The Church Planter and the Language
The Church Planter and the Language
By Charles Brock
Indigenous Church Planting A Practical Journey pp. 74-77Nothing will capture the attention of a group of unbelievers like the foreigner speaking clearly in their native tongue. Paul was able to communicate when he used the native tongue of his hearers. Jn Acts 22:1‑2 we see the power of a commonly understood language. ” Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) Speaking the language of the people is of primary importance in effective church planting.
There are two areas of concern the church planter must hurdle if he is to be a strong indigenous church planter. One is finding a handle with which he can feel comfortable and aggressive. The other is learning to communicate in the local dialect or language. Failure at either of these points leaves the planter vulnerable to the temptation to leave church planting and move into social ministries or other kinds of missionary work. There is nothing wrong with social ministries or support ministries, but they may not be the same as New Testament Pauline church planting. There are those who never learn the language yet stay in church planting, but must always speak through someone else. This severely limits church planting and takes away much of the joy. There is nothing more exciting than being under the control of the Holy Spirit and feeling the message flow freely, a message in the tongue of the hearers.
A big part of the miracle of Pentecost had to do with language. A multitude was present, people from various nations. It was essential that they understand the message of God, so God performed a linguistic miracle. The Bible says, All of us we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. Acts 2:11
For many, learning a new language is not far from a miracle. There is stress no matter what the language program is. There is, in a real sense, taking on a new culture as one learns a new language. Language and culture are so intertwined that to have one means sharing in the other to some degree. A living, daily use of a new language means giving up some of the old culture and accepting a new and different culture. There will be physiological and psychological strain in learning the new language.
The strain is enough that full concentration must be given to learning the language, This means that, even in the presence of a burning desire to get into church planting, months must be set aside solely for language learning. This will not be easy for the man who has come out of a successful pastorate in USA fast lanes. His style and tempo of life changes drastically.
The same is true for the mother whose primary responsibility has been a Christian homemaker and co-laborer with her husband. Care must be taken not to abandon the children at any time to learn the language. There may be no other time so difficult to maintain a Christian home where every member is attended to properly than in full-time language study. There is no better way to make a loving mother fighting mad than for an insensitive language director to imply that learning the language is more important than the well-being of her children.
The church planter must pay the price of learning the language because of the needs of the hearers. The deep needs of the hearers can most adequately be met when they hear about sin and the Savior in their own native tongue, It is the heart that must be reached. The people’s native tongue is their heart language, the language of their will and emotions. When they are confronted with something so intimate as the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ, they need to hear it in their heart language. In this way the message can penetrate every part of their understanding and being.
The church planter must learn the language if he is to accelerate church planting through reproducing churches. If a person does not hear the Gospel message in his native language, he is not only limited by his own understanding; he is seriously limited in being able to share the message with others. I have heard of the
experiences of Filipinos who had come to Manila from other provinces where other dialects were spoken. They were converted and trained in a language such as English or Tagalog. When they returned to their homes to share their newly found faith, they found it is very difficult. They had not learned the way of new life using their own dialects. On one occasion, a young woman, a seminary graduate, was asked to share at an association meeting. The language of the meeting was Ilocano, her native dialect. She refused, saying it would take such a long time to prepare something in her dialect. She had been trained in English, using Western English thought patterns and language. She spoke in Ilocano in ordinary life, but when it came to spiritual matters, she had little to say. Another told me that she could not even pray in her native dialect when she went back home because she did not receive the Good News of Christ in her native tongue. If the people use their native dialect in normal living and revert to a foreign language to convey spiritual truths, these truths come across as foreign and unnatural. When God calls out leaders from among the new believers, it is a serious hindrance to their ministries if they must receive their training in a foreign language. (There are exceptions to this when English is almost an equally used second language.)A simple rule: if new believers are not able to communicate the Gospel message effectively in a second language such as English, their leadership training should be in their native language.
