Overcoming language barriers in ministry
Got a heart for global revival? OR planning on going on a short-term mission or long-term stay in another country? If you want to minister effectively, then learning the language of your targeted people group is essential!
BUT FIRST let me premise this by saying that it is possible to minister through an interpreter or to even pray in your mother tongue and see the Holy Spirit move in power. This is a spiritual thing, and God is not limited in what He can do! I’ve seen this time and again, here in revival, whether in our services at World Revival Church or on ministry trips to other nations.
If you’ve got the power and presence of God flowing in your life, that will pour out through you and lives will be transformed, despite language barriers.
However, if you’re going to be somewhere for an extended amount of time, then you really will want to learn the language. You’ll be able to build relationships and minister more effectively if you can grasp the language of the people you are living among.
And that’s my first tip in overcoming language barriers in cross-cultural ministry… live among the people. God has sent you to them… don’t isolate yourself into a little America, but learn the culture, learn the ways of the people.
That’s the best and first way to tackle language learning and scale the language wall. More on language learning to come… Laura Woodworth