King. May no one reject it because we did not take the time and effort to make it clear!

Your missionary is going to need a lot of encouragement to learn another language and culture. Many will have to learn two languages; the national language for business and the heart language of the people group. There are many ways you can encourage a missionary in their first term. Here are three ideas to get you started: Realize what it takes for them every day; Rejoice in their small victories; and Remind them why it is worth it.

First, realize what it takes for your missionary to learn a language and culture every day. Many of us have never learned another language and are not aware of the sacrifices and perseverance it requires. In order to clearly communicate the gospel, a person needs to be able to understand bridges and barriers to the gospel within the culture, which takes a high level of listening and interaction. Sharing the realities of the gospel (God, sin, Jesus, the cross, the resurrection, forgiveness, repentance, faith, heaven and hell) takes a proficient level of language beyond just basic or capable communication. In the Becoming Equipped to Communicate (BEC) program there are four levels to evaluate progress in language learning; basic, progressing, capable and proficient. Below are communication tasks for each level:

Communication Tasks for Basic Level

• Greet people politely and say good-bye politely (simple greetings and leave-takings).
• Thank people politely.
• Say “yes” and “no.”
• Use memorized phrases to ask for food.
• Name colors.

Communication Tasks for Progressing Level

• Introduce yourself, giving your name and basic personal information.
• Give directions on how to get from one place to another.
• Describe your health problems to a doctor or nurse.
• Tell about your family, giving names and simple information about them such as their occupations or what they look like.
• Arrange to meet someone at a particular time and place and date in the near future.

Communication Tasks for Capable Level

• Describe a sequence of events that happened in the past.
• Describe things that used to happen in the past, such as things you used to do when you were younger, or people and places you used to know or visit.
• Compare and contrast two objects, customs or places.
• Talk about your future plans or goals.
• Explain a simple process you know how to do, such as making a cake or repairing a tire.

Communication Tasks for Proficient Level

• Persuade people to do something they do not want to do or to stop doing something.
• Describe a complex object, such as a car or bicycle or computer in detail, using the correct vocabulary.
• Present arguments on both sides of a familiar issue or topic and evaluate the merits of the arguments.
• Discuss a professional topic at length.
• Explain in detail a non-routine, complex process, such as how to do grammatical analysis or how to perform an operation.

Your missionary is going to need a lot of encouragement during their first term as they learn another language and culture.

Second, rejoice with your missionary in their small victories in language and culture learning. It can be discouraging for a missionary to not be able to share the gospel with people when there is such an urgency for them to know and embrace the gospel. Some days missionaries feel like they aren’t making any progress at all. There are no easy shortcuts to language learning. It takes a willingness to step out of their comfort zone, make humiliating mistakes and make incremental progress such as learning new vocabulary words and cultural insights. It takes a lot of energy, time and effort. Missionaries may feel pressure to share with their church and supporters about how they are completing the missionary task of evangelism, discipleship, and church-planting. Rejoice with the missionary that they learned 20 new words this week and made 3 new cultural insights! That is how they will become fluent in the language and culture so that one day they can see the missionary task completed. Pray with them for small everyday victories in language and culture learning. 

Third, remind your missionary why their efforts to learn language and culture are worth it. It is all for the sake of the name of Jesus (Rom 1:15). It is for the sake of the salvation of those who will one day believe. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but they cannot be saved without first understanding and believing the gospel. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Rom. 10:13-17) Ultimately, success for a missionary is faithfulness. Remind them of the ultimate goal of honoring God and loving others so that one day God will be glorified by worshippers from among their people group along with a multitude from every tongue and tribe (Rev. 7:9-10).

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