This morning during my quiet time with the Lord, I asked the Lord for boldness and motivation for language learning. I am aware of my need for the Gumuz language in order to do any ministry among the women here. Part of me yearns to immerse myself daily in language knowing that the end result will be so good. The other part of me fights against even the thought of learning yet another language. Lord, I need you to clearly guide me in this. Guess what? He was already working things out for me today so that it was as easy as possible to begin.
This morning, Barry hired 21 Gumuz to cut grass around our house....most of them are women. His reason for hiring so many people is because this is the time that the Gumuz have the least amount of food. Their grain stores are empty and the maize isn’t quite ready for harvest and the sorghum won’t be ready for another month or two. I had two choices: stay inside and pretend no one was outside (difficult to do since our windows are always open and you can hear every noise outside) or embrace the moment.
Grass cutting is a very slow process. The Gumuz sit on their haunches with a small curved blade and slash the grass. They are happy to do this as a big group because they can visit as they cut. They are also happy for a few hours of work as they can use the money to buy some extra food.
So, I took the plunge and began practicing the phrases I knew, hoping that it would be well received. It was and most of these women live within 5-10 minutes of my home. One of the elders of this nearby village came by to talk to me in Amharic and he was very enthusiastic. Yes, I could come and learn the Gumuz language anytime in his village. No more excuses.
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