Adapting for Ministry: Austin Gardner

Language Learning is NOT Easy

No matter what language you are going to learn, it is NEVER going to be easy. You are not going to magically stumble upon the language. It is going to take hard work and dedication to truly learn a language to the point where you will be able to preach and teach in that language. You will get discouraged and it will get to a point to where you want to give up, but keep pushing, because you will have to learn it no matter what to really be able to communicate and help in the ministry in that country. It doesn’t matter if you are learning Chinese or Spanish it is not going to be easy.

You are Going to Feel Alone

You are for a while going to love the country you move to, but sooner or later it just becomes home. It becomes home, and the “honeymoon” period ends and then you start to see the problems with the country. You are going to start to feel like you are all alone in the country. You don’t know the language, you can’t speak to people, and you cannot do the simplest things. This will make all of the littlest things in life one hundred times worse. It will cause strain in your relationships and may cause fighting with your spouse and family. Then you will begin to feel all alone. You need to realize that it is not going to be easy, it is not always going to be rainbows and sunshine. You need to make sure that you know there will be times that are great and special, but it will not feel like that all the time. The ministry will have its ups and downs, just don’t go with the incorrect ideas about what the ministry is.