NTM

I was reading from the latest issue of NTM@work this morning and came across some things to ponder on a bit.
First of all was this little funny about learning unwritten languages from Dena McMaster, “Before I tried to learn about rice, I began by pointing at objects and asking, ‘What’s that?’ For a day or so everyone answered, ‘I bulu.’ ‘That’s strange,’ I though, ‘how come everything is a bulu?’ Turns out, bulu is the word for finger. Obviously my language learning techniques needed modification.” (Pg.24, NTM@work vol. 68 – no. 1 Aug. 2009)  I guess this strikes me as funny because I can see this happening to me too!
The other was a little more serious. From an article titled, “Worth paying for?” It is a converstation between a tribal man and a missionary about a work crew that had just left the area.
Tribal Man: “Wow some of the guys on your team are huge!”
Nate: “Yes they are big, but not all.”
Tribal Man: “Yes, that’s true. We used to think all Americans were huge, buy now we know that there are some that are Filipino sized too.”
Tribal Man: “So did you hire all those guys?”
Nate: “No they work for free. Well, not for free. They actually paid to work to help me build the house.”
Tribal Man: “What? They had to pay to work?”
Nate: “Yes they had to pay for their flights and so on.”
Tribal Man: “They must really want you to have a house.”
Nate: “Well, yes, but they really want us to be able to start learning your language sooner.”
Tribal Man: “Oh right, so you can tell us your important message sooner. Wow- this must be a really important message.”
-from a tribe in the Philippines (Pg.8)
This just got me thinking this morning. If people are going to understand the importance of the message, we must be able to speak coherently to them in their language and have the relationships in place that make it possible for them to trust us and want to hear the message we bring.