There is no better way to communicate love than to speak to people in a language they can understand. Nationals feel good when they see the foreigner sweating over learning their language. They sense that he must really love them. If the language is learned early, more churches will be planted later.
Every church planter can learn a new language if he is motivated properly. Language programs may serve as avenues to help and enhance language learning, but the key is personal motivation. If the planter wants to badly enough, he will learn the language. The motive for the church planter is no less than a personal commission from God to communicate a lifesaving message to spiritually dead people. The love of God, the love for God, and the love for lost people will be the driving forces in language learning.
May 2012 Prayer Letter
Dear Pastors, Partners, & Praying Friends,
The Lord continues to pour His blessings out on our lives daily. We are humbled that the Lord not only would save us but use our lives to bring Him glory by serving in China. It is exciting to serve the Lord of lords and the King of kings!
The last month and a half has been busy with visitors: my in-laws, my parents, and a supporting church from South Carolina. We had a great time with each group and were glad that our children were able to spend time with their grandparents. Also, we were excited to share our ministry and vision for China with all those who visited. If you are interested in bringing a group to China, contact me for more details!
The Sunday school class that I am teaching is going good. I am thankful for the opportunity to teach each week. It has really helped me in my language abilities. Also, I recently was approached by a couple living in our complex about studying the Bible, thus I was invited to their home to study the Bible. There were several people there and I am excited about continuing to study the Bible with them and to see what the Lord brings of this situation.
As we announced last month, we are taking a short furlough from December 2012 through February 2013. We have filled many of our dates already, but still have a few spots available. If you are interested in having us in during this time, please send me an email: info@projectchina.org (this is the best way to schedule a meeting with our time zone being 12 hours ahead of EST). Lord willingly, we will be returning to China in March of 2013 to start a new church plant in a new city.
It is exciting to see the churches grow and be apart of the the ministry under the Taube family. The Lord is using them greatly to do a mighty work here in China. Though they are here and our family as well, there is still a great need because the work is great but the laborers are few. Pray that God would raise up more labors for the harvest fields of China. Pastor, partner, praying friend will you consider your life and take a step of faith to come to China to preach the Gospel, plant churches and train men. Young men, will you give the best years of your life to God, for His service, reserved for the Master’s use. Will you? If not you, then who?
Thank you for being a part of our team, Project China, with your prayers and financial support!
In Christ,
The Tolson Family
P.S. A new 2012 family picture is available upon request.
You can send your request to info@projectchina.org
and we will provided you with a digital copy.
Monday Mind Dump: Praise!, New Video, Consider!
• We had a great time with the group visiting from New Life Baptist Church in South Carolina. It was sad to see them leave on Saturday, but hopefully we will see them back in the future 
Lord willing!
• Awesome Praise Report! The Bible study that I mention last Monday happened this past Thursday. I was planning on there being a man and his wife, but there ended up being six adults there. They all claimed to be saved, but are baby Christians with a hunger to grow. Many seem to know just enough to be saved and are wanting to know what the next steps are to grow! I will be meeting with them again on Thursday to study Baptism, Lord willing! Pray for them and me!
• Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful wife! She does so much behind the scenes that she doesn’t get credit for and is an incredible mother to our children. She truly works hard and has a desire to see our children serve the Lord as they grow older! Also, happy Mother’s day to my mother who did raise me to serve the Lord! Praise God for godly mothers!
• We had a great Mother’s day service at the church with a many first time visitors, children’s choir, and gifts for the mother’s in service. The Lord truly blessed!
• I am amazed at the response we have received for our upcoming furlough. If you are interested we still have some spots available. We would count it an honor to visit you and your church family. Contact me!
• Past Post: The 007 Perception vs. Reality | “We are still serving in unfavorable circumstances. We take necessary precautions but try not to let the 007 perception take over our lives.”
• Our season of visitors is over for awhile, though we are looking forward to a couple from our home church moving here for their six month internship at the beginning of next month. If you are interested in helping them, through prayer or financially, then contact me for more details. Also, if you are interested in a six month internship, email me!
