Do you already know how to speak the language?
Maybe this seems like a silly question, but we actually get asked this almost every time we are telling someone about our plans for moving to the Philippines. The answer is no. We don't already speak the language. I (Holly) am very familiar with the sounds of the language having grown up in the Philippines and that will be an advantage. I grew up hearing people speak the language. I know some phrases and words. I can mimic the accent and sound like a native speaker (somewhat). It will all be new for Dan: new sounds, grammar, vocab, cadence, etc. A lot will be new for me too. Here's the kicker: after we spend about two years learning our first language...we'll move into a tribal location and start learning another!
We have been equipped in our training with New Tribes Mission with valuable tools/methods for learning language. We learned phonetics, grammar analysis, phonemics, linguistics and language acquisition techniques. The ideal is to learn the language in the country from a native speaker. For this reason it is not recommended to use Rosetta Stone or to start learning some other way before you go overseas. Language and culture are so intrinsically tied together that it would be detrimental to us to separate them. We need to learn both simultaneously.
Some things you need to know about the Philippines/language:
- There are two 'official' languages in the Philippines: Tagalog and English (Yes! English!); and eight major dialects: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan.
- Speaking of English...English is taught in many public schools (often immersion-style). Signs and billboards are often in English. Exposure to English is high in the Philippines, but that does not mean everyone understands it or is fluent.
- We will be learning Cebuano. This is the language spoken in the area we will be living. It is one of the more widely spoken languages along with Tagalog. Cebuano is also referred to as Visayan.
- Depending on the source, there are roughly 181 different languages spoken in the Philippines. We will be learning at least two of those 181 during our time serving in the Philippines.
Now that you're having a baby, how does that change your plans?
Let's be honest here. Kids were always in the plan for us. It's not like it was a surprise for us. “Oh, hey, surprise! You're pregnant!” We view kids as a valuable asset to us. Before we got married, we knew when we'd like to start having kids and had already discussed the myriad of things that would mean for our marriage and ministry. Kids are great for building connections with people in any cultural context. As they grow, they can become more and more involved in our ministry. We are excited to teach them about God and His amazing plan of saving the world (and them!).
So our plans have not changed. We are still hoping to have our support raised by next summer and head to the Philippines around then. We look forward to seeing our little girl make friends before she can even speak the language, climb guava trees, slide down mud hills in a tropical rain, and eat weird food. We also look forward to introducing her to a lifestyle where she will see people who live very differently than she does: street kids, beggars, Jeepney drivers, lepers, grocery store clerks, the person we buy our meat from at market, the guy who walks by our house every morning, and so many others.
Pray with us that we keep trusting the Lord to make us the parents she needs, that we would be diligent to teach her the truths of God's Word, and for the good-byes that will have to be said in a year from now. It will be tough.
We view being pregnant now as a huge blessing. Ideally, we wanted to have our first kid at a time in our lives when we weren't also in the middle of language learning and navigating a cultural context we are already out of place in. We are able to have our first baby in a culture/language we grew up in, have family around to help, and introduce our baby to everyone before we leave the country for several years. We have access to great medical knowledge and facilities. We're not against having a baby in another country. That may someday happen for us if God blesses us with more children. For the first kid, however, this experience has been great for us. Maybe this is sooner into a marriage than some people would like to start having kids, but for us the timing could not be more perfect. Did we mention yet how grateful we are that God has given us this baby girl?! We can't wait to meet her!
In the next few weeks and months you should start seeing some more regular posts popping up on here. We have realized the need to have access to some answers to a few questions people have when we don't always have to opportunity to answer them right away. Hence, a series of FAQs about our ministry and plans for going to the Philippines.
In the next post, please enjoy reading about what having a baby means for our plans.
