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I’ve been asked by Western mission boards help their missionaries “navigate” their way in Asian airports. They are concerned that their missionaries will not be able to find their way in airports in exotic lands like Beijing, China. I guess, they were expecting all the signs to be in strange Chinese characters!
Even some Asian missionaries are also concerned that they will get lost when they arrive in a new country, so they expect someone to meet them at the airport because they can’t speak the language.
The reality is that there are no “exotic” airports left, where all the signs are in some strange alphabet and language. Yes, there are broken down ones and inefficient ones but every airport that I’ve been to in Asia (including some that are as big as a cow-shed – and almost as dirty!) has signs in English (in addition to the local language). Thankfully, they also know how to spell words like “Departure,” “Immigration” and “Visa Office” accurately.
If there is one place in that entire country where English is spoken (albeit in different accents and different levels of proficiency), it has to be the airport of that country. And the airport is also the place where the most proficient English-speaking taxi drivers of that country are found. (More on “Functional missionary English” in another article)
In other words, airports are usually the best interface between you and the country you are about to enter.
If a missionary cannot survive in an airport, how will he survive in the big wide world outside that airport?
I remember the first time I saw the little purple flowers on the mountains in Tibet. They were soooo simply beautiful. And I thought, what a pity that no one but me may ever see these. And then I thought, maybe God makes beautiful things, not to make us happy, but for His own pleasure and because He just enjoys making and having beautiful creations.
This was about 4… Read More....
Dear Family and Friends,
As always, time goes by so quick. The spring semester flew by and now I am in the process of moving to a new city. After the whirlwind of activities over the last few months, I finally have a few minutes to catch my breath before summer camp starts so I thought I’d take a moment to update you on how He is working… Read More....
School has begun! I started teaching on Monday of this week. I am teaching in the English department of my school and am very excited to be working with my students. I have loved all my students from year one to now but because these kids are English majors their English is a little better so we can discuss more in-depth topics and get to know each other a little… Read More....
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