• If you have not seen THIS VIDEO of the Jile Buddhist Temple that we filmed last week, then you need to watch it ASAP. It is very sobering. Pray for God to raise up labourers!
• Consider your life! Will you join us in China? The work is great, the laborers are few. We need you.
• Our family is grateful to God for His daily blessings! We are undeserving. Grace.
An Amazing Journey: 声调 [shēngdiào]
An honest look at language learning from a missionary wife’s blog (my wife):
So the week before my parents arrived in China, my 6 weeks of “maternity leave” ended and the time came to re-start my language study. My first day back at class was pretty rough. It turns out, if you don’t use much Chinese over a 3 month period, you will forget some things!
Who knew?
Anyways, one thing I could definitely tell I was struggling with when we arrived back in Harbin was my tones. I could often remember “the word” I was looking for but not the tone…
which is essentially the word….
confusing I know
If you didn’t know already….Chinese is pretty hard! haha!
My language school teacher and I decided that we would spend the first day back reading through previous material to practice the tones and review old vocabulary. I was corrected A LOT in my tones since I had picked up some bad habits especially with certain words (this came from me guessing what tone a word might be and then no one ever correcting it,) and by the end of the day I felt exhausted but extremely happy to be back to learning…
Because, as surprising as it may seem to me some days, I do want to continue learning this language
Language school has definitely brought out the worst in me at times. In the first months (and I’m being completely transparent here,) it was nothing for me to be yelling at my husband for making me go, crying because I was just so tired at the end of the day, and just plain angry at my teacher for correcting me 20 times on just the word “cao” (true story!) I felt like I just might lose my mind if I had to go one more day. But, thankfully, the Lord gave me a patient husband who pushed me to go.
Because now…
I realize it’s completely worth all the struggles.
Just being able to have a conversation with a friend….to share Christ with someone…and all in Chinese. It is such a privilege and exciting opportunity!
And you can imagine how discouraging it was to be confined to a house away for 3 months losing what you’ve worked so hard over the past year to learn.
Yes, it comes back, but losing it even for a day, week, month or more is pretty annoying.
So, I am working hard to get back into the swing of things and start using my Chinese more and more.
Last week, I was able to teach our children’s sunday school class for the first time since we returned. Even though I let my nerves get the best of me during the lesson, I was encouraged to see at the end that the children had been really attentive, could answer all my questions, and even had awesome questions about the story of their own!
There are no words to even describe how privileged I feel to get to share the Bible with these kiddos!
Am I a perfect student? Definitely not
Do I use English too much? yes
Should I practice more? for sure
Do I like doing class most days? probably never (I know I know…please don’t dislike me)
But
I do want so badly to know this language better, not so I can feel accomplished or get glory for myself, but so that I can glorify Christ and be a better witness to people of all ages for Him in this country.
So…
to end….
I’d just like to ask you to pray for me and my language learning. Things are hectic around here about 99% of the time with a pre-schooler, new baby, and recent visitors so sometimes I don’t have the amount of time that I would like to practice.
But I’m trying.
Pray that the Lord would continue to give our family the language… That our pronunciation and tones would continue to get better…and that we would be continual witness for Him in this city.
Source: An Amazing Journey
05.7.12
NLBC, Luggage, Bible Study, DIE, Camp and more!
• We have the pastor and a group visiting from New Life Baptist Church in South Carolina. We are excited about them being here and what God is doing in their lives!
• I enjoyed translating for them in Sunday school.
• I organized an activity on Saturday night, using our English speaking visitors as a drawing card, and it was excited to have 60 some people come out and participate. They were able to talk to many and invite them to church the following morning.
• Unfortunately, even though I organized the activity, I wasn’t about to participate because we had to return to the airport to pick up the group’s luggage. The group arrived around 11:45 AM but their luggage didn’t arrive until 7:15 PM…but at least it arrived (I wasn’t so lucky on my first trip to China)!
