Almost a First (by Thom)

Yesterday morning we attended church in a section of Bamako called Sabalibougou. The pastor there is a friend of mine (we went there for Christmas services, as well as a few other times), but the real reason was to meet the members of a work team that had just arrived the previous night in Mali. These guys (and two ladies) are here to do “computer things” at the Koutiala Hospital. I’m thankful they’re computer guys, too. I was able to put in a request for an internet wi-fi router so we can use the internet at our new house. One of the guys, Mark, was gracious to bring me the router and a new battery for my laptop, to replace the one that recently died on me. (Thanks Mark!) One of the members of the work team is a pastor from Omaha, Nebraska who already spoke French. He preached the sermon at church yesterday. We’ve been going to duel language services for the most part (French and Bambara) so Amanda and I can both understand, and continue to get stronger in languages. I understand about 80-85% of what I hear now, which I think is good, but I’m not at a “translator-level” yet. At one point in the service yesterday another missionary turned to me and said, “Thom, I think I’m going to need you to translate the sermon for a guy or two.”

I froze. Then, I quickly said a brief prayer asking for quickness, strength, and clarity. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to get through this. Then I decided, “If I must, I must. We’ll get through this.” It turned out I wasn’t needed for translating, but I was ready. I tried translating to myself during the sermon and with only a couple of words I didn’t know, it went really well. I surprised myself. I think the next time I’m asked to translate French to English I’ll freeze again and I’ll pray for those things again, but I’ll be alright.

It might seem kind of silly to write something like this out for an event that never ended up happening, but I wanted you to get an idea of what living cross-culturally can be like. It’s never simple, but we get daily graces. I also can see the differences between different things (not just language but also comfort levels, problem solving, etc) over the periods of time. Amanda and I have been in Mali now for exactly 8 months today. It’s been a wonderful time so far and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen next!