To be honest, to always be the odd-man standing out gets a little old; to always be asking clarifying questions, to not knowing many of the words being spoken, to ask them to explain comments/stories/jokes because of feeling like you are missing something and it appears everything is esoteric, to always looking different, dress different, and always a shade of feeling uncomfortable… that is what everyday feels like for the past 12-13 months. That’s how it feels… but recently we began to see a shift in them, how they address us, and how they refer to us.
Recently some people have said:
“We can’t hide anything from them”.
“They know us better than any outsider”.
“The longer they stay, the better they will know us, and it will be like they live in our houses with us”.
“They always question our actions and beliefs, they challenge me in things I have never thought about myself”.
“We can’t talk in our language secretly anymore, they’ll understand what we are saying”.
(Kids) “We want to go see Auntie (Nicole) and Uncle (Seth)”.
(Kids) “Can we go to mom (Nicole) and dad’s (Seth) house?”
Silly faces = international!
These are just a few things they have said recently, and it encourages us. Do we always feel like the odd man out? Well yes, Seth is a foot taller than almost everyone in our people group (except for like two people). Do we still struggle to understand what they are saying? Absolutely… it will take more time to learn this Tiale language. Do we understand their worldview fully and how they perceive events? Not wholly, but piece-by-piece, we are getting closer. Also, it is t
he time of extreme heat and endless rain, sometimes we don’t know if we are covered in perspiration or precipitation (mostly both)… in all things we “feel displaced”.
Discipleship Analogy at Church
Everyday is a struggle to balance learning culture, language, ministry, and being engaged in the community life here, have we mastered this process? By no means… but like the saying goes, “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. Continue to pray for us as we juggle every day life; along with loving on the people, language learning, and discipling those whom God has given us thus far.
Your feet to the Tiale people,
Seth & Nicole Stokes
Stoking The Fires 