• Last week me and the family where out walking when a couple came up to me and basically asked me to come and teach the Bible in their home. We are planning on going this Thursday, so remember this in prayer!
• Recent thought: Missions is more of a call to DIE than it is a call to GO!
• Chinglish sign of the week: “Slip and fall down carefully” located on the stairs going up the sightseeing tower (Dragon Tower).
• Past Post: China & Bible Smuggling | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Bonus | “It is a sensitive subject because there seems to be two contradictory sides that are causing much confusion to “senders” as to what the real situation in China is.” | I hope this series can help clarify some of the confusion about Bible smuggling in China.
• Our Generation Camp (May 28-June 1) is almost here! If you haven’t signed up yet, check it out, it’s not too late!
• Recent Read: When it’s Time to Go: Preparing for the Mission Field as a Wife and Mother by Brandi Biesiadecki | Written by a missionary wife to missionary wives, I thought this book was excellent and transparent about the realities and hardships a missionary wife will face and how to overcome them (using the Word of God)! I would image this book would help any missionary wife before she goes to the field or within her first couple years on the field. Also, it is worth the read for us men to help understand what what our wives may face when they go to the mission field as a wife and mother!
The Gospel in China: Thrill-Seekers
Do you want to be a missionary? Read the following article from Gospel in China:
There’s a certain way to market the Great Commission that strikes a chord with bored twenty-somethings who are tired of college classes or are not looking forward to entering the rat race. And it goes something like…
‘Wouldn’t you like to do something meaningful with your life? Don’t waste your life in a cubicle when you could make an impact on the world! Dare to break out of normalcy and get involved in something bigger than yourself!’
I recently saw an ad for a missions organization that said something like, ‘there’s more to life than working a 9 to 5.’ Now, I get what they mean by that. Disciples ought not content themselves with securing a source of regular income and just plugging away mindlessly until retirement. There is definitely more than that. We are part of God’s expanding kingdom on Earth. And becoming part of the Christian missionary force is certainly an incredible experience on the frontlines of that advance. So there’s definitely a kernel of truth within.
But while this appeal may awaken some dormant zeal in a believer’s heart, it alone is not a strong enough motivation to make a faithful career missionary. Because it makes the Gospel largely irrelevant to the believer’s excitement. The Army can recruit people with the same pitch: ‘Aren’t you bored playing video games? Wouldn’t you like to do something exciting and important in the world?’ It’s true, obedience to Christ’s commands does make our lives meaningful and exciting. And it’s easy to get excited and glory in the sense that we’re doing something important. ‘But rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.’ In other words, our joy of serving God must never supersede our joy in God himself. We’re not missionaries because we want to do something great for God; we’re missionaries because God has done something great for us!
Like most deficient motivations, this passion for excitement will at times work just fine. It will get you off the bench and into the game. But the true measure of a motivation is when it gives out. And this one has a very definite breaking point. It will keep you going exactly until you are asked to do something tedious in the name of Christ. Simply put, it equates the goal of Christian ministry to ‘don’t be bored.’ And that’s too bad, becausesometimes effective ministry involves doing the tedious thing long-term.
We’ve had a bunch of short-termers over the past year, and it’s pretty easy to detect their general sentiment about a career in missions. They think it would bore them to tears. You know what might interest them? Long-term short-term missions! All the excitement of a short-term missions trip replicated ad infinitum (and there are some long-termers who attempt precisely that!). What they’re missing is the need for patience to make an impact in anything besides a pillow. Language school, planting a church, or training a leader all have one thing in common. They all take an enormous investment of time. Those with short attention spans need not apply.
There’s certainly more to life than working a 9 to 5, but there’s not less! Meaning, if you don’t find something in your life that you’d love to do for large amounts of time for as long as you live, you are doomed to ineffectiveness and boredom! If you perpetually dash madly from one excitement to another, two things are certain. One, you will never be very good at anything. And two, you will train yourself to find joy in things other than God – and those joys will finally wane. In order to attain any real joy in your life, you will have to stare down the barrel of boredom… and not flinch!
Saying that there’s more to life than a 9 to 5 is a little like saying there’s more to a marriage than living together. The problem with dull marriages is not that people live together, but rather what they do when they’re together. And the trouble with dull lives is not steady occupation, but what you do when you clock in. Those that don’t have the patience to stay put declare with their wishy-washiness that they still haven’t found something worth living for. Something worth working and suffering for. When you’re dealt that great hand, you go all in. You hold back because you think there might be something better out there. Ironically, those that claim to be living for passion often turn out to not have enough.
When you find something truly worth living for, 9 to 5 won’t be enough for you. A truly meaningful life doesn’t look like a 9 to 5, but more like a 12 to 12. You’ll feel you can’t get up early enough or go to bed too late. You’ll have to discipline yourself to rest. I am thankful to have been influenced by some great men who live on a mission – who seem to have a limitless supply of motivation. Where does that come from? Paul said that he worked harder than them all, but it was really the grace of God working with him (1 Cor. 15:10). The Gospel is the great motivator. It buries the foundation of our passion deep in our impossibly-righteous standing before God. The Gospel is to believers as Tornado Alley is to storm-chasers. There is no other place for us to find a thrill.
So, by all means, resolve to not waste your life. But don’t think an erratic, thrashing lifestyle guarantees a meaningful life. In fact, it guarantees the opposite. The good thing about bad motivations, though, is that God is often gracious enough to use them to lead us to the right motivation! So whatever reason you started for, keep going! Find your rock-solid motivation in the Gospel and go to work! Or don’t, but then don’t pretend you’re living for thrills, either.
Source: Gospel in China
05.2.12
Survey Trip (3 of 3) Chinese Cities
There seems to be many similarities between cities in China. Thus I would recommend trying to visit the following when visiting a Chinese city:
Tower: Find the sightseeing tower, which many cities have, or find the tallest building in town and try to get a “bird’s eye view” of the city.
Walking Street: Many cities also have a street that is closed to cars and consist of shops, food vendors and PEOPLE! Depending on the time of day, it is a great place to see people.
Residential Area: Find the district with the highest density of people and/or highest population. Find where everyone lives.
Universities: The universities can be an open door for outreach. See how close they are together and consider them.
What are some other similarities of Chinese cities that might be good to visit on a survey trip?
Survey Trip Series: Part 1 | Part 2
Visitors, Rules, Crime, Landslide and more!
• My parents left China last Thursday. We had a great time and we were excited that we got to spend a little time with them and introduce them to our new life here in China!
• This is the year of visitors! We are excited to be having a Pastor from SC and a few from his church coming to visit. Pray for their trip! They arrive on Saturday morning.
• As visitors have been experiencing Chinese culture, I have found myself explaining some things: If you play by the rules in China, you will loose. Thus, breaking the rules in China is playing by the rules. Being rude in China, is not being rude. “Not caring” is a way of life. (Note: from an American perspective and in the right context.)
• People always ask about crime in China. I see very little crime. I do see drunk guys getting into scuffles and men beating up awomen. Those are pretty common.
• Three factors that affect a Chinese person’s decision process (in the context of crime): 1) Morals are different (lower standard) they don’t see the same things that we do as wrong. 2) Punishments are worse; needed to control the masses. 3) Involvement, people don’t want to be associated with the problem, thus it is easy to ignore a fowl situation.
• On the “gotta-loose-a-bunch-of-weight-before-i-go-back-to-america” diet.
• To “not be like the world” you don’t watch what they do and then do the opposite, just look to Christ and do what He does!
• Chinglish sign of the week: “Be Careful of Landslide” found on the back of the bathroom door in our hotel room.
• Past Post: A Dangerous Undercurrent – Mobilize NOW! | “I currently am led to believe there is a unofficial open door to spread the gospel and plant churches in China. We must mobilize and use this opportunity NOW!”
• Thank you for following our family as we serve in China. We are constantly amazed the Lord would use us to bring the Gospel to this land. Thank you for praying and partnering with us!
The Gospel in China: The Li Bo Perspective
This series challenges a certain China missions perspective in relation to the Three-self government controlled church. Originally written and posted at the Gospel in China Blog, below are links to the three articles with excerts. “Missionaries” working in China need to read and consider the importance of these articles.
The Li Bo Perspective #1
If you asked a Three-Self pastor what is wrong with house churches (I have), they’d say something like, “they’re illegitimate because they’re not connected to the true Church in China.” Basically the Pope’s answer to “what’s wrong with Protestants?” In other words, whatever qualms they have with the Three-Self Church, the house churches abandon all claims of being a church when they divorce themselves from the only authorized Church.The Li Bo Perspective #2
The inexcusable problem with the Three-Self Church is simply the absence of the Gospel from their preaching. It has simply been passed over at every service I’ve attended. I do think that many of their leaders and members really do believe the Gospel. Some of the guys from our church and I took a government church pastor out for lunch a couple years back. She said enough about her personal faith to allay many of those worries. But for whatever reason, the Gospel is not being preached to the crowds that gather at her church.The Li Bo Perspective #3
Li Bo and friends will doubtless sputter that we don’t get to teach Chinese pastors theology just because we’re Westerners. And right they are. But they do overlook thatwell-trained pastors (whatever their race) have the responsibility to teach poorly-trained pastors (whatever their race). You tell me which is the more egalitarian position. I have seen nothing to lead me to believe that the Three-Self Church does a good job of training Chinese pastors. So I’m not ready to hand over my biblical responsibility to them just yet! I can either tell young men here that there’s no training for them, or I can work towards that end myself.
04.25.12
Survey Trip (2 of 3) Places to Visit
Places to Visit: Our survey trip had two purposes to it 1) Is this a suitable place for my family to live 2) is this a key place to plant a church. With these two goals in mind we had many places that we wanted to visit and gain information from a first hand source.
First, let’s deal with family. Here are some question to ask:
-What is the atmosphere of the city?
-How expensive is the city and area?
-What is the weather like?
-Where would you live?
-What can you get/not get in the city?
-What might make things harder/easier?
As you think through these questions and many others also ask yourself, “can and will my family adapt to ‘this situation’”. Be honest.
Application: We visited realtors to ask pricing of houses in the area and even asked to see an apartment for rent on the 30 floor of a building (partly to see a house in the area and partly to see a good view of the area to help identify where other housing complexes are).
We visited large shopping areas, restaurants, parks, places of tourism and fun, all things that would help us get a feel for the city as in a “family life” sense.
Second, is there a key area to plant a church? Ask some question:
-Where are the people?
-Where do they live, play, go to school?
-Where are the universities and middle schools?
-Where is a possible rental location?
-Do you notice “chain restaurants/stores” in close proximity?
As you ask these questions and many more, realize that anywhere could use a church, but what is the best place for you to start a church based on your mission.
Application: We arrived in the city but were in the commercial area of town. It took a while to find out where the main residential area was. We had to get high! We went up a sightseeing tower and could see all sides of the city and that helped us align our focus to a certain area. Throughout the day, we went to the top of two buildings and up a glass elevator to get a better view of what was around us.
Also, we visited a local government church and Christian bookstore to inquire about buying bibles, which we confirmed was possible to buy (as well as a large selection of Christian books).
I will also need a visa, thus we visited two schools to inquire about the possibility of a foreigner taking Chinese language classes to obtain a visa. There seemed to be a good and easy possibilities for this. We also saw a ferry that visited a neighboring country, which we hope could be used for “visa runs”.
Next post in this series: Survey Trip (3 of 3) Chinese Cities