Six Characters and a Heart

In my last post, I talked about our missions conference at church. But I failed to share a neat little insight that occurred to me after the service on Wednesday. In the church foyer, all the missionaries in attendance had displays. Each station was complete with a tri-fold board, pictures, and artifacts native to their respective country. It didn't take long for me to gravitate towards one display in particular: "Making and Maturing Disciples of Jesus Christ in Taiwan."

The Bollon Family of four missions to Taiwan. This caught my attention because Mandarin is the predominant language of this island. So I walked over to the display to check it out. The first thing I found was some kind of a toy. You spin the stick in your hand, causing air to whistle through the barrel of the other end. All I know is that you probably couldn't find one of these at your local Toys R Us.

I don't think I've ever seen one of these before either: a Gospel tract in CHINESE! The only tracts I've seen or given out have been in English. Makes sense because we are in the United States. But in some place like Taiwan, English tracts are useless. Thus, a Chinese tract.

So I picked up the tract. The cover was red and black with a large heart in the center. Six characters marked the front. I recognized all but one of them. "Sweet," I thought. "But what is that last character???" I turned to Mr. Bollon to ask for help. Surprisingly, he said he didn't know, and that I knew more than he did!

A couple thoughts went through my mind. Besides the fact that I felt somewhat learned as a Chinese pupil (which I must add, rarely happens), I was in slight despair. How do the Taiwanese understand him if he doesn't know their language very well? Are there lots of English-speaking natives? How does this work?

I asked him. He said that many adults can speak some English. (It's probably mandated by the school system at some age.) And secondly, he's planning to take an extensive language program this summer. He did take a few Chinese courses years past. But he said he only learned a limited amount, of which he mostly cannot remember.

I pray that Mr. Bollon receives the language training he needs that he may speak of Jesus Christ in the native tongue. And for anyone else preparing to tackle Mandarin, let me know. I will say a prayer for you too.

(....By the way, if you were wondering about those 6 characters on the tract, I think it meant something along the lines of, "The Greatest Love of All," Jesus Christ.)