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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"Learning Is A Life Long Process"
February 11, 2009
In a little over a week I will be heading to Mexico for our annual mission
trip. This is the third year that members of the First and Central Baptist
Churches of Norwich have gone down to Mexicali to work with the local
churches. It has been a great experience. We worked with the local pastors
to make improvements on their buildings and helped in their children's
ministries by hosting a Vacation Bible School.
For the last six months we have been preparing for this mission trip. We've
been fundraising, building prayer support and meeting to plan our strategy.
The one area where I have struggled to prepare is in learning the Spanish
language.
Three years ago I was given some videos by a friend. They were great. I
learned a number of words while studying with my youngest daughter.
Then life got busy and I forgot almost everything I learned. Two years ago
we hosted a conversational Spanish class at our church. It was great. I
learned how to tell time, the day of the week, where I was from, what I
liked do. I thought I would be all set when we went to Mexico. But as soon
as the classes ended I didn't practice what I had learned.
Last summer I picked up a couple of workbooks. I decided I was going to
learn Spanish on my own terms. I started strong and then got busy and the
books are still in my drawer at church. Just days away from our trip I had
resigned myself to the fact that I may never learn Spanish. I shared this
frustration with a friend of mine. He told me that the problem was that I
looked at learning the language as something I could conquer in a few easy
steps. He told me that I needed to look at it as a lifelong process. Then he
put it in terms I could understand.
He said learning a language is like learning to live by faith. You don't expect
a person to live like a believer after they learn a few theological terms. The
faith life is so much more than that. It is regular worship. It is being
surrounded by people of faith that you can talk to. It is daily prayer and
scripture reading. To become a faithful believer takes time and devotion. He
said it is the same thing with learning a new language.
My problem was that I was more like the person who has a crisis in life and
heads back to church. They do fine while they are in the company of the
church family. But once the crisis is over and they stop coming, the faith
they had starts to slip away.
The truth is that whether it is learning a new language or developing a life
sustaining faith, you need to practice it daily. You need to be in a
community that speaks the language. You need to make it part of your
everyday life. My friend said that if you do this, it will become second
nature to you. So I am going to practice my new language every day with
my friends who speak Spanish here in Norwich. And I suggest that if you
have a problem with your faith, that you will practice living it in a
community of your choice.
God bless! See you in church. Cal
February 11, 2009
In a little over a week I will be heading to Mexico for our annual mission
trip. This is the third year that members of the First and Central Baptist
Churches of Norwich have gone down to Mexicali to work with the local
churches. It has been a great experience. We worked with the local pastors
to make improvements on their buildings and helped in their children's
ministries by hosting a Vacation Bible School.
For the last six months we have been preparing for this mission trip. We've
been fundraising, building prayer support and meeting to plan our strategy.
The one area where I have struggled to prepare is in learning the Spanish
language.
Three years ago I was given some videos by a friend. They were great. I
learned a number of words while studying with my youngest daughter.
Then life got busy and I forgot almost everything I learned. Two years ago
we hosted a conversational Spanish class at our church. It was great. I
learned how to tell time, the day of the week, where I was from, what I
liked do. I thought I would be all set when we went to Mexico. But as soon
as the classes ended I didn't practice what I had learned.
Last summer I picked up a couple of workbooks. I decided I was going to
learn Spanish on my own terms. I started strong and then got busy and the
books are still in my drawer at church. Just days away from our trip I had
resigned myself to the fact that I may never learn Spanish. I shared this
frustration with a friend of mine. He told me that the problem was that I
looked at learning the language as something I could conquer in a few easy
steps. He told me that I needed to look at it as a lifelong process. Then he
put it in terms I could understand.
He said learning a language is like learning to live by faith. You don't expect
a person to live like a believer after they learn a few theological terms. The
faith life is so much more than that. It is regular worship. It is being
surrounded by people of faith that you can talk to. It is daily prayer and
scripture reading. To become a faithful believer takes time and devotion. He
said it is the same thing with learning a new language.
My problem was that I was more like the person who has a crisis in life and
heads back to church. They do fine while they are in the company of the
church family. But once the crisis is over and they stop coming, the faith
they had starts to slip away.
The truth is that whether it is learning a new language or developing a life
sustaining faith, you need to practice it daily. You need to be in a
community that speaks the language. You need to make it part of your
everyday life. My friend said that if you do this, it will become second
nature to you. So I am going to practice my new language every day with
my friends who speak Spanish here in Norwich. And I suggest that if you
have a problem with your faith, that you will practice living it in a
community of your choice.
God bless! See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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