Day 8

Nimejifunza kiswahili kidogo.  (I have learned a little Swahili.)

Today was my third lesson in Swahili, and I feel somewhat in over my head.  There are only two lessons left in store for me to learn as much of the language as possible, and I'm afraid it won't be enough to put me even at the level of a 2 year old here!  Each day is an opportunity to learn and practice, as well as a reminder what a long way I have to go before I will be able to witness to a Kenyan in his own language.  I must periodically remind myself that I am not learning the language to improve myself, but to help me reach out to and love on Kenyan children that would not understand me otherwise.  It is very common for young children here to have no knowledge of English, especially when growing up in the Kibera slum.  Even with English as one of the national languages and its being taught in schools, many children never even have the opportunity to attend these schools.

My hope and prayer is that in putting forward my best effort to learn Swahili, God will bless my endeavor and use it to bring joy to the children with which I will work.  Each lesson is a strain on my mind, as I've been out of practice for language learning, but with the Lord, everything is possible!  And who knows... maybe if I continue to learn, He will bring me back here to use my hard earned skill.

Please pray for my perseverance as I struggle with learning a completely foreign language, and that God will open the hearts in my ministry to understand my effort to learn their native tongue as an effort to love them.

"The language of friendship is not words but meanings." -Henry David Thoreau