Picture 1: My teachers and some of my fellow students. This semester I’m in the advanced class with 5 other missionaries, and there are 17 students in total.

Picture 2:   I’ve enjoyed getting to know people at church through participating in the French choir.

I wasn’t called into missions while high on drugs…but that’s what I told everyone in my language class.  I meant to say I was called while on a trip to Burkina Faso, but apparently in French there is a distinct difference between being on a trip and in one.

At least this was an in-class mistake as opposed to a “real-world” one, although I’m not lacking in that type either.  One time at church a lady asked me how many children I have.  When I tried to say, “I don’t have any; I’m single,” the word celibataire came out célèbre, so I  actually told her, “I don’t have any…I’m famous.”

Unfortunately, not being  fluent isn’t always humorous.  Even going to stores, banks, and           restaurants is nerve-wracking without knowing if I’ll be able to communicate.  It’s even more difficult to build friendships when my vocabulary doesn’t go much deeper than the weather.  I start each day knowing I am going to fail numerous times and am constantly aware of how much less I can express than I could in English.  It tempts me to dread French, and by extension, to not want to love the people who speak it.

A quote from Augustine I heard at my French church made me realize that English can be an idol: "Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used or using anything that ought to be worshiped."

English is really only a tool—to glorify by my words the only One worthy of worship—but when I cling to English and make it an idol, it’s like trying to build a house with only a screwdriver.  Even though I may not know how to use the hammer fluently, God still uses my efforts to glorify Him in French too.

I’m now in my last semester of language school, and I head to Burkina Faso this summer.  I have a lot to do before then besides improving my French:  getting plane tickets, figuring out what I need and how to get it there, and continuing to talk with the national director about how my ministry will look.  Since I have no idea what I’m doing, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your prayers to our God who knows everything (including every word in the French dictionary).

Praise God for:

· The progress He’s given me in understanding and speaking French.

· The community of other missionary families also studying French and living in apartments on campus.

  Please Pray for:

· My attitude as I learn French, that I would not get frustrated but would have patience, perseverance, and even joy through the process.

· My preparations for Africa.  I’m not even sure what all I need to do, but I know there’s a lot, and most of it, I don’t know how